Mi16 Pinking Following A Service?!

[eastlondonpug 6]

Hi

 

I have in preparation of summer carried out the following work on my mi16 last weekend-

 

New semi synth oil and OE filter

Correct NGK plugs

Timing belt and tensioners

Refurbished my sticky starter

 

Following these, the car is noticeably smoother but has now developed pinking. The car will pink at the classic moments i.e. low speed and WOT, hills etc. However, the car never used to pink like this before the above work was done and pinking was almost never heard. The pinking issued occurred immediately following the above service.

 

The timing belt was replaced without disturbing the timing at all. The starter motor was changed by removing the AFM and throttle body (not the manifold itself). I have fitted a new (cardboard cutout) gasket to the throttle body before reinstalling the throttle body and making sure that it does not have any apparent leaks by tightening everything and double checking everything. All hoses etc connected to the throttle body had been cleaned and tightened using jubilee clips.

 

The car has a 2 row ECU (160hp Mi16) without the knock sensor. The idle is rock steady at 900 rpm or 1000 wpm when hot and seems that the AFM is perfect. Oil pressure is also good. Car is always run on Shell Vpower. I have filled the car up twice at different places to ensure I got no bad fuel in the system.

 

Does someone know what could have gone wrong here or what could have been disturbed? Is there anything that I should look at or change?

 

Help appreciated.

 

Thanks

Edited April 21, 2014 by eastlondonpug

[jord294 94]

Maybe the sparkplugs??

 

I fitted genuine Peugeot plugs when servicing my car, and had no issues

[welshpug 1,666]

No issues here with ngk plugs.

 

What do you mean you didnt disturb the timing?!

[johniban 59 1 Cars]

do you mean missfire or pinking?

[Anthony 1,003]

Are you sure it's pinking and not a cracked exhaust manifold? They can sound quite similar and Mi16 manifolds are notorious for cracking at the collector.

[eastlondonpug 6]

Hi

 

The sound is that similar pinking.

 

What I meant by not disturbing the timing is that I had left the pulleys etc in place as they were when I removed the cambelt and changed it. I did not turn or mess with them so as to disturb the timing in any way.

 

I think you might have a point there Anthony. I had removed the bottom engine mount and jacked the engine up and down a few times to remove (and replace back) the cambelt cover and get better access to the cambelt itself. Could this have caused a crack somewhere perhaps?

 

Re the sparkplugs themselves, I will remove them and replace them back with my old plugs shortly just to make sure that the new ones were not inferior NGK (counterfeit?) ones that I picked up cheap on ebay.

 

Thanks

[eastlondonpug 6]

Hi all

 

I have now changed the plugs to my old ones and rechecked all the hoses etc. I also cannot see/hear any apparent crack in the exhaust manifold. I have checked the rotor arm and dizzy cap and both seem ok.

 

The pinking is still very evident and is still very annoying. Does anyone have any other ideas please? Could the HT leads/coil be suspect? Or are there any other common things that you are aware of that could cause this on a mi16?

 

Please let me know.

 

Thanks

Edited May 7, 2014 by eastlondonpug

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

Did you immobilize all 3 pulleys using the locking bolts when you did the belt?

 

What model plus are you using? Apparently the recommended plugs are NGK grade 6 or Bosch grade 7. I've noticed that a lot of people use colder plugs here on the forum.

[eastlondonpug 6]

I did not immobilise the pulleys. What I did is mark the position of the pulleys with paint with respect to the head/block before I took the old belt off. I then ensured that the pulleys are not disturbed from their positions when replacing the new belt.

 

The plugs are the standard NGK BCP7et.

 

Any ideas? Could it be that I could have advanced the timing? I dont notice an increase in power.

[Anthony 1,003]

Before going any further, assuming tha this is on standard cams, remove the cambelt cover and make sure that the three timing pin (one on each cam pulley and one on the crank pulley) holes all line up with their respective holes in the block. If they do, you can rule out cam timing - if they don't, correct that first and foremost.

[welshpug 1,666]

I would start buy doing the timing properly.