djb1187

For some reason when i run with the stock tune or 87 performance tune I can hear a occasional ping its not very frequent. When I read the octane thread it said that it could be because either terrible gas or carbon build up. I also noticed when I run 87 octane gas the engine has a tendency to bog when I accelerate hard in 2nd or 3rd out of a turn. When I run 93 it doesnt bog at all, I can floor it going 40 in 5th gear and it doesnt bog it just accelerates real slow. Please someone tell me whats going on and if I do have a carbon buildup how can i get rid of it. One other question is pretty stupid but Im just curious that if I run the 93 tune with the timing all the way up, what will that do to my gas mileage just out of curiosity. Thanx

sprostang

Just run 93 octane. Problem solved.

svollmer

Yea, 93 won't hurt. Did or does your car sit for long periods of time? That could be a cause for carbon buildup, but since you have an '01 I wouldn't think it would be a problem yet. I'm assuming your programmer advances your ignition timing a bit? (I don't know much about tuners so if I'm wrong someone correct me.) Maybe that combined with 87 octane is causing the pinging. I'm not sure what you know about octane, but the quick and dirty explanation is that higher octane fuels take a little bit longer to combust in the cylinder. With advanced timing the 87 could be combusting too early and causing the pinging, and using the 93 might be slowing down the combustion enough to avoid the pinging.

Dan04COBRA

Everyone will say just run 93, but you are jusut masking a problem. Sometimes the quality of gas in some area's doesn't quite come out to be 87 octance.

When I had my 02 GT, using local 87 it pinged like crazy. I went out of town and filled up with 87 and had absolutely no pinging and it was a hot humid and nasty day out.

The best thing you can do, instead of just running 93 (which is expensive and you have no need for it unless you bump your timing or go with FI), is to figure out why it's pinging. Have you tried seafoam?

so1o2k3

You can get rid of carbon build up by just running the engine real hard can't you? Go race somebody that should do the trick

BBond007

First off, discontine running your tune.

See if the pinging on 87 goes away.

If so, you have a problem with your tune.

Next, you won't get carbon buildup by letting the vehicle sit.

Carbon buildup comes from lugging the engine (at low RPM) on a regular basis or running overly-rich for an extended period of time.

Finally, I suggest using Seafoam in a vacuum line if you really think you have carbon.

Be careful because you could hydro-lock the engine.

I did this procedure to mine, and I had way less carbon than I expected.

On a heavily carboned car you'll actually see a pile of under the exhaust pipes afterwards...

Dave2000GT

Change your fuel filter you are probably starving the engine and causing pinging, running higher octance will only mask the problem and waste money.

Reaper

i have a 2003 Mach 1 and i run with 93 octane and after reading everybodys comments and most saying just run with 93 octane i was wondering myself whats the difference between 87, 89 and 93 octane.. my guess is better combustion..?

GTowner4life

will removing the cats witn an O/R mid pipe increase the amount of carbon in the cat back and cause a build up or problem?

Chopper

Higher octane numbers are more resistant to detonating,that's all.Lower numbers don't burn faster,dirtier,cleaner,or slower than higher numbers.
If you want to run cheaper gas you can run 87 in a Mach 1 due to the fact that the four cam engine has a knock sensor.This marvel of technology retards the timing just enough to allow the use of 87 octane fuel.You will lose some HP due to the retarded timing.I ran 87 for years in my Lincoln MK VIII and had no ill effects.Fuel economy didn't change and the loss of HP wasn't noticeable either.I smoked a non-pi Mustang Gt twice.