My box has 35k miles and is an automatic. Every start at every light it pings for a second or two before the rpms get high enough. At 40 mph or so when the transmission upshifts it pings when you get back on the gas. Anyone else have this problem? Super unleaded makes it better but i'm not spending that money on gas unless my car is turbo. Taking the overdrive off makes it better too. Between the detonating and the engine rocking at idle, i'm starting to think something is wrong. Suggestions?

 

I don't have near the mileage on mine, but it actually sounds like you might want to put some injector cleaner in the gas tank. My older car acts up from time to time, seems to fix the problem on it. I use the "Lucas" brand and put it in about every 6 months

 

Run some fuel cleaner (I prefer Seafoam) through it and take it to the dealership before your warranty runs out.

Pinging and Detonation is DEFINITELY bad for the car.

You could be doing harm by driving it like that.

 

I second the Seafoam recommendation. Best thing I've found for cars and bikes. NAPA is my only local store that carries it, but in bigger markets the auto parts stores may.

I have almost 65k on mine and don't have any of your symptoms.

 

take it to the dealer

 

You should not hear ANY pinging - assuming your fuel is OK. 87 octane is all you need.
Fuel system, Spark, timing etc need to be checked.
Also if you have not already you may want to change your plugs if
you have not done so.
At 35,000 I changed mine and was quite suprised how worn they were - maybe this is it.

 

as far as the rough idle, ive heard alot about that on the forums. Every now and then mine will idle kinda odd for like a minute. Its usually right after a cold start.

 

Mine has 46,000 miles and i have not heard any pinging at all.

Drivetrain has a 60,000 mile warranty on it, i would take it over to the dearlership.

 

Scion emailed me that the car is made to run on 87 octane and anything higher is of no benefit.
To allow pinging, either the octane of the gas must be below 87, or the knock sensor is not working and telling the ECU to retard the ignition as required to avoid pinging. The latter is most likely, but would surely cause a DTC. For instance:
P0325
Knock Sensor 1 Circuit.
P0330
Knock Sensor 2 Circuit.

Here is the explanation for the P0325 code:
DIAGNOSTICS - SFI SYST
DTC P0325 - KNOCK SENSOR 1 CIRCUIT - CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION
Knock sensor is fitted on the cylinder block to detect the engine knocking. This sensor contains a piezoelectric element which generates a voltage when it becomes deformed, which occurs when the cylinder block vibrates due to knocking. If engine knocking occurs, the ignition timing is delayed to suppress it.

If you are sure that you are hearing pinging caused by pre-ignition, you just have to take it to the dealer.

 

Please define "Detonate" for us clueless I-bought-a-Toyota-so-I-wouldn't-have-to-learn-anything-about-how-engines-work types.

I'm assuming you don't mean "explode into thousands of pieces," though if that IS the case, I recommend you sweep up the xBits as soon as possible and bring them into the dealer. <3

Good luck!

 

Basically, it's the pinging sound you hear when a car is struggling. Detonation occurs when the engines timing is too advanced and the octaine of the fuel too low causeing that "pinging" sound you hear when a car is climbing a hill in summer with the air conditioning on for example. The fuel pre-detonates before it gets in the combustion chamber.

makes sense but I'm not getting any error codes. I think it may also have something to do with the winter blend gas with ethonal. Not to sound stupid but when does the warranty expire on the engine? Isn't it 33k?

 

5 years/60,000 miles.

 

I'd definitely run some injector cleaner thru it, for starters.

After that, check the plugs.

After that, take it to the Dealer...

The ethanol content of winterblend gas *should* actually make it more knock resistant- ethanol has excellent anti-knock properties, much better than gasoline. And you really want 87 octane fuel- around here, that's midgrade. The 10.5:1 compression ratio pretty much demands it, and you're best bet is to buy from a top tier manufacturer...

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

Funky combustion chamber deposits from cheap gas can also contribute to pre-ignition problems...

 

my car runs rough at idle when sitting at a light, if i put it in neutral, it gets a little better, i use to run supper pretty regular, i went back to regular figuring the supper might have been it, changed my fuel filter, and sparkplugs, i need to run injector cleaner yet, im a 88,000 miles, and it just started acting like this.

 

OK I'm a dumbass because I'm not sure what you guys mean by pinging. All I know is that my car has a rough idle when I start it up. This morning when I started it up I had the rough Idle and for a few seconds it sounded like someone was kicking rocks around iinside my engine. I freaked out!!!! Can anyone help me out? I'm thinking about chaning my spark plugs and resetting the ECU.

 

Your problem is not pinging. The noises you heard mean it is not even likely to be ignition-related. So don't mess with your plugs. To hear my take on it, why not delete your post here and repost on the current thread entitled:
Rough Idle Question at Start Up
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...884&highlight=

 

No pings here, just zooom. I run Shell fuel only and have NGK Irridium plugs.

 

Nope, haven't had that problem.

 

Remember that Toyota recommends Top Tier gas as well as the 87 Octane.

 

Isnt it funny how the younger generations dont know what engine knock or pinging is. lol I bet they didnt grow up with out a microwave either. roflmao.

On a serious note though ... i thought i had a pinging issue under acceleration. I have had worn out cars in the past that had the same sound. I went as far as to use the injection cleaner, changed the plugs and a minor tune up and it still didnt go away. For months i couldnt figure it out, then i replaced the alternator belt. Didnt you know the sound went away, and i havent heard it since. It was just that little strain on the engine that was causing a squeak that sounded like a light knock.

I would do the plug route ( OEM plugs are just fine ) and then do the belt replacement ( can be found here on these boards ) and see if that does the box good. If not, then take it to the dealer.