1998 Accord EX-V6 EGR and pinging problem.

1998 EX V6 Coupe, black 180k. All mixed mileage city/highway
50/50.
Car is tuned to run on 86 octane, right? Right. Only higher grades
will eliminate my pinging.

Going back: Bought used in 2000. No Check Engine light. No pinging.
Then pinging. Then light came on. Found a receipt re: some EGR work
in the glove box. Took to Honda dealer and apparently there was the
CODE for insufficient EGR flow. Dealer did no-cost-to-me repair
because of a TSB/recall predicated on mileage (I think). Don't
remember what the "fix" was. Time goes on...2-4 months later...same
story. Pinging back. Light back on. Procrastinated long enough not
to go back to dealer out of sloth. Wouldn't pass MARTA. Took the
plenum and EGR valve off. Cleaned out plenum and port. Replaced with
new EGR valve and gaskets all around. Ran like a champ on 86
for...ta-dah!...a couple of months. Then pinging once again. This
most recent procedure was on new wires/plugs/cap/rotor and a can of $10
fuel treatment I've never heard of from my local indie Honda tech.
Trust me everything common was in order but I have the same recurring
problem. Only high octane will put the ping to rest and you can best
your sweet a** I'm not going to choose to afford that! What gives???

Kevin

 

GM makes a solvent to clean carbon deposits out of combustion chambers.
Give that a try.

 

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Whenever you mention the LIGHT, provide the CODE, not the
'interpretation'. You paid for the CODE. Is your coolant reservoir full
to the MAX mark? If not, you may have air in the system that's fooling
the computer to set your timing / mixture wrong. . . . . Use Honda
premix and fill it three mornings in a row to see if it's 'sipping' any.

Here's a stretch: Ever done a valve adjustment? Maybe you're getting
detonation from a valve that's too hot.

'Curly'