Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance I can NOT believe this !!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, after (2) P0171 last two weeks I finally bought the Electrical cleaner at Autozone. They didn't have the B12 stuff, so I had to buy a different brand.



Monday I put the CTA apart and I brought inside the house the MAF & IAT. I kept cleaning the parts throughout the day. I also cleaned the wire connectors (both on the sensor and on the car side).



Tuesday: I took the train, and I had to drive only 7 minutes top. Funny thing: I go hard on the car and I hear NO PINGING !!!!


Can you believa that ?? NO PINGING !! For the first time EVER !!


I thought the car wasn't warmed up enough, so I keep my expectations low.

Today I drove to work. 20 miles. i step on it and NO PINGING again !!!!


I can't believe it. I didn't even thought about cleaning the MAF and fixing the pinging problem. After all, I've been asking for years about the pinging and NO ONE ever mentioned MAF/IAT sensors !!!!


Is the car playing with me or the pinging is really GONE ????

Does that make any sense ??? Could eitehr the MAF or the IAT be causing the pinging ?????




Later

Well never thought of it....if you get a faulty reading from the MAF it may (or seems to) throw your a/f off. At least that is what I am thinking.

Yes,

If the hotwire on the MAF is dirty, it will indicate less air in entering the engine than is true.

Computer adjusts fuel to match the incorrectly smaller volume of air.

O2 sensor then indicates lean P0171 IIRC.

An engine running lean will run warmer, and have a greater tendancy to ping.

Fix the lean condition, and it is reasonable that the ping goes away.

HTH,

TB

Oh, I thought about it, I just visit the Zetec area of the board much.

Even though my 1st Contour was a 96 GL with a Zetec.

I had your very issue and yes, my pinging went away when the MAF was cleaned.

TB

The Cleaning of the MAF is what did it. On my 1994 Mustang Gt it was a common problem for those cars to ping with little timing advancement and 93 octane fuel.

I would always pull the sensor for the MAF out of the housing and clean it with a cue tip and some rubbing alchohol.

Remember..... All you guys running the K&N type filters are making this even more of an issue. Because those filters are "charged" with the oily substance.....It will attract more dirt to these sensors. Therefore they will need to be maintained more often.

When I cleaned the MAF on my mustang, not only did it clear up the pinging but it also picked up over half a second in the quarter mile. No joking. This was an older car with more miles but....Just an example of how bad it screwed up the a/f mixture.

My friend had a K&N drop in air filter on his 2000 mustang and I kept telling him to clean it. Well, guess what he got... an all new MAF and intake manifold cleaning (all covered under warranty).

Hmmm, I gotta try that. My car has pinged for the last 2 years or so.......