Engine Ping! - 2021 Ford Ranger Tremor

[RepMontreal]

@RepMontreal

- OEM exhaust.
- Does not look not lifted. Although it does have bigger tires. Maybe a smaller spacer lift but that shouldn't matter.
- Your rear passenger leaf spring looks cockeyed in that one picture though?
- Does the front passenger tire have a bald spot? The whole inside tread looks flat. Unless its a camera thing.

It doe's look sort of crooked, I'll have to run out and look at that real fast. The tire is just the camera and lighting. The tires are in good condition and I just had them rotated after that trip to the Dragon where that picture was taken. I live off of the worst road in Alachua county, so I wouldn't be surprised if my suspension was a little wonky......Just checked and the leaf spring is crooked - good spot! I'll have to see if they can put it back where it needs to be.

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[Frenchy]

It's under warranty right? Take it to the dealer

 

[RepMontreal]

Intake Filter would not cause this... As long as the Intake pipe and sensor is the same. My money is on tune

That's what I was thinking. I haven't midgrade or 93 in it yet. I'll have to try that at next fillup, but this truck is rated for 87, so it should run without any pinging issues if the ECU hasn't been messed with right? I haven't seen anyone else with a 5g ranger complain about this..

 

[RepMontreal]

It's under warranty right? Take it to the dealer

It should have the factory 5year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty. I have a drop-off scheduled for Monday at the dealer in the next city...the Ford dealer in my city doesn't have any technicians....

 

[Dgc333]

FWIW, the Ford Performance tune comes with a K&N filter. Could be you have the FP tune and it requires 91 octane minimum.

If the tune was originally installed by the dealer or was registered through FP the dealer should be able to look up the VIN and tell you.

If nothing else have the dealer reflash the stock tune

 

[Jhbryaniv]

I've just posted a few pics. Let me know if you need any more or if you want a picture of something specific. It all looks stock to me besides the tires and front bumper. The bumper doesn't weigh too much. I think its around 300, but that's not enough to cause a major shift in MPG and I don't generally have anything in the bed. When I was towing the bikes in the back with all our gear in the cab it was easily another 1200lbs and I didn't see much of a shift in gas mileage. I think I got 16.1 average over the whole trip. I usually get 16.4 if I drive it without thinking about how I'm driving it and 16.7 if I'm being gentle with it. That's still less than a F150 V8 coming out of this 4 cylinder though...

Nice looking truck - I have a tremor too.

When i hit the skinny pedal hard all the time I drop to 16's, when I am gentle I get high 17's. don't worry about your MPG's to much.

The tires are not OEM - tremor should have come with general grabbers - at least in 23 they did. but not uncommon on used vehicle to have different tires. they are similar weights to stock.

the truck comes a smidge higher from factory ~an inch.

I came from a subaru I got 17 mpg max on when I was on the highway doing 60 mph on cruise control so anything above that is good to me. . . But I did expect more from these trucks empty than I am getting...

Sorry if I missed it, did you buy it from a dealer or private sale?

 

[Jhbryaniv]

It doe's look sort of crooked, I'll have to run out and look at that real fast. The tire is just the camera and lighting. The tires are in good condition and I just had them rotated after that trip to the Dragon where that picture was taken. I live off of the worst road in Alachua county, so I wouldn't be surprised if my suspension was a little wonky......Just checked and the leaf spring is crooked - good spot! I'll have to see if they can put it back where it needs to be.

I saw that picture and my first thought was tail of the dragon. LOL

Alachua is some nice country. Just not mountain enough for me. LOL

 

[RonG]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum. I'm having an engine ping/spark knock issue with my 2021 Ford Ranger. From what I can tell, besides a K&N air filter, the truck is completely stock. I've kept up with the oil changes and changed out the rear pads, but other than that I haven't done much to it. I started noticing the issue when a check engine light came on for P0402 exhaust gas recirculation excessive. The code would come on intermittently and usually clear after a few key cycles. During a trip up to NC hauling two bikes in the bed, the code came on 12 times and I started to notice the engine ping. I'm not sure if it began during the trip or if it was always there, as I only noticed it because my radio was off (I usually keep it on). Long story short, I took it to the dealership and they replaced the DPFE sensor. The engine light hasn't come back on yet, but the engine ping is still there. I've rescheduled to bring the truck back. My question is - What could cause this issue? The truck has 37k miles on it and I use it mostly to commute. The ping occurs under normal to moderate acceleration once the transmission shifts into 5th gear and will continue to ping all the way into 8th. It's intermittent, as it doesn't occur every time, but it does happen. I've only noticed it at normal op temperature, and it sounds like someone dropped some glass ball bearings in the cylinders. I live in Florida, and the hot weather seems to make it worse. I understand that higher octane fuel should fight this issue, but it kind of defeats the purpose of buying a smaller truck if I have to use premium. This truck is rated for 87 octane, and that's what I use. From what I understand, ping may occur due to excessive compression and/or hot air. I doubt the K&N air filter would cause it to run that lean, but I may be mistaken. I'm wondering if I have excessive carbon buildup on the pistons from the EGR issue causing higher compression. All this emmissions crap they put on these newer engines is a real pain (And, of course, it's only covered under a 2 year warranty). Thoughts?

Much appreciated, RepMontreal

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum. I'm having an engine ping/spark knock issue with my 2021 Ford Ranger. From what I can tell, besides a K&N air filter, the truck is completely stock. I've kept up with the oil changes and changed out the rear pads, but other than that I haven't done much to it. I started noticing the issue when a check engine light came on for P0402 exhaust gas recirculation excessive. The code would come on intermittently and usually clear after a few key cycles. During a trip up to NC hauling two bikes in the bed, the code came on 12 times and I started to notice the engine ping. I'm not sure if it began during the trip or if it was always there, as I only noticed it because my radio was off (I usually keep it on). Long story short, I took it to the dealership and they replaced the DPFE sensor. The engine light hasn't come back on yet, but the engine ping is still there. I've rescheduled to bring the truck back. My question is - What could cause this issue? The truck has 37k miles on it and I use it mostly to commute. The ping occurs under normal to moderate acceleration once the transmission shifts into 5th gear and will continue to ping all the way into 8th. It's intermittent, as it doesn't occur every time, but it does happen. I've only noticed it at normal op temperature, and it sounds like someone dropped some glass ball bearings in the cylinders. I live in Florida, and the hot weather seems to make it worse. I understand that higher octane fuel should fight this issue, but it kind of defeats the purpose of buying a smaller truck if I have to use premium. This truck is rated for 87 octane, and that's what I use. From what I understand, ping may occur due to excessive compression and/or hot air. I doubt the K&N air filter would cause it to run that lean, but I may be mistaken. I'm wondering if I have excessive carbon buildup on the pistons from the EGR issue causing higher compression. All this emmissions crap they put on these newer engines is a real pain (And, of course, it's only covered under a 2 year warranty). Thoughts?

Much appreciated, RepMontreal

Made i chime in? I have the same year and model as yours with 27k. with the issues transmissions, and changed the oil in the transmission. I have corrected some of the problems. One is the grease in the drive shaft, replaced the spark plugs, I REMOVED THE PERFORMANCE FILTER, Major improvement. What I discovered was the oil in the filter was blocking some of the airflow. Reducing the MPGs. Now I'm getting 24-25 before 20. Try that and see if you get some improvements. By the way, a warranty is only good if you can get done in a timely matter. Transmission wait is 3 months.

 

[RepMontreal]

Nice looking truck - I have a tremor too.

When i hit the skinny pedal hard all the time I drop to 16's, when I am gentle I get high 17's. don't worry about your MPG's to much.

The tires are not OEM - tremor should have come with general grabbers - at least in 23 they did. but not uncommon on used vehicle to have different tires. they are similar weights to stock.

the truck comes a smidge higher from factory ~an inch.

I came from a subaru I got 17 mpg max on when I was on the highway doing 60 mph on cruise control so anything above that is good to me. . . But I did expect more from these trucks empty than I am getting...

Sorry if I missed it, did you buy it from a dealer or private sale?

I purchased it used from a dealer in Gainesville, Florida with 16k miles on it.

 

[maxbottomtime]

Do not suggest it is tuned to the dealer, unless you’d like to kiss your warranty goodbye on this issue.

 

[RepMontreal]

Do not suggest it is tuned to the dealer, unless you’d like to kiss your warranty goodbye on this issue.

That was my worry, I think I'm better off taking it to a mom and pop shop to see if they'll reflash the ecu

 

[Motorpsychology]

I'll switch back to the stock filter. Do you think 16.4 mpg is low for these trucks? I really don't drive it that aggressively and it's mostly on the highway with some city miles thrown in. I rarely put it in sport mode. Another thing I forgot to mention that may be completely irrelevant to this thread is that I had to replace the front universal joint on the main driveshaft at 33k miles. It was completely shot. Needle bearings had turned to dust. I'll post some pics of the spark plugs soon. I'm just waiting for them to send to my email....internet is slow where I live.

I bet with 91 or 93 octane and OEM air filter, your pinging will all but disappear, and your milage wili improve. I regularly get 23-25 mpg empty, mixed driving with my FX4 and it runs quieter with 91 E0 over 87 E10.

 

[Motorpsychology]

I bought the truck used, so I don't know. The only evidence we have that it may be tuned is a K&N air filter and some poor gas mileage.

Check under the hood for non- original looking devices.

 

[got3fords]

Wouldn't ping thow codes? I accidentally put 87 in my tuned truck and although I put octane booster in it with less than 50 miles on the 87, I never noticed any ping.
Also, I can't image an over-oiled, higher flow performance filter suffocating the engine enough to cause ping, unless it was oiled with the wrong oil. And again, codes?

 

[EJH]

Wouldn't ping thow codes? I accidentally put 87 in my tuned truck and although I put octane booster in it with less than 50 miles on the 87, I never noticed any ping.
Also, I can't image an over-oiled, higher flow performance filter suffocating the engine enough to cause ping, unless it was oiled with the wrong oil. And again, codes?

My 2.0L direct injection turbo engine in my Subaru does not throw codes when it pings due to low quality gas (low speed pre ignition). I think just pinging alone usually won't throw a code unless something else goes awry due to the pinging.

I second the others who suggest running a few tanks of premium gas as a test. Given all the other modifications on your truck (based on the pictures), I bet you have some kind of engine tune.

While stock Ford turbos can (and will) perform better with higher octane gas, they are engineered to not require it. Many never use more than 87 octane and have no issue.

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