535i Pinging at around 3000 rpm's EAT chip

[Deke NorCal]

Hello guys, I have a 1990 535i and I keep noticing it pings a little bit even on 91 octane. Notice it going down the highway and accelerating under load at about 3k RPM's.. The motor has around 150k on it but runs very good otherwise. What are some things I can do to start tackling this? (Have checked for intake leaks, injector cleaner additive changed air/fuel filters) I've noticed the pinging is definately worse on Chevron gasoline whats the deal ..

Thanks in advance,

Deke

[Martin in Bellevue]

Loan the car to Jeffro for the eyetalian tuneup.

Buy some ventil sauber to break up the carbon in combustion chambers.

change the oil after tank with ventil sauber.

[TheGeak]

turn up the radio?

[eric5150]

Also check plugs/distributor/wires and make sure they are all up to the task...

Eric

[Hector]

mentioned below. BAS has a procedure to do this which entails connecting a bottle of this cleaner directly to the fuel rail. I had a similar problem but didn't want to dick around with it so I took the car to this mechanic, expensive as hell (like an expensive lawyer, I guess) and he injected some chemical through the fuel rail and purged the fuel system and cleaned the valves to some degree. The pinging slowly went away as the car was driven more and more which was garanteed by the procedure. Haven't had any pinging since and this was about 5 years ago.

[talltorontoguy]

Have you tried running a higher octane or using an octane boost product to see if the pinging still occurs?

I have the EAT chip in my car and also have experienced pinging with certain gas brands. Using Sunoco 92~94 eliminates it, and certain other brands of 91 (Here in Toronto, Petro Canada 91 works while most others do not).

Just my 2 cents.

Rod

[Deke NorCal]

Martin: something about the name of that stuff sounds really cool, "Ventil Sauber" I will pick some up today and give it a try..

Eric: Thank you I will check this out today (you reminded me the cap and rotor are definately worn time to replace)

Hello Rod that's great to hear from somebody with 225k miles on their e34!! Yes I have tried the octane booster , but I read the fine print where it points out it only adds about .1 of an octane level which is kinda dissapointing :( 91 octane is our highest rated gas here in California.. other than this 'street legal' 100 octane gas at 76 maybe I should put a few gallons of that stuff in every fuel tank shoot its only like 5.00$ a gallon!~

Thanks guys, I'm headed out to fix this and hopefully paint my chrome trim black!

Peace,
Deke

[MicahO]

it's definitely a solvent, and you'll be running it in your combustion chambers. There is a good chance for some leakdown into the crankcase, particularly if you've got old injectors (which most of us do) that may dribble a bit under pressure after shutdown (which may of us may).

So - Check your oil after you run the tank of Ventil Sauber - if it's stinky, change the oil!

[Warren N.CA]

it will ping very badly. But after the IT, no more pinging for several weeks.

To do a good IT, wind over 6K in each gear at full throttle while accelerating to freeway speeds (at least!). Then cruise on the freeway in 3rd gear at 5.5 to 6K for about 1.5 minutes. If it still pings after that, repeat the process for a longer period, at a higher RPM.

After my IT, no more pinging at all, until time for another in a few weeks.

This blows carbon deposits out of the cylinder head, getting the compression ratio back down to normal.




Loan the car to Jeffro for the eyetalian tuneup.

Buy some ventil sauber to break up the carbon in combustion chambers.

change the oil after tank with ventil sauber.

[KenB]

Warren,

Thanks for the explanation of the IT. I have an occaisional slight ping in mine around 2,500-3,000rpm under light load. Even with 93 octane which I always use. Will try to blow it out if I can find a piece of road where I can run at 5,500 rpm for a couple of minutes. I don't want to try the ventil sauber yet, I just changed the oil to Mobil 1 15w-50 for the first time and don't want to dump it yet.

[jeffro]

Loan the car to Jeffro for the eyetalian tuneup.

Buy some ventil sauber to break up the carbon in combustion chambers.

change the oil after tank with ventil sauber.

Funny, I don't have any pinging problems. When the head was off, I noticed next to no carbon buildup. Hmm maybe I'm on to something.
And yes, my answer to the smooth idle problem is a prolonged 240kmph blast.

[Jeff N.]

Funny, I don't have any pinging problems. When the head was off, I noticed next to no carbon buildup. Hmm maybe I'm on to something.
And yes, my answer to the smooth idle problem is a prolonged 240kmph blast.

Yeah. What he said.

[Deke NorCal]

Thank you very much Warren, I rarely get over 5k RPM's because of the damn auto tranny so I will definately take this advantage to drop it in Sport mode and let it rip hopefully blow that **** out




To do a good IT, wind over 6K in each gear at full throttle while accelerating to freeway speeds (at least!). Then cruise on the freeway in 3rd gear at 5.5 to 6K for about 1.5 minutes. If it still pings after that, repeat the process for a longer period, at a higher RPM.

After my IT, no more pinging at all, until time for another in a few weeks.

This blows carbon deposits out of the cylinder head, getting the compression ratio back down to normal.

[Warren N.CA]

Why I ping is because I don't wind over 5K ENOUGH (Trying to stay out of jail!).



Thank you very much Warren, I rarely get over 5k RPM's because of the damn auto tranny so I will definately take this advantage to drop it in Sport mode and let it rip hopefully blow that **** out

[632 Regal]

5,500 rpm for a couple of minutes!!!! wow, id have guessed that was a recipe for disaster.

[MarkD]

Thank you very much Warren, I rarely get over 5k RPM's because of the damn auto tranny so I will definately take this advantage to drop it in Sport mode and let it rip hopefully blow that **** out


The pinging can be due to various problems, such as:

- lean mixture caused by unmetered air leaks
- carbon deposits, as mentioned by others
- oil getting into combustion chamber.
- winter gas used in CA. Did the problem start in December? I think they switched to a different formulation (for winter) then. Other people even without chips had mentioned pinging that started in December.

Mark

[rickm]

IT works on just about anything. Worked on my wife's Volvo...she said it was running rough, I took it out on the interstate one night and laid into it. I don't think there is any carbon left in that engine. :) IT is especially good on cars that don't see a lot of spirited driving.

(Funny thing, I mentioned this to my mechanic, he agreed that it can help.)

[MarkD]

Warren,

Thanks for the explanation of the IT. I have an occasional slight ping in mine around 2,500-3,000rpm under light load. Even with 93 octane which I always use. Will try to blow it out if I can find a piece of road where I can run at 5,500 rpm for a couple of minutes. I don't want to try the ventil sauber yet, I just changed the oil to Mobil 1 15w-50 for the first time and don't want to dump it yet.


Hi Ken,

quite a few people with the m50tu have encountered pinging even with a stock chip (and 91 or 93 octane). These same cars also pinged with Dinan and Turner chips. I have not been able to determine exactly what the cause of this pinging was. When Scott Council had the problem, I sent him various chips to try and solve the problem, and he also tried new injectors. I'm starting to think the problem may be that a new MAF or knock sensors are required, that's about the only two items that weren't replaced.

Mark