d16z6 ticking or pinging

[jmar94]

hello all, i have a 94 civic ex with the d16z6. it has a tick or a ping that increases with RPM but also comes and goes as it pleases. i checked the valves and they are all perfect. i had been putting cheap arco gas in the car for the last 3 months or so and when i switched to costco gas the noise quiete a little but still comes and goes. im on my second tank of costco gas and red line fuel system cleaner. could this be a case of bad fuel? the car burns through 3/4 of a quart of oil every thousand miles or so but its done that for the past few years. car is stock except for an intake. 184k miles

 

[jameswanser]

sounds like it could be detonation. If the gas is bad or too low of an octane, can cause detonation which will be a pinging sound. Our cars are supposed to be run on regular unleaded, but if the timing is advanced too much, could be causing the detonation. Can either check timing with timing light and make sure is correct, or can try putting the highest octane fuel you can find next time you fill up. Putting in the best grade fuel to test if it goes away should be a quick way to diagnose, but is NOT a solution. Strongly suggest checking/adjusting the timing, if it's out of spec. Let us know what happens

 

[jmar94]

i did check the timing and it looks correct. i have since changed the oil to 10-40 thinking piston slap and ran a bottle of heet through it thinking water in the fuel and it seems to have gotten better but it still has the occasional flare up. i am going to run another bottle of heet through next week. if there is water or bad fuel how long would it take to get it out of the system?

 

[obracer12]

a while.

Switch it up at the pump, go for a higher octane and scale it down a bit afterward

If you're burning a quart of oil every 1k miles you may be having play in your pistons/sleeves.

 

[jameswanser]

^ what he said. that's excessive oil consumption on that engine

 

[jmar94]

I agree, since i changed to 10-40 the oil consumption is about 1/4 of what it was and the noise has pretty much disappeared. im definitely thinking that there is some play in the sleves. that would be what they call piston slap right?