Either they have an air mass sensor... which I think they do, or my
explanation works all the better. You have to have some type of calibration
for how much fuel to inject at any given point in time This maintains the 14
to 1 or whatever ratio for proper combustion. Most companies use an air
mass flow sensor or air venturi mounted in the intake path. The signal from
which is sent to the computer, which takes into account for temperature,
elevation, etc, to tell the injectors when and how much fuel to dispense.
If we don't have an air mass sensor, then the computer runs "blindly"
according to a set volume of air that *should* be getting into each
cylinder. This would leave all the more room to screw up and run lean or
rich as the case may be.
Anyway, I believe the directly ported FI Dakotas, and probably the throttle
body FI ones too, have an air mass sensor mounted at the very base of the
throttle body, just above the intake manifold. It is a white plug (at least
on my 98) mounted to a squarish box thingy, if I remember correctly.
Probably the reason that DC can't seem to fix the problem is because they
can't go around telling everyone to ditch the stock air intake and slap on a
35 dollar K&N. Instead, they just make comments like "Its supposed to
happen" Yeah, right.
I may be wrong, but honestly, it worked for me, and it is cheap to try. At
the very least, I guarantee better air flow.
Dave
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Bernd D. Ratsch" <bernd@texas.net>
Reply-To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Subject: Re: DML: Pinging Solved... at least for my truck.
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 12:04:23 -0600
Sounds good. Uhhh...our trucks don't have a mass airflow sensor.
- Bernd
At 12:52 PM 01/18/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>My truck used to ping. 1998 Extended Cab, 3.9l V6, 5 speed (Let me know
>if anyone wants more info). I noticed that the problem got worse when I
>put a 3" lift kit on my truck. It actually got to the point that I could
>feel the engine "jerk" when I drove up a hill on interstate 71 in fifth,
>while lugging the engine. I started running 89 octane, which made the
>pinging go away somewhat. I then dedided to replace the spark
>plugs. When I pulled the old ones out, I noticed that they had very long
>electrodes. Something like a half an inch. I felt that they were way too
>hot, so I replaced them with colder plugs. The pinging got a little bit
>better, but it was still there. So, I decided start playing with the air
>intake. The flexible tube had gotten a little kinked as a result of the
>lift, so I looked into getting a K&N intake setup. Since they don't (or
>didn't) make one for a 98 V6, and since the air mass sensor is located in
>the throttle body, I decided to just rip off the whole air system from the
>flexible tube back. I bought a K&N canister filter (PN RU2820) with a 3.5
>inch diameter whole, 6 inches long, and about 5 inches in diameter. I
>clamped it directly to the intake housing. The pinging is gone. I can
>take the same hill that I used to ping like crazy on, and floor it in
>fifth gear and get *no* pinging. Looking back, I feel that what was
>happening was too little air was being taken into the cylinder, therefore,
>too little gas was injected. This leads to a lean charge in the cylinder,
>which in turn is easier to ignite (via too hot a spark plug). I may be
>crazy, but it worked for me... total cost... 6 1.29 dollar spark plugs
>(Bosch, forget the Chumpion crappy ones) and a 35 dollar K&N cannister
>filter. Not too shabby.
>
>Dave
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