SteelerNation82

Pinging on a 99 or 2000 and I immediately look at the driver's side valve cover design issue present with these years. How did your #3 and #6 plugs look when you pulled them? Did they have any traces of oil on them or around the threads?

Are you sure you don't have this issue?
http://www.miracerros.com/mustang/pcv_filter.htm

col2560

threads had some oil, what causes this? plugs looked ok on the tips. I have a filter on that hose from the pcv. seems the cooler plugs did the trick, no more pinging.
got them at autozone for $23 with a $10 cash back promo, so $13 for 6, bargain !!

col2560

so now after a few weeks the pinging is back to some degree, not as bad as before, maybe just the cooler weather. Do these engines have a knock sensor? if so, where is it? found this on the internet...http://www.stockwiseauto.com/product...FUUkgQodpx0EfA

SteelerNation82

That's exactly how my #3 and 6 plugs were. Some people exhibit fouled plugs altogether depending on how much oil the PCV draws through.

SteelerNation82

The Essex 3.8 never came with knock sensors, at least in the Mustangs it didn't.

Have you checked your plugs since you did the in line fuel filter mod? If that's what you were referring to previously. How do they look, particularly the oiled ones you saw before?

I had the pinging and oil on the spark plug threads and what solved my problems was swapping the driver's side valve cover baffle out with one from an '01+ F150 or Mustang. I didn't swap the entire valve cover because the used one I bought was unpainted vs. the factory ones on my car which are painted black. For me it was easier to just swap the inside baffle itself. It's 4x 7mm or 1/4" hex screws.

col2560

my next move is to take off the upper intake manifold and clean it out. Is it possible to clean the lower without removing it? I might also replace the MAF sensor and housing.

col2560

I put a breather on the passenger side rocker cover the other day, so now both side are done, then just a few days ago, for an unrelated issue I pulled every fuse in the under dash panel just to check them all and I also took the slack out of the throttle cable with some plastic wire joiners and now it seems like the pinging has completely gone !!! Not sure why, maybe with both breathers on it finally burnt off and gunk, beats me....

col2560

my el-cheapo breather system...








$4 each for the filters and a few $$ more for hose and "T" piece from lowes

col2560

ok, so now the knock is back again, I took the filters out and just run hose as the filters were blocking up with gunk, looks like condensate water and oil. I will pull the plugs and check / clean them and see if this helps. it's got me beat why it goes away for a while then comes back.

col2560

coming home from work last night I red-lined it a few times in neutral just to "blow the cobwebs out" and it seems to have stopped the pinging. all I can think is that there was some carbon build up that got blown off? beats me.