Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 03 1.8 engine pings..

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Mon 29 Sep 2008 17:50
03 1.8 engine pings.. - djmontara
i bought a 2003 Focus 1.8 petrol last year and have had this problem which i have not been able to solve...
i cant really describe it but ive put up a youtube clip of my car with the problem in a feeble attempt to get some ideas from people...
basically ive changed the whole ignition system.. ive checked for vacuum leaks.. even had the whole PCV assembly changed... had fuel filter changed and air filter.. checked the MAF.. unplugged it.. still did the same thing... so i guess its not causing the problem.. although ive got some readings from my scanner regarding my ignition advancement.. at idle when warm i seemed to get readings of +26 degrees.. (retarded)and when i blip WOT it advances to bout +1... but surely at idle it should be at 0 degrees? i donno.. im not clued up bout engine timing... also u can hear that the engine is sputtery at idle from the exhaust... fuel trim seem alright.. LTFT was -1.5 and STFT was around
-3.1... just to check though.. what should the ignition advance be like at idle?
anyways.. heres the link..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPYxoFwG5io

oh and i forgot to mention that there are no codes at all.. not even pending ones... and also.. when u leave it to idle, when sitting in side.. occasionally ull feel it stumble and then pick itself up again...

thanks!


matt
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Mon 29 Sep 2008 22:33
03 1.8 engine pings.. - madf
Mileage ?
Service history?


You have not described what the problem is... all I saw was someone blipping a throttle on a tappety engine.

What are the driving characteristics?
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Tue 30 Sep 2008 23:41
03 1.8 engine pings.. - djmontara
oh.. 42000 miles... full service history..
its pinging... its not a tappety engine.. and when you do WHAT it pings badly.. even worse under heavy load..
though i did some testing today with the maf.. unplugged it and invoked LOS and i noticed the exhaust tone wasn't sputtery anymore.. and it didnt ping at all..
so i'm inclined to think its probably the maf.. but yes do you have any other suggestions based on the data i've given?

thanks

{'txt' talk substituted for proper words as unlike a mobile phone, we're not limited to 160 characters here}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/10/2008 at 00:42

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