Hello everyone. I have a 2003 Ranger 3.0L FFV. I have a newbie question. I have about 98K miles on my truck and the motor has been pinging for the last month or two. I changed the plugs, cleaned the MAF, IAC, and throttle body. Last weekend I ran Seafoam through the brake booster twice and it is still pinging. I have read about the DPFE, but I don't believe my truck has one.
Can someone offer some insight on what else I may try to eliminate the pinging. I don't want to run premium gas, I just want to fix the problem.

Thanks!

 

I forgot to add it is the Edge model and it is not giving any codes.

 

make sure its pinging and not an exhaust leak. Im not insulting you intelligence... But make sure you know what an exhaust leak sounds like.... My friends exploder sounded like it was pinging but it was his exhaust.. Good luck!

 

How can you check if it an exhaust leak? Is there an easy way to figure it out?

 

easiest way is to find a buddy whos knows about exhausts and stuff... it kinda sounds like tat tat tat really fast when you accelerate...

maybe if you dropped by an exhaust shop and asked em to come out and take a look, they mite be able to tell you if you have a leak and they shouldnt charge you for it!

 

Wellcom2knoxvile thanks for the advice. I took a peak at the exhaust manifold and you were correct I have an exhaust leak. So I am going to pull the manifold's off and put new gaskets and hardware on. Can someone clarify for me the hardware that is needed. I know I need gaskets obviously, but what about the harware. Do I need a bolt kit and a spring bolt kit for both sides? Looking at Napa's site they have a bolt kit but there are only 4 bolts per kit. They also have a spring bolt kit that has 2 bolts. I would like to have everything in hand before I start this. Napa part numbers I am looking at are BK 6003228 and EXH 36129.
Thanks so much for all the help!