Colder Spark Plugs for detonation/pinging?

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Has anyone tried this on a vehicle that pings? Any noticeable draw backs, especially in cold weather? Thinking about 1 step colder plugs for my 94 Corolla when it warms back up this spring. The vehicle pings quite a bit in hot weather especially with the A/C on.

Thanks!
 
I did try this on my old 1st-gen Mazda MPV, along w/ octane boosters. Neither really helped.

A few years ago I started pulling down the engine to fix some oil & coolant leaks, and incidentally found that the PCV valve (fairly inaccessible) was blocked. That cured the pinging. I'd try that first.
 
Depends on what's causing it.

Pinging is typically "end gas autoignition", which is where the gas at the remote end of the chamber gets heated and compressed by the expanding combustion "wave", and decides to go off on it's own...so a plug change typically won't help there.
 
As well as a colder plug, another thing we used to do back in the day was go away from the projected electrode. So instead of an N12Y, we'd use an N8, or an N5 instead of an N9Y (Champion, and those are the same heat ranges...I don't now what they'd be in NGK). Bathtub combustion chambers and 2 valve heads were prone to it, and carburettors didn't help.
 
Too hot a plug can cause pre-ignition. That's different to detonation , and more damaging.

Pinging (described by Shannow above) is a synonym for detonation, not pre-ignition.

Apologies if this is obvious, but these terms are widely confused and abused.
 
Is the air intake in good shape? An engine might ping if the intake plenum is cracked or missing or disconnected. The engine should be breathing cool air from a fender well or down low in the grill. If the engine is old enough to have the old style warm air intake from around the exhaust manifold, make sure it is shutting off this warm air in the summer.
 
Pre ignition and post ignition (detonation) are both auto ignition, and pre ignition can cause post ignition. We used to fine tune on the road with ''ping'' - lug it down to about 25mph in top gear and pull away...just a trace of ping was spot on.
 
Originally Posted By: Superflop
I'd start by checking the timing. I'd also do a decarb with distilled water and run a fuel system cleaner.


x2

Worked great on my older saturns. You should see the blue haze everywhere when doing this.
 
asoline engine downsizing combined with a turbocharger is one of the more effective approaches to improve fuel efficiency without sacrificing power performance. The benefit comes from lower pumping loss, lower mechanical friction due to ‘downsizing’ of the engine displacement and ‘down-speeding’ of the engine by using higher transmission gear ratios which is allowed by the higher engine torque at lower engine speeds. However abnormal combustion referred to as Low-Speed Pre-ignition (LSPI) is known to be able to occur in low-speed and high-torque conditions. It is a potential restriction to maximize the engine performance and its benefit, therefore prevention of LSPI is strongly desired for long-term durability of engine performance.According to recent technical reports, auto-ignition of an engine oil droplet in a combustion chamber is believed to be one of major contributing factors of LSPI and its formulations have a significant effect on LSPI frequency. Toyota has reported that the oxidation stability of engine oil can be a dominant factor of its auto-ignition, which is a function of its base oil and additive components, of which an example was found that calcium-based detergents significantly increase LSPI frequency.Based on these findings, we have developed a new engine oil product which can reduce LSPI frequency to less than 10% of that of conventional ILSAC certified gasoline engine oils. High quality base oils (Group III, Group IV) and optimized additive components were formulated in which the amount of calcium-based detergent was reduced to levels lower than general ILSAC oils, and a sufficient amount of anti-oxidants were added. This newly developed engine oil is scheduled to be introduced for Toyota's new turbocharged gasoline engine vehicles. The new engine was released in July 2014 in the Japanese market. Toyota plans to subsequently launch the engine in Europe and the rest of the world.
 
Need to decarb the engine. Run some Redline SL1 for a tank of fuel , then run some GM top end engine cleaner & do a good piston soak a couple times. Change the oil & you should have lowered your compression ratio enough from all the carbon buildup
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
To add to the list EGR properly working?


That's what I would do. Top engine decarbon and vacuum leaks. Messing with different plugs is not addressing the issue.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: dblshock
asoline engine downsizing combined with a turbocharger is one of the more effective approaches to improve fuel efficiency without sacrificing power performance. The benefit comes from lower pumping loss, lower mechanical friction due to ‘downsizing’ of the engine displacement and ‘down-speeding’ of the engine by using higher transmission gear ratios which is allowed by the higher engine torque at lower engine speeds. However abnormal combustion referred to as Low-Speed Pre-ignition (LSPI) is known to be able to occur in low-speed and high-torque conditions. It is a potential restriction to maximize the engine performance and its benefit, therefore prevention of LSPI is strongly desired for long-term durability of engine performance.According to recent technical reports, auto-ignition of an engine oil droplet in a combustion chamber is believed to be one of major contributing factors of LSPI and its formulations have a significant effect on LSPI frequency. Toyota has reported that the oxidation stability of engine oil can be a dominant factor of its auto-ignition, which is a function of its base oil and additive components, of which an example was found that calcium-based detergents significantly increase LSPI frequency.Based on these findings, we have developed a new engine oil product which can reduce LSPI frequency to less than 10% of that of conventional ILSAC certified gasoline engine oils. High quality base oils (Group III, Group IV) and optimized additive components were formulated in which the amount of calcium-based detergent was reduced to levels lower than general ILSAC oils, and a sufficient amount of anti-oxidants were added. This newly developed engine oil is scheduled to be introduced for Toyota's new turbocharged gasoline engine vehicles. The new engine was released in July 2014 in the Japanese market. Toyota plans to subsequently launch the engine in Europe and the rest of the world.


Very interesting stuff. Which oil brand/type are you referring to?
 
Originally Posted By: dblshock
asoline engine downsizing combined with a turbocharger is one of the more effective approaches to improve fuel efficiency without sacrificing power performance. The benefit comes from lower pumping loss, lower mechanical friction due to ‘downsizing’ of the engine displacement and ‘down-speeding’ of the engine by using higher transmission gear ratios which is allowed by the higher engine torque at lower engine speeds. However abnormal combustion referred to as Low-Speed Pre-ignition (LSPI) is known to be able to occur in low-speed and high-torque conditions. It is a potential restriction to maximize the engine performance and its benefit, therefore prevention of LSPI is strongly desired for long-term durability of engine performance.According to recent technical reports, auto-ignition of an engine oil droplet in a combustion chamber is believed to be one of major contributing factors of LSPI and its formulations have a significant effect on LSPI frequency. Toyota has reported that the oxidation stability of engine oil can be a dominant factor of its auto-ignition, which is a function of its base oil and additive components, of which an example was found that calcium-based detergents significantly increase LSPI frequency.Based on these findings, we have developed a new engine oil product which can reduce LSPI frequency to less than 10% of that of conventional ILSAC certified gasoline engine oils. High quality base oils (Group III, Group IV) and optimized additive components were formulated in which the amount of calcium-based detergent was reduced to levels lower than general ILSAC oils, and a sufficient amount of anti-oxidants were added. This newly developed engine oil is scheduled to be introduced for Toyota's new turbocharged gasoline engine vehicles. The new engine was released in July 2014 in the Japanese market. Toyota plans to subsequently launch the engine in Europe and the rest of the world.


It is generally polite to post the source when quoting somebody else's work:

http://papers.sae.org/2014-01-2785/

Originally Posted By: SAE Paper 2014-01-2785
Gasoline engine downsizing combined with a turbocharger is one of the more effective approaches to improve fuel efficiency without sacrificing power performance. The benefit comes from lower pumping loss, lower mechanical friction due to ‘downsizing’ of the engine displacement and ‘down-speeding’ of the engine by using higher transmission gear ratios which is allowed by the higher engine torque at lower engine speeds. However abnormal combustion referred to as Low-Speed Pre-ignition (LSPI) is known to be able to occur in low-speed and high-torque conditions. It is a potential restriction to maximize the engine performance and its benefit, therefore prevention of LSPI is strongly desired for long-term durability of engine performance.According to recent technical reports, auto-ignition of an engine oil droplet in a combustion chamber is believed to be one of major contributing factors of LSPI and its formulations have a significant effect on LSPI frequency. Toyota has reported that the oxidation stability of engine oil can be a dominant factor of its auto-ignition, which is a function of its base oil and additive components, of which an example was found that calcium-based detergents significantly increase LSPI frequency.Based on these findings, we have developed a new engine oil product which can reduce LSPI frequency to less than 10% of that of conventional ILSAC certified gasoline engine oils. High quality base oils (Group III, Group IV) and optimized additive components were formulated in which the amount of calcium-based detergent was reduced to levels lower than general ILSAC oils, and a sufficient amount of anti-oxidants were added. This newly developed engine oil is scheduled to be introduced for Toyota's new turbocharged gasoline engine vehicles. The new engine was released in July 2014 in the Japanese market. Toyota plans to subsequently launch the engine in Europe and the rest of the world.
 
Originally Posted By: WhizkidTN
Originally Posted By: dblshock
asoline engine downsizing combined with a turbocharger is one of the more effective approaches to improve fuel efficiency without sacrificing power performance. The benefit comes from lower pumping loss, lower mechanical friction due to ‘downsizing’ of the engine displacement and ‘down-speeding’ of the engine by using higher transmission gear ratios which is allowed by the higher engine torque at lower engine speeds. However abnormal combustion referred to as Low-Speed Pre-ignition (LSPI) is known to be able to occur in low-speed and high-torque conditions. It is a potential restriction to maximize the engine performance and its benefit, therefore prevention of LSPI is strongly desired for long-term durability of engine performance.According to recent technical reports, auto-ignition of an engine oil droplet in a combustion chamber is believed to be one of major contributing factors of LSPI and its formulations have a significant effect on LSPI frequency. Toyota has reported that the oxidation stability of engine oil can be a dominant factor of its auto-ignition, which is a function of its base oil and additive components, of which an example was found that calcium-based detergents significantly increase LSPI frequency.Based on these findings, we have developed a new engine oil product which can reduce LSPI frequency to less than 10% of that of conventional ILSAC certified gasoline engine oils. High quality base oils (Group III, Group IV) and optimized additive components were formulated in which the amount of calcium-based detergent was reduced to levels lower than general ILSAC oils, and a sufficient amount of anti-oxidants were added. This newly developed engine oil is scheduled to be introduced for Toyota's new turbocharged gasoline engine vehicles. The new engine was released in July 2014 in the Japanese market. Toyota plans to subsequently launch the engine in Europe and the rest of the world.


Very interesting stuff. Which oil brand/type are you referring to?


It would be Toyota's own engine oil, based on what is being stated in the SAE paper. This would be blended by somebody else, but to Toyota's specs. You would be able to source it through your Toyota dealer presumably.
 
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