Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Engine Ping, or my throw out bearing?

First off, my car has a known noisy throwout bearing. I can hear a rattling sound at idle and if I push the clutch in it stops, let clutch out, it resumes. Clutch also seems to engage higher up in the pedal travel than it used to. I don't think it will be too long before it needs replacement.

The issue I'm more worried about is that for a while now (about as long as I've noticed throwout bearing noise) I've had a noise that sounds a lot like engine ping between about 4,000-5,000 RPM. I can hear it whether I am really getting on it, or just driving normally but winding it out a little bit more between shifts.

Anyway, I started out with a good MAF cleaning tonight just to make sure (this cured a ping I had in the past), and then went for a ride. I can make the car make all kinds of metallic rattling noise, right between about 4,000 - 5,300 RPM, but at other RPM's I don't hear it.

The weird thing is if I put the car in 5th gear and bury the throttle, with the engine at about 2,000 RPM or so, I can't get it to make the sound at all. My experience with pinging engines has been that they will ping the loudest under a heavy load, which was what I was trying to simulate by flooring it in 5th gear at a really low speed.

The engine seems to have the same power as it always does, it's just noisy between those higher RPM's. Since the noise sounds similar to engine ping, I want to be careful so I don't destroy the engine. I need to use this car for a drive through some mountain roads and if I have to take it easy on it and keep it in the lower RPM's the whole time, it is going to be a very slow, long trip.

I'm wondering if this noise could be due to my throw out bearing, or if it is actually engine ping? Maybe I should throw some high octane gas/additives in the tank to see if the noise stops? Thanks for any info!

Definitely throw some stuff in the gas tank. Don't run Arco shite or the like. Personally, when the tank is low I'd fill it about a quarter full with premium and also add 16oz of Marvel Mystery Oil into the tank as well. Drive it as normal and then on your next fill (and put the stuff in before the gas) put in the lucas fuel system treatment per their directions.
That should clean stuff up in the heads and injection and also lubricate that area of the motor as well.
If its pinging, you should be good after that!

Any desent fuel system cleaner will help fix this problem if that pining is coming from a gas problem. Or use a higher octane.

Thanks for the responses guys, but the update is that I have just found out my catalytic converter is clogged up, and I'm sure the load it put on the engine is what caused this.