Hello I have a 94 Mustang GT 5 speed and I'm getting detonation on hard acceleration and second gear if I run hytest through it and octane booster it goes away almost completely any ideas and the car is completely stock I've changed the plugs cap rotor I haven't done the spark plug wires yet any help would be greatly appreciated
Engine PING HELP
- Thread starter 94chirps
- Start date
You either have a tank of really poor quality gasoline or you ignition timing is too far advanced.
Have you made any changes to the car's tune?
What is the ignition timing set at?
Did this just start since time that you filled the gas tank?
The car is completely stock and in order for it not to Ping I have to run 93 and a bottle of octane booster the expensive stuff and then it barely pings and only really does it and second gear on a hard pull
Read carefully and answer each of the 2 questions below separately:
1.) Have you changed the ignition timing?
2. ) Did this just start since time that you filled the gas tank?
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
I have not changed the timing and I bought the car 6 months ago from a 90 year old man who was the original owner so I can't see him advancing the timing,but idk I should check
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
I asked 2 simple question but you only answered 1 of them . This could take a long time to resolve...
Setting the timing:
You can forget about anything beyond this point if you don't have access to a timing light. You will never get the timing set right without one.
Note: If you don't have access to a timing light, most of the larger auto parts stores will rent or loan one if you have a credit card or leave a cash deposit.
Paint the mark on the harmonic balancer with paint -choose 10 degrees BTC or 14 degrees BTC or something else if you have NO2 or other power adder. I try to paint TDC red, 10 degrees BTC white and 14 degrees BTC blue.
10 degrees BTC is towards the driver’s side marks.
Note: setting the timing beyond the 10 degree mark will give you a little more low speed acceleration. BUT you will need to run 93 octane to avoid pinging and engine damage. Pinging is very hard to hear at full throttle, so it could be present and you would not hear it.
Simplified diagram of what it looks like. Not all the marks are shown for ease of viewing.
ATC ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '!' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' BTC
---------------- > Direction of Rotation as viewed standing in front of the engine.
The ' is 2 degrees.
The ! is TDC
The ' is 10 degrees BTC
Set the timing 5 marks BTC. Or if you prefer, 5 marks towards the driver's side to get 10 degrees.
To get 14 degrees, set it 7 marks BTC. Or if you prefer, 7 marks towards the driver's side to get 14 degrees.
The paint marks you make are your friends if you do it correctly. They are much easier to see that the marks machined into the harmonic balancer hub.
Make sure that you set he timing when the engine is up to operating temperature.
At this point hook up all the wires, get out the timing light. Connect timing light up to battery & #1 spark plug.
Remove the SPOUT connector (do a search if you want a picture of the SPOUT connector) It is the 2 pin rectangular plug on the distributor wiring harness. Only the EFI Mustang engines have a SPOUT. If yours is not EFI, check for a SPOUT: if you don’t find one, skip any instructions regarding the SPOUT
Warning: there are only two places the SPOUT should be when you time the engine. The first place is in your pocket while you are setting the timing and the second is back in the harness when you finish. The little bugger is too easy to lose and too hard to find a replacement.
Start engine, loosen distributor hold down with a 1/2" universal socket. Shine the timing light on the marks and turn the distributor until the mark lines up with the edge of the timing pointer. Tighten down the distributor hold down bolt, Replace the SPOUT connector and you are done.
The HO firing order is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.
Non HO firing order is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8
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