2002 Protege5 Engine Pinging
 

Has anyone had any problems with the engine pinging when HOT? I'm aware of the cold rattle, but when its running hot, I get a pinging mostly in 3rd gear at about 2500 RPM. It sounds like there is a flamenco dancer under the hood.

I have an AEM Short Ram on it, and I'll admit it seems to only happen when I'm running cheap (87 octane) gas.

Any thoughts?

Thx in advance

What kind of mileage do you have on the car?

Have you changed the spark plugs?

If not, and your mileage is 30,000+, swap them out for new ones - use the same plugs as stock.

Although a little pricey, it's not a bad idea to change the wires, too. I plan on doing this at my next plug change (60,000 miles) if necessary.

Start with the plugs, and see if it helps.

~HH