1998 Sable GS 3.0 - Clatter, Chatter, Ping, Knock

1998 Mercury Sable 119,500 miles 3.0 V-6 single cam

Okay, I don't know what the difference is between these three. My dad, who was a mechanic for 20 years, always called the sound I'm hearing "clattering". A friend of mine calls it "ping" and a mechanic I talked to Tuesday afternoon called it "chattering". Well, whatever one I have, it's doing it pretty badly on 93 octane when accelerating or maintaining cruise speeds up a hill. I use premium because it clattered on 87 and

89 octane.

Here's what I've done:

  1. Replace spark plugs.
  2. Replace spark plug wires.
  3. Purchased upon a spark plug wire tester and I tested each wire at idle. All wires are receiving power. I revved the engine while testing the wires. All wires are still active.

Things I haven't done:

  1. I have not paid the Ford dealership .99 to diagnose to pull the engine codes.
  2. I have not replaced the O2 sensor because the mechanic where I bought the car said he put a new one in when replacing the rack for the steering mechanism. I believe him because the people at this place are very good and they have bent over backward to get the car in line after I'd already bought it. In fact, today, even though I bought the car back in April, the mechanic *gave* me a new hood latch release line to install because the one that was on there when I got it was broken and I stopped in today and he said it had come in.
  3. I have not replaced the knock sensor.
  4. I have not replaced the fuel pressure regulator, the fuel pump, the fuel injectors or the coolant sensor.

Any ideas?

Reply to
Damaeus
Loading thread data ...

-snip-

Yes.. the things you have done dont amount to anything for knocking.

Here's my idea, pull the codes, tell us the codes.

Chuck

maybe the next time my car wont start, I'll replace the gas tank.. that'll fix it.

Reply to
Zex0s

Before you do anything else pull the MAF sensor out and carefully clean those tiny wires that sit in the airstream. A shot of brake cleaner and some compressed air works very well. Bob

Reply to
Bob

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.