My first experience with the term “detonation” came from an Air Force training film. It opened with a shot of a B-25 (it was an old film) that was taking off, but apparently ran into trouble because ...

DEAR CAR TALK: I have a project truck. It’s a 1979 Ford F-100 with a 300-cubic-inch inline six-cylinder engine. Before I had it bored out to 30/1000s, it didn’t ping. Now, using the recommended spark ...

If it's pinging all the time, there's something wrong and it needs investigating. If it's only there when the engine is under load, like accelerating or climbing a hill, it could be a transient thing ...

Does your street-driven car ping now when it didn't use to? It may be suffering from octane creep caused by deposit buildup inside the combustion chambers. New engines on the dyno and regularly ...

The timing, or the precise point at which the spark plug will fire, should be checked regularly. Overadvanced timing, or when the spark fires too soon, may cause the engine to “ping” or knock. If left ...

Pinging—that sound that resembles pebbles being thrown on a tin roof—has become familiar to all of us as a common occurance with today's low-octane fuel and reduced engine speeds. Call it pinging, ...

My 2021 Kia Seltos two-litre pings when pushed. It’s okay up to about 4500rpm but from there on it pings as it starts to rev out. It does it in all drive modes. Kia says nothing is wrong with it (no ...

I recently got asked about what "pinging" is, and what the difference is between pre-ignition and detonation, what causes it, and why it is bad for an engine. Basically, both pre-ignition and ...