i have a '98 stx f-150 4.2 w/42500 miles,i have recently developed a "pinging" sound from the engine usually @ freeway speeds going up slight inclines. today i dropped off the truck at the dealer for the third time for this same problem,each time i have been told "we cant find any thing wrong @this time"oddly enough the c.e.l. has been coming on as well the trouble codes read were,"misfire,leak detected @ evap and fuel cap press. i have replaced the plugs,wires and even tried a higher grade of petrol none of these thing have changed or eliminated the "pinging".i have searched the forums and have not found any real success stories with similar problems. has ford been able to fix this problem for any of you? if so what was done to correct it.

 

I have had the same trouble sounds like a lifter ticking, and your in 4th gear doing about 40, and you hit the gas and you get the pinging? I've tried a little of everything to fix it... heavier oil, oil treatment, new plugs, octane booster, higher grade gas... so it just comes back to haunt me... let me know okay

 

I've had the "pinging" problem as well in my V6, was looking for someway of eliminating the problem. With the advice of my brother-in-law I tried some "Outlaw" fuel system treatment and super concentrated fuel injector cleaner these additives that you add to the gas tank seem to be eliminating most of the "pinging" that I was experiencing. I dumped a bottle of each in a full gas tank, and after about 1/4 of a tank gone, the ping is just about gone. Now even under fast accleration going uphill, the ping is pretty much gone I'm not sure if this will fix your problem as well as it seems to be fixing mine, but it might be worth a try.

 

Does it sound like an "airy ticking" rather than a hard clack sound? I heard many people say that the injectors in these things are suprisingly loud. Maybe this is what youre hearing. At 40 mph in 4th, that's sort of a low speed for that gear (I usually do shift into 4th around 40) if you are planning to accelerate. So when you mash down the gas pedal, the injectors will spray gas into the engine but it's lugged down, so to speak, and doesn't rev up quickly. You would ordinarly be hearing the engine and fan roar up, but instead you only hear the injectors while the engine struggles to pull the truck of the low 1000's RPM range.

Maybe I am full of s*** (This may very likely be the case ). I've just read on here that the fuel injection on these things are known to "tick". I kind of wish I knew exactly what pinging sounds like so I could recognize it. The sound I hear when giving it gas in this scenario is an evenly-spaced airy (not like a hammer hitting a piece of metal) staccato sound, maybe at the rate of a few times per second, and it intensifies as I press down the pedal further (but decreases as the engine rpm's go up).

See newly posted thread https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...threadid=55321 . These are the kinds of things I've read in the past.

If I run her hard and wrap the engine out, the engine sounds perfectly normal. It is my understanding that if your engine was pinging, you'd hear it under these circumstances?

Ping to me, by the word itself, would somewhat resemble the sound you would hear if you tap a crystal vase or glass with a spoon (like on that fancy catfood commercial).

Someone correct me if I wrong so I gain a greater understanding, or confirm these thoughts

 

it is most definitely a metallic sound ,if you could imagine a solid metal ball in a metal canister being thrashed about violently . the truck is an automatic and it will only do it up inclines at freeway speeds.thanks for the replies gentlemen, i will let you know what if anything ford does to correct this problem

 

On my way home tonight I decided to hot rod my truck a bit, all went well. Then after all that I was driving home and in 4th gear at 40-50 mph my truck starts making a gawd awful tick... argh... So I'm going to pull plugs and stuff sometime this week and maybe send it to the shop... ARGH!!! let you know

 

For you guys who have over 40k on your trucks dont forget to look over the EGR system as well, this has to do with the pinging as much as the timing or the MAF....

I have seen a number of the EGR ports getting clogged and you have to remove the valve and clean the port as best as possible...