[GeorgeDiver]

Hey everyone
I noticed this summer, with the driver's side window down and rolling beside a cement guardrail, that I could hear pinging (pre-ignition) on mid to hard acceleration. The truck is at the dealer right now, they don't seem to understand what I'm saying...in my opinion, it has to do with the knock sensor and/or the variable ignition timing module/block/etc. I run it on Costco regular gas here in Montreal, Canada.
Thoughts?

 

[jman]

I'd fill up with 91 octane fuel and see if the noise goes away. That way you can definitely determine if what you are hearing is "engine knock".

 

[PoManzPathy]

George, what year is your pathfinder and how many KM?

 

[GeorgeDiver]

Sorry, 2018 S and about 34K km

 

[PoManzPathy]

I have noticed some ping on my 2019 as well. We bought it used 6 weeks or so ago with 24K miles on it.

It could be nothing and I have advised my darling bride to only use the gas station in town with the "top tier fuel" stickers on the pump, but I again think this is a 'feature' of the direct injected engine our pathfinders have (all 2017+ use the new VQ35DD as opposed to the older DE).

Pinging could be carbon build up and carbon build up on the intake valves is a huge issue on DI engines. Time will tell with these I guess.

Forgot to add, the VQ35DE in our 2016 Nissan Quest didn't ping at all and I have used my SIL's 2014 Pathfinder with the older VQ35DE engine and not noticed any ping.

 

[GeorgeDiver]

Well, still hearing the pinging upon most forms of acceleration...brought it to Nissan several months ago, but of course they heard nothing. I'll be bringing it in again for sure, and I'll drive it while the mechanic listens...I've adjusted ignition timing on several vehicles in the past, so I know what pre-ignition sounds like. I have a feeling that it's set in order to save fuel, but you would think that if the ECU detects pinging, that it would automatically adjust the timing...

 

[jman]

It is possible that your knock sensor/timing solenoid are not working properly. You could data-log your timing to see what is it doing.
Have you tried pumping at a different gas station? Have you tried higher octane fuel?

 

[PoManzPathy]

This is frustrating for sure. It would be worth it to me to find a garage you trust that would actually troubleshoot this, even if you had to pay them an hour or two worth of labor to log and evaluate some data streams.

Your standard dealer response will be if there's no codes and nothing obviously broken, there's no issue.

I'm sure there's dealer techs out there with the experience and know-how, but none of them want to mess with something like this with what warranty work pays.

We're at about 32K miles on our 2019. I rarely get to drive it, but I haven't noticed any pinging on it now.

 

[huyqvu]

I have a pinging issue too that the mechanic doesn't hear. It happens between 1500-2100RPM and 20-35mph.

 

[PaPaPath]

So did anyone know what the solution was? I have a 2018 Pathfinder SV with 48k. I'm noticing a slight pinging during certian load conditions. I plan to record the issue with a GO Pro camera. Hopefully I can capture it.

 

[ajm336]

Having the same issue with my 2017 Pathfinder Platinum with 30K. Been doing it for about a year now but getting progressively louder with light acceleration usually between 2K and 3K RPM. Going to be taking it into the dealer in a few weeks to let them hear it and will report back any findings. In the meantime, appreciate others providing additional information on possible root cause and fix.

 

[GeorgeDiver]

So I was at the Nissan dealership two weeks ago. The tech said he heard the pinging, and on the phone the customer rep said that there was an ongoing "campaign" regarding this issue. However, when I went to pick up the truck, I had to pay for 30 minutes of "service" which resulted in photocopies of my own owner's manual stating that some pining is "normal" and I should try super grade fuel! Well, it's happening on level surfaces now too so it definitely isn't normal!!! And the answer of buying more expensive fuel when I drive 500 km per week isn't acceptable!!! Would've never purchased this truck had I known...never again for a Nissan.

 

[JayArras]

Sounds like you need to find a better dealer, George!

 

[GeorgeDiver]

Summary of my most recent trip to the dealership in Ile Perrot, QC: engine cylinders were scoped, and excessive carbon buildup was found on the piston heads. The tech showed me the videos, and it looks like the surface of the moon but black. However, even though this may be the cause of the pinging, they still feel that my excessive pinging condition is "normal" and they won't cover the cylinder/injector cleaning under warranty. So, for those who are still having this issue, ask them to boroscope your cylinders. The ultimate problem seems to me to be linked to the fuel map (too rich) or poor fuel atomisation/combustion. Maybe the automatic ignition timing is also faulty...but Nissan should take ownership of this issue and fix it once and for all.

 

[ajm336]

Wow, thanks for the update George. So Nissan is saying that the excessive visible carbon buildup is normal and wont acknowledge a problem? Excessive buildup of carbon on a cylinder head is not normal for a car with relatively low miles so disappointed to hear Nissan is not covering any remedy on cleaning the cylinders nor the root cause.

I visited my dealer a month or so ago asking them to listen for the pinging which i can clearly hear but the techs state they cannot nor can find engine codes being thrown. My powertrain warranty is up next September 2021 so will be asking them to boroscope the issue before then so its well documented. Thanks for responding back on your recent experience and update from the dealership and let us know if any other developments occur.

 

[Tutti57]

Unfortunately this is the nature of direct injection. The newer altimas have a different set up that hopefully resolves that issue, but only time will tell. I have seen the valves on a DI car with 9k miles and they were totally caked with carbon. I hate direct injection systems. No chemical will touch that stuff, it needs real mechanical cleaning.

The ECM can compensate for a rich or lean condition quite a bit before it throws a code. You can easily tell how it's running if you get a scan took that does live data. You can get a suitable setup for like $15 that would show you how it's running, mixture wise.

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[GeorgeDiver]

Thanks for the feedback, makes a lot of sense; makes me think of VW diesels before the TDI came along. What kind of setup do you recommend?

 

[Tutti57]

Yeah, my first experience with them was VW. People started getting misfires and would have to do some sort of media blasting to clean it out. It sounds like walnut is the method of choice now. There are probably tons of videos out there of before and after with different chemicals and messing with the pcv system, but it ultimately comes down to there needing to be some mechanical cleaning involved. I haven't personally seen any Nissan's run into misfires from the carbon behold up or even had to clean any. I really haven't seen any problems at all with them myself, yet.

Professional resources like Motor Age (great youtube channel made for technicians) suggest a induction service for DI engines like every 15k miles, but I haven't seen any solid evidence that it helps enough to be worth it.

I personally prefer the standard multi port injection. Direct injection has more parts involved and is more expensive to repair. DI is slightly more fuel efficient and slightly more powerful, and is getting more popular. Maybe it will end up getting

It's not something you can you can change on the car, newer stuff is just designed with it. VW and I believe Mazda had a rough run with it. There is a regular "low" pressure pump that moves fuel to a high pressure pump on the engine. The high pressure pump has a part that rides on a cam lobe that makes it pump. It's thousands of psi. The part that rides on the cam would wear out and you'd end up needing a new cam and high pressure pump, yikes. $$$.

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[PoManzPathy]

Tutti, I may have misunderstood the above, but what you describe on the V dubs is the same on the 2017+ Pathfinder. The high pressure pump is cam driven. It's a soda can sized pump at the front left facing the engine. I wondered about that too if they ever wore that lobe down you'd be screwed.

Like I've mentioned many times, the way my 2019 blackens it's engine oil means it runs crazy sooty.

Now that they've been in circulation for 4yrs now, I guess it's wait and see how they do.

 

[Tutti57]

Correct, these ride on a lobe too. It seems like everything has black oil when it's drained out now. I noticed last week draining oil out that wasn't, then I saw that the guy does his oil like every 800 miles, ha.