[grunta]

Hi Everyone,

First time zuk owner and poster here .

I have a 88 samurai. It runs really great except for one little problem - it's pinking. I was adviced to use a higher octane (95 octane) which i did. Improved rather quickly. The problem is though it devoloped a hesitation from 1500 to 3000 rpm i was dumb founded at first but then thought well what have i done differently since it was last running right lower octane fuel. So i went back to 91 octance and the problem came right but then the pinking came back obviously.

Will it be as simple as just retarding the timing with 91 to stop the pinking? why would a hesitation start though after changing fuel with only 4 octane difference?

Thanks in advanced for the help,

Grunta

[nissvit]

Welcome to AZ grunta....

retarding the timing should stop the pinging...
but as for the "hesitation" thats a big rev range.

is it just feeling doughy through this range or stuttering when you go to accelerate??

if its just stuttering when you accelerate, check that the accelerator pump is working ie when you look down the throat of the carby there should be a squirt of fuel when you open the throttle butterfly.

cheers,
chris

[royce]

my sierra used to behave differently with different fuels, I think due to some of the higher octane stuff also being 'denser' making it run a bit richer

Do you have different brands of higher octane stuff available to you? it might be worth trying different flavours as well, it might like one more than another

And change the oil, use something good as I reckon G series engines that burn even a little bit of oil makes em ping a lot

[grunta]

nissvit wrote:

Welcome to AZ grunta....

retarding the timing should stop the pinging...
but as for the "hesitation" thats a big rev range.

is it just feeling doughy through this range or stuttering when you go to accelerate??

if its just stuttering when you accelerate, check that the accelerator pump is working ie when you look down the throat of the carby there should be a squirt of fuel when you open the throttle butterfly.

cheers,
chris

Hi Chris,

thanks for the welcome it is a big rev range - it's more aroung the 2k mark. Put my foot down and it will bog down for a second then it will pick up. But its not picking up like it normally should. Feels like it's struggling if you know what i mean. I just didn't think changing fuels would be such a problem. I've had alot of carb vehicles and never had this issue. It has to be a fuel/timing issue as it runs mint (except for pinking) with 91 octane. I've just put new plugs in it this morning as the old ones were looking abit rough. I think i'll do what you say - retard the timing abit and see what happens. How much would your retard it?

royce wrote:

my sierra used to behave differently with different fuels, I think due to some of the higher octane stuff also being 'denser' making it run a bit richer

Do you have different brands of higher octane stuff available to you? it might be worth trying different flavours as well, it might like one more than another

And change the oil, use something good as I reckon G series engines that burn even a little bit of oil makes em ping a lot

Yes we have different brands. I though i might try an even higher octane - 98 from bp instead of the mobile 95.
Just gave it an oil change the other week. The wee girl only gets used on weekends for hunting so i don't cover huge amounts of km in it. maybe 150km a weekend if that.

Thanks guys,

Grant

[FullyZooked]

I would check the timing is within spec but I rekon if this has just come on there could be a problem elsewhere. I'd check your plug colour for starters should be light tan porcelain. Then I would have a squizz at the fuel pump. If all looks good it may be a case of just retarding the timing a little. Try and get this sorted asap and don't be heavy on the accelerator within the "pinging" rev range as this is very much not good. Pinging=bad!

[FullyZooked]

When you say the old plugs looked a bit rough, in what way?
Was the electrode white/blistered? Distorted?

[grunta]

Plugs were a tan/burntish color. From experience they probably were not too bad, but i've seen better and with plugs being cheap i thought i'd just swap them out and see what happens. When the brother in law brings the timing light round i'll have a look at the timing. How much should i retard it by? timing should be 10 +/- 1

Thanks

[lump_a_charcoal]

I used to run my zook on nothing but premium - helped with economy, pinking, and overall smoothness.

Use 98, and tune accordingly.

[Scrawny]

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

I used to run my zook on nothing but premium - helped with economy, pinking, and overall smoothness.

Use 98, and tune accordingly.

x2. If you run just 98 then you can run up to 10 degrees timing. If you want to just run 91 then back the timing off to 7-8 degrees. Check the advances are working too.

[nissvit]

grunta wrote:

Plugs were a tan/burntish color. From experience they probably were not too bad, but i've seen better and with plugs being cheap i thought i'd just swap them out and see what happens. When the brother in law brings the timing light round i'll have a look at the timing. How much should i retard it by? timing should be 10 +/- 1

Thanks

have a look under the bonnet to check if there is an emissions placard, over here various models had either 5 or 8 degree BTDC as factory settings.

check the accelerator plunger is working properly.
when you open the throttle you will see a rod at the rear of the carby that moves the arm that pushes the accelerator pump. There is a little spring that effectively limits the speed/pressure that the plunger can be moved at. This spring seems to weaken over time, The quick fix is take the split pin out and put a small nut/washer/spacer under the arm on the rod increase the pressure on the spring. This will force more fuel delivery via the accelerator pump.
There is also a nylon washer between the rod & arm.. don't lose this or you will be stuffed..

[SuziBlu]

[Ben_Sierra]

I'm 99% sure that if you look inside the original owners manual it'll say 95 RON minimum anyway...

I always put 98 in all my cars, but then thats just me...

[eldo]

hmm pinking, had me going there for a minute.. my sierra pings on 91 octane, run it on the 95 and it should be ok, sounds like you may have a timimg issue or at worst even a head gasket can cause pinging

[grunta]

righto guys, heres a little update. first of, thanks for all the advice. The placard inside the engine bay says 10 +/- 1 degrees. When i checked the timing it was about 7/8 i think (should have taken more notice ) - i retarded it till about 10.5 - 11.

Took it for a run and it seemed to solve the problem. There may still be a slight pinging - hard to hear - but if there is it's no where near as bad as it was. The samurai is back running on 91. When it gets low again i'll put 98 in it and see how it runs. 98 just so expensive here

@Suziblu - yes the hesitation when running 95 octane was when i did have the foot down. If i gently eased her into the rev range it was ok, but still could tell it was sortof sluggish. I only rev her to a max 3k before changing gears.

Headgasket should be all good as i had her comp tested before i purchased the car and it was good.

I'll check the accelarator plunger over too

[eldo]

grunta wrote:

righto guys, heres a little update. first of, thanks for all the advice. The placard inside the engine bay says 10 +/- 1 degrees. When i checked the timing it was about 7/8 i think (should have taken more notice ) - i retarded it till about 10.5 - 11.

Took it for a run and it seemed to solve the problem. There may still be a slight pinging - hard to hear - but if there is it's no where near as bad as it was. The samurai is back running on 91. When it gets low again i'll put 98 in it and see how it runs. 98 just so expensive here

@Suziblu - yes the hesitation when running 95 octane was when i did have the foot down. If i gently eased her into the rev range it was ok, but still could tell it was sortof sluggish. I only rev her to a max 3k before changing gears.

Headgasket should be all good as i had her comp tested before i purchased the car and it was good.

I'll check the accelarator plunger over too

are you serious, sounds like your labouring the engine, dont be scared to rev it a little

[SuziBlu]

[SuziBlu]

Eldo, when im just on the black top, 3k is my change zone, and at er, speed, im around 3,500 which is just under 100kph

I can get her there real fast, for a 1.6, but then fuel economy goes down hill bad. When Im playing I dont give a rats arse about economy, recon my toy is well over 20 litres per hundred kay, maybe 25, stiff, but, blacktop driving, around 11kph

[lump_a_charcoal]

grunta wrote:

righto guys, heres a little update. first of, thanks for all the advice. The placard inside the engine bay says 10 +/- 1 degrees. When i checked the timing it was about 7/8 i think (should have taken more notice ) - i retarded it till about 10.5 - 11.

Took it for a run and it seemed to solve the problem. There may still be a slight pinging - hard to hear - but if there is it's no where near as bad as it was. The samurai is back running on 91. When it gets low again i'll put 98 in it and see how it runs. 98 just so expensive here

@Suziblu - yes the hesitation when running 95 octane was when i did have the foot down. If i gently eased her into the rev range it was ok, but still could tell it was sortof sluggish. I only rev her to a max 3k before changing gears.

Headgasket should be all good as i had her comp tested before i purchased the car and it was good.

I'll check the accelarator plunger over too

Premium is expensive here too, but the increase in fuel economy made up for the extra cost, I am sure of it.

[SuziBlu]

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

grunta wrote:

righto guys, heres a little update. first of, thanks for all the advice. The placard inside the engine bay says 10 +/- 1 degrees. When i checked the timing it was about 7/8 i think (should have taken more notice ) - i retarded it till about 10.5 - 11.

Took it for a run and it seemed to solve the problem. There may still be a slight pinging - hard to hear - but if there is it's no where near as bad as it was. The samurai is back running on 91. When it gets low again i'll put 98 in it and see how it runs. 98 just so expensive here

@Suziblu - yes the hesitation when running 95 octane was when i did have the foot down. If i gently eased her into the rev range it was ok, but still could tell it was sortof sluggish. I only rev her to a max 3k before changing gears.

Headgasket should be all good as i had her comp tested before i purchased the car and it was good.

I'll check the accelarator plunger over too

Premium is expensive here too, but the increase in fuel economy made up for the extra cost, I am sure of it.

Yep, 100% add power gains, and its the cheaper option.

[303zuke]

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

Premium is expensive here too,......

It's just about $2/lt in NZ!!

[shep]

303zuke wrote:

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

Premium is expensive here too,......

It's just about $2/lt in NZ!!

i wish i could get fuel that cheap

[SuziBlu]

At BP, 98 is only 7c a litre more than 95, I know dam well which one I would be using. 91, piss fukin poor shit is only 16c less

[SuziBlu]

shep wrote:

303zuke wrote:

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

Premium is expensive here too,......

It's just about $2/lt in NZ!!

i wish i could get fuel that cheap

Yea, but when your making a years salary per week, things are not as they seem.

[grunta]

I'll run 98 in it then and see how she rolls. I guess i can afford to put 98 in it since i'm not doing all that much k's.

When i'm going bush and the tracks are rough she might go up to 4k rev maybe a bit higher but i havn't really had to put her to the test 4wd yet as the tyres i'm using seem to do alright in 2wd and it's pretty dry here so no mud slinging either. Next mission will be to sort out the noisey tappets.

Once again, thanks everyone for there help, fantastic!

[Scrawny]

Where in NZ are you and where do you go bush?

[grunta]

Live in Marlborough. Only goes bush for hunting.

Grunta

[eldo]

what are you hunting?

[SuziBlu]

Pigs as a guess.

[christover1]

Some carbies will gum up the idle jets on 98.
Making low speed off road work difficult.
My Sierra would only run well on 91 and 95.
No idea why this is, though.

[grunta]

I hunt mainly red/fellow deer. I'll take a pig out when i come across one and the freezer doesnt have one already