I had my TL-S for more than a year now (25000 miles), took it to the dealer 3 different times because im hearing this pinging at around 3500-4000 rpm. It sounds like marbles inside my engine. All the times that i took it in they told me they couldnt reproduce the noise. On one of the test drives they drove 27 miles at 13mpg and told me they STILL couldnt hear it. After that time i decided to live with the problem cuz the dealer was being useless.
I heard pinging is a detonation inside the pistons, wouldnt that detonation damage my engine in the long run?

 

What grade of fuel are you burning? Does it have a high percentage of oxygenated components/E85? What transmission do you have? How do you drive the car? Precisely, under what kinds of conditions do you hear this?

Pinging is not detonation in the strict sense. While prolonged pinging can cause damage, detonation can cause it very quickly because it is an actual explosion cause by more than one combustion front in the cylinder.

BTW, neither of these takes place in pistons.. it occurs within an engine's cylinders.

 

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Problem and Fixes

 

There's a thread on this for the TL-S here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158770

SouthernBoy: How do you describe the difference between "pinging" and "detonation"? I see how you describe detonation, but how do you describe "pinging"?

 

Pre-ignition (ping) is caused by hot spots within the combustion chamber which pre-ignite the fuel/air mix before the spark plug does this. These hot spots can be plugs of the wrong heat range, glowing carbon deposits (a prime cause), and super-heated exhaust valve faces to name a few. Coupled these with an octane rating which is too low for the engine. This uncontrolled burn can turn into detonation in the worse cases and can cause significant damage to an engine.

Detonation is an explosion caused by the sudden combustion of unburned mix counteracting with another flame front. Very bad, indeed.

Here's a link that may be interesting.

http://www.misterfixit.com/deton.htm

 

Why does the pinging seem to go away after I have pushed my car to the limit on the high way. Comes back ofcourse but this was just something I noticed

 

If the pinging is not real bad, the higher RPM range of the engine can allow the piston to "get past" a point in the compression stroke where pre-ignition would have had more of an impact at a lower RPM. In other words, you're "racing the ping".

Also, keep in mind that full spark advance generally occurs in the upper RPM ranges for this same reason.

 

I shouldve been more discriptive. The pinging occurs between 3000-4000 rmp under 50-60 % throttle range like everyone else.

I go on highway and take the car to the limiter 2 or three times in 3rd/4th gear.

Get off the higway, and the pinging under the previously mentioned conditions stop for a awhile.

 

I read all 25 pages of the Valve Chatter thread. I was just wondering about the engine in the long run... I want to ride my TL-S forever :P

 

I always use 91 Octane and thats the highest in california.

 

Acura updated the ECU on Bionicjoggingsuit's TL-S and that fixed his pinging problem. I believe it is an issue with the timing map that is possibly exacerbated by machining flaws.

I use 91 and mine pings intermittently.

 

We don't have 91 here in the area of Virginia where I live. I don't ever recall seeing it here and other places in the South. We have 93 and a few Sunoco's I think still carry 94. I burn Amoco (BP) 93 in both of my 3G TL's.

 

Hello,

I had the same problem with my 05 TL, it was the front heatshield that vibrates and makes the pinging noise.

Thanks.