2022 Tacoma - Spark knock / pinging

B

bbuoni8

New Member
Hi everyone, I bought a new Tacoma SR with V6 in February, and it has 7,000 miles. I have noticed something that is happening when the engine is warm, and I am doing stop and go driving. Between about 15 - 45 mph, and especially when the truck is changing gears, I am getting a pinging sound / spark knock upon acceleration. It's difficult to do a video, as it's most noticeable when the windows are down, and there is too much wind noise for my phone to pick up this noise effectively. I run Shell gas, 87 octane in this (since day 1), and I've heard others say that they used 91 octane to deal with this issue, some have talked about the knock sensor, etc.

Anyone deal with this, and any solutions that you might recommend? Thanks very much!
 
I've got a 2020 sr5 v6 with double those miles. I've mostly used shell 87 E10. Sometimes i'll gas up other places with a similar 87 grade thats E10. Truck never pinged once since day one.Overall it runs really good.
 
OK... overall mine runs good, too. The pinging is just annyong. I plan to take it to the dealer on Thursday to see if they can replicate the sound, or give me more detail. I'll keep you posted.
 
bbuoni8 said:
Hi everyone, I bought a new Tacoma SR with V6 in February, and it has 7,000 miles. I have noticed something that is happening when the engine is warm, and I am doing stop and go driving. Between about 15 - 45 mph, and especially when the truck is changing gears, I am getting a pinging sound / spark knock upon acceleration. It's difficult to do a video, as it's most noticeable when the windows are down, and there is too much wind noise for my phone to pick up this noise effectively. I run Shell gas, 87 octane in this (since day 1), and I've heard others say that they used 91 octane to deal with this issue, some have talked about the knock sensor, etc.

Anyone deal with this, and any solutions that you might recommend? Thanks very much!
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I've run all octane's in my truck including non-ethanol 90 and avgas 100 and my engine always sounded the same. Have the dealership sort it out.
 
bbuoni8 said:
OK... overall mine runs good, too. The pinging is just annyong. I plan to take it to the dealer on Thursday to see if they can replicate the sound, or give me more detail. I'll keep you posted.
Click to expand...
Only thing i could think of other that some issue with your truck is the gas your using isn't the octane rating its claimed to be. Have you tried shell 89 mid grade?
 
I have a 17 Wrangler that was pinging in the summer months if I used gas at certain gas stations. Funny someone mentioned Shell. A Shell station opened near me and since going there it has stopped pinging on 87 octane. Gas is everything. Have a brand new TRD Off Rd with 175 miles on it. Hope the pinging does not start on it. I had a 2012 SR5 that I actually sold because it pinged so badly. Toyota wouldn't address the problem at first even though they acknowledged it. Eventually there was a TSB and they reflashed it.
 
Oh brother, another one that bought into the "top tier" fantasy. I made gasoling for over twenty years. "Top Tier" is like the old Shell hype of using "Platformate". Platformate was a trade marked name that Shell used. Everyone else used the same process and just called it what it was Reformate. It's a process that increases the octane by altering the molecular structure. Oil companies have been using buzz words for decades to improve sales. And, it works. Folks that don't know how gasoline is made just assume it has to be better.

If your truck is pinging on good old normal 87 octane then it needs tuning. If its a new truck, take it back to the dealer and scream bloody murder.
 
Top tier gas isn't bs. It has more detergents in the fuel to keep your valves, and piston tops, not to mention the entire fuel system cleaner that can eventually cause pinging from carbon buildup. Those discount gas places are cheaper for a reason, usually it has nothing to do with octane.
 
I'm no expert, but when i was in quebec i stayed at an auberge owned by a retired shell engineer that gave me quite a lesson how different octane gasolines are formulated. There's a wide range of chemical additives that are allowed to be used to formulate 87 grade fuels. Not so for premium. He said their very strict whats needed to make 92 octane gasoline. Told me all about amounts, and type of detergents used for their gasoline vs non top tier ones.
 
Yea, 92 is really secret. The simply blend gasoline stocks that have a lower octane with reformate which has an octane of about 98 to 100. And suddenly you have 92 octane. It's no secret. Ther aren't any "secrets" in refining anymore. There are trademarked things like Shell's Platformate or Chevron's Techron, but the chemistry of this stuff is general knowledge. All of these fancy trademark names are simply sales tools.

Here's another bit of news. There was a time when a Shell station could only sell Shell gasoline because the stations were either owned by Shell, or signed an agreement with Shell. That ended decades ago. Then there is the trading of gasoline stocks that refiners do regularly. Say Shell has a greater demand than they can put out. The call Texaco and "borrow" gasoline to cover their shortage. Next time Texaco is a bit short the get repaid by Shell. And we won't even talk about shared pipelines and independent fuel delivery companies that haul anyone's fuel.
 
As far as shells v-power premium with their so called nitro additive trademark. It does work to keep an engine cleaner vs other gasolines. You have places like cumberland farms selling gas which is really gulf.
I haven't heard any name brand gasoline's selling others when a shortage...at least not here. When their out, your sol at the pumps till more becomes available.
 
I don't know if the timing can be adjusted (probably not) but before the computer days it could and if the timing was wrong it would cause a gas knock.
Also and this is for everyone, if all the sudden the truck gets a continual gas knock, look at the temperature gauge and if it is high shut it down and add water, otherwise you will overheat the engine and ruin it.
 
I take it there are sensors in these 3.5's that talk to the computer in turn it can alter the timing for various grades of fuel. I've experimented with 87 octane up to 92. I can't really see any difference from 87 to 89, but my truck seems to run sluggish on premium. I've found sticking to 87 grade works the best.
 
Arguing about top tier/non top tier gas is like arguing that my oil is better than you're oil. As long as oil meets the gf6 standard it's good oil. Now there are just good gf6 oils and there are better gf6 oils, and there are oils that surpass gf6. Api and gf6 are minimum standards to be met. Gas is gas, it's the additives and the amount of each that makes the difference. Most new car manufacturers recommend top tier gas for a reason, to keep things cleaner. Personally I use only top tier and lately the price hasn't been any different anyways.
 
Top tier vs non isn't a whole lot of difference in cost here either....maybe a dime more a gal. for top tier at most. I can tell you one thing the quality of gas varies when in different sections of the country. Our gasoline is fresh here in southern new england, but other places like the midwest not so much.
 
tacojoel said:
Top tier vs non isn't a whole lot of difference in cost here either....maybe a dime more a gal. for top tier at most. I can tell you one thing the quality of gas varies when in different sections of the country. Our gasoline is fresh here in southern new england, but other places like the midwest not so much.
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I live about 30 miles from a pipeline fuel farm here in NC. Big storage tanks as far as you can see. Have no idea how that impacts the freshness of our local gas but I do know that last year when the pipeline system was hacked and shut down our local gas became scarce real quick. But on the other side as soon as it was up and running again supply's returned to normal pretty quickly.
 
TacoTruck2019 said:
Arguing about top tier/non top tier gas is like arguing that my oil is better than you're oil. As long as oil meets the gf6 standard it's good oil. Now there are just good gf6 oils and there are better gf6 oils, and there are oils that surpass gf6. Api and gf6 are minimum standards to be met. Gas is gas, it's the additives and the amount of each that makes the difference. Most new car manufacturers recommend top tier gas for a reason, to keep things cleaner. Personally I use only top tier and lately the price hasn't been any different anyways.
Click to expand...

And if you think recommending "top tier" gas isn't because the oil companies and car companies aren't in bed together you don't understand either industry.
 
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