2013 Nissan Micra 1.2L, getting engine pinking when accelerating, particularly bad if turn the A/C on. Mechanic suggested to try running on 95 or 98 which I did for three weeks but it made no difference. Car has new sparkplugs, air filter, have cleaned the throttle body which was quite clean to start with, and car has been regularly serviced, car is sitting at 120,000kms. Have spoken to a Nissan mechanic who was quite vague. Unsure what else to look at? Thanks
differentthings,
Dec 9, 8:45pm
Pinking us caused by the spark plug firing before the piston had reached tdc. It can be caused by a number of things. Timing out, wrong plugs, wrong fuel, carbon build up just to name a few
franc123,
Dec 9, 8:50pm
This is the 3 cyl engine? I would be looking at what the ignition timing is actually doing with a scan tool. I'd suspect a faulty knock sensor first. The timing chain may also be getting a bit stretched by now , again this can be measured with a scan tool.
intrade,
Dec 9, 9:46pm
carbon build up causes high compression= preignition- other then that wrong timing streched chain etc. wrong sparkplug "gap can do similar . my 1978 gti golf would spit and chogh and buck untill i set the plug gap and it ran fine.
kazbanz,
Dec 9, 10:33pm
Not being a sycophant but ^^^ wiot he said
serf407,
Dec 9, 11:27pm
The above, but maybe less likely is something like a cracked valve spring seat or other parts in the valves.
bigfatmat1,
Dec 10, 7:31am
ummm spark is always before top dead centre btdc. Also possibly worth noting the difference between pre ignition and pinking. Different causes wich you've confused for one. Apologies for the technical corrections.
lythande1,
Dec 10, 7:49am
Timing is out.
gazzat22,
Dec 10, 10:04am
I would look at what if anything was done before it started "Pinking".Was it after some work was done on it and if so what was done.!
itsafamilything,
Dec 10, 10:37am
Is it ACTUALLY pinking? Perhaps it is something else? IF it is pinking, is it also overheating, even slightly? It could be that the electric fan is not coming on? A scan tool and check freeze data to look at temperature readings and test fan operation also. Outlined is ONE area to investigate.
muppet_slayer,
Dec 10, 11:05am
yes I would investigate more. Think did the 'pinking' come on slowly and progressively got worse, or was it just there one day? Was that the day it had a service and new plugs etc? Some things to think about.
muppet_slayer,
Dec 10, 11:12am
I wasn't sure whether oil burning causes, it's actually called 'pinging' according to Uncle google, or not.
Uncle also said this.
"oil consumption very definitely CAUSES pinging very often. Oil mist in the air/fuel charge ignites more easily than gasoline vapor (counter-intuitive, but true- oil has a lower effective octane rating than gasoline)) so an oil-burning engine is more prone to detonation than one that doesn't burn oil"
muppet_slayer,
Dec 10, 11:15am
If the wrong oil is used when it was serviced then it could very well be burning oil which is causing the pre detonation.
mrfxit,
Dec 10, 12:52pm
worth noting the difference between pinging and pinking ;-) Apologies for the technical corrections
Yea yea, suffering in high humidity here.
mrfxit,
Dec 10, 12:54pm
Yea, it can be an issue with tight tolerance modern engines
tygertung,
Dec 10, 7:04pm
Pre-ignition tends to melt holes in pistons, pinking isn't as dangerous.
Probably bad ignition timing.
marte,
Dec 10, 8:10pm
A buildup of carbon in the head raises compression & then causes compression ignition & hot bits of carbon will help start preignition & 'knocking', which is different.
What sort of fuel does it say to use under the fuel cap?
marte,
Dec 10, 9:16pm
There are three types of fuel used in Japan: Regular gasoline (レギュラー), High-octane gasoline（ハイオク） or Diesel（軽油）. Use of leaded petrol is not allowed in Japan. Under Japanese Industrial Standard, octane rating of gasoline must be 89.0 or above for Regular and 96.0 or above for High-octane respectively. High-octane gasolines commonly sold in Japan normally have 98-100 octane rating regardless of brands. There are only two types of gasoline sold in Japan. Med-grade gasoline with octane rating 95 or similar, which is sold in many other countries, is not available in Japan. Diesel fuel is called “Keiyu (軽油) “in Japan
Check the intake boot. With the engine under load the boot could be stretching and opening up a crack. this will cause a lean mixture (if the MAF is before the boot). Take the boot off and bend to check.
tygertung,
Dec 11, 7:33am
The word I was thinking of was Detonation, or pre-ignition.
tygertung,
Dec 11, 1:29pm
Fortunately you don't tend to get detonation in normal performance NA engines. More in turbo or 2 stroke engines.
Perhaps there is a leak in the vacuum advance diaphragm, do they still have those?
Check the timing with a timing light (if you can) and see if it is correct at idle. rev the engine up higher slowly and see that the timing advances and then open the throttle to see if it retards again when there is a loss of vacuum.
If it isn't doing all these things, that could be a problem.
m16d,
Dec 11, 2:43pm
If it pings on 98, then it's got to be the timing too far advanced.
stornello,
Dec 11, 8:17pm
Detonation is post ignition.
bigfatmat1,
Dec 11, 10:54pm
its a 2013 car prob no timing marks. As it is all computer controlled and mon adjustable. It probably doesn't use a knock sensor since they been uncommon for nearly a decade
tygertung,
Dec 12, 6:18am
Wow, so how does one test the timing then. So if it's out, one is stuffed?
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