1st Road Trip
10-15-2013, 04:12 PM
#16
Instructor
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 204
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I "borrowed" this from a Goggle search (thanks Tom & Ray!), it sounds like a reasonable explanation:
Dear Tom and Ray: I know that lugging the engine is bad, and I know how to avoid it. But what is it, really? What causes that pinging or clunking noise? Is the crankshaft bouncing up and down? Is there detonation in the combustion chambers? -- Randy
Ray: Good question, Randy. Most of the noise comes from mistimed explosions in the cylinders -- which is called "detonation" or "pinging."
Tom: When you lug the engine -- when you try to accelerate in too high a gear -- you make the engine work harder than it's supposed to.
Ray: When the engine is overworked, it overheats. The way it overheats is that the temperature inside the cylinders gets too high. When that happens, the gasoline-and-air mixture -- which is supposed to detonate when the spark plug fires -- detonates unpredictably at other times, too. That's called pinging -- when those extra detonations make a sound like marbles rolling around in a coffee can.
Tom: And under the worst of circumstances, you can also get piston slap, which is a "clunky" noise. Because you are getting uneven combustion inside the cylinder (the detonation doesn't necessarily happen at the right time or in the right spot), the explosion can force the piston off to one side when it descends during the power stroke. When that happens repeatedly, the cylinder walls get all scraped up, and over time, your car turns into the proverbial oil-burning heap.
Dear Tom and Ray: I know that lugging the engine is bad, and I know how to avoid it. But what is it, really? What causes that pinging or clunking noise? Is the crankshaft bouncing up and down? Is there detonation in the combustion chambers? -- Randy
Ray: Good question, Randy. Most of the noise comes from mistimed explosions in the cylinders -- which is called "detonation" or "pinging."
Tom: When you lug the engine -- when you try to accelerate in too high a gear -- you make the engine work harder than it's supposed to.
Ray: When the engine is overworked, it overheats. The way it overheats is that the temperature inside the cylinders gets too high. When that happens, the gasoline-and-air mixture -- which is supposed to detonate when the spark plug fires -- detonates unpredictably at other times, too. That's called pinging -- when those extra detonations make a sound like marbles rolling around in a coffee can.
Tom: And under the worst of circumstances, you can also get piston slap, which is a "clunky" noise. Because you are getting uneven combustion inside the cylinder (the detonation doesn't necessarily happen at the right time or in the right spot), the explosion can force the piston off to one side when it descends during the power stroke. When that happens repeatedly, the cylinder walls get all scraped up, and over time, your car turns into the proverbial oil-burning heap.
10-15-2013, 09:25 PM
#20
Rennlist Member
Great pics and story. Hope this is the first of many roadtrips in your 993.
I'm in SeaTac right now for business and whenever I'm here I tell myself that this is some of the most insanely beautiful scenery this planet has to offer. Y'all are very fortunate to have it wherever you look.
I'm in SeaTac right now for business and whenever I'm here I tell myself that this is some of the most insanely beautiful scenery this planet has to offer. Y'all are very fortunate to have it wherever you look.