Q–When I give my Audi 5000S a little too much gas, there is a loud ping and I think, “uh-oh,” but it runs fine. It only has 35,000 miles on it. I love it. M.Z., Elk Grove Village
A–It is not uncommon for engines to ping a little under extremely hard acceleration. The sudden demand for power is accompanied by an sudden advance in the ignition timing. As soon as a ping is detected by the knock sensor, the timing is electronically retarded a few degrees at a time until the ping stops. Cutting through all the technical jargon: It is normal; don’t worry about it.
Q–You wrote about Fords stalling (Motormouth, Oct. 19), but I have a Lincoln Town Car that had the stall-and-start problem all summer. I am a salesman who drives a lot of miles and a couple weeks ago, the car stalled four times within two miles. My dealer found nothing wrong. Should I replace the TFI (thick-film ignition) module? R.B., Bolingbrook
A–Your Lincoln has the same basic electronic ignition system as other Ford products and, as such, may suffer similar failures. We would suggest a new TFI ignition module because it isn’t terribly expensive nor labor-intensive to replace.
Q–I read in your column (Motormouth, Nov. 9) about a guy who had two failed fuel injectors in his 1993 Nissan Maxima. I had similar failures of injectors at about 33,000 and at 60,000 miles. They were expensive to fix at about $425 each, but at least the first set was covered under warranty. These injectors seem to be finicky.
I had been using 87-octane fuel, which in my area always comes with 10 percent ethanol. It was suggested by the dealer’s mechanic that some stations use much more than 10 percent ethanol and this might be a problem. I switched to Amoco premium, which is about the only gas you can find here without ethanol. Since then, no problems. The cost of replacing a fuel injector can go a long way to covering the extra cost of the premium fuel. J.B. Orland Park
A–That’s why we always suggest using brand-name gasoline. The base gasoline stock comes via the same pipeline, then gets blended once it reaches its destination. Each oil company has its recipe of additives, which can be quite different. Some low-price wholesalers will add the minimum and some may even blend higher concentrations of alcohol. In other words, they are inconsistent.
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Bob Weber is an ASE-certified Master Automobile Technician. Write to Motormouth, 17717 Silcott Springs Rd., Purcellville, Va. 20132. Send e-mail with name and hometown to motormth1@aol.com. Answers are supplied only through the newspaper.
