Got a problem with my girlfriend's Celica. It's a 6th Generation with a 5S-FE (same as the camry) with a manual transmission. Lovely car to drive, handles well and looks nice.

Anyway, engine seems to ping under load, timing has been checked and retuned to sit on 12-13 on the timing marks as per the 'tune up' sticker. Sensors etc have been checked for continuity and have returned normal voltages. Plugs have been checked and are white as, no carbon deposits or mis-gapped plugs. Have run this car on 91 and 95 RON with no difference. Pinging also doesn't seem to be inlet temperature dependant either, will ping if the inlect tract is hot or cold.

Haven't taken it in to Toyota themselves yet but I'm at my wits end, everything looks normal! Short of having an identical problem to my TR which also pinged under load except when running 95+ RON fuel. Turned out to be a capacitor had leaked onto the ECU circuit board and caused it to run limp timing. I doubt that this is the problem with the Celica though.

Have tried the obvious OZCelica/Toymods forums but they are useless and nobody seems to have had this problem before.

Even some suggestions on what I could look for would be awesome.

what plugs are you running?

white deposits on the plugs could mean they are to high a heat range for the engine, they could be causing preignition which explains the pinging. just a thought. or a vaccum leak after the airflow sensor causing lean mixture.

Got a problem with my girlfriend's Celica. It's a 6th Generation with a 5S-FE (same as the camry) with a manual transmission. Lovely car to drive, handles well and looks nice.

Anyway, engine seems to ping under load, timing has been checked and retuned to sit on 12-13 on the timing marks as per the 'tune up' sticker. Sensors etc have been checked for continuity and have returned normal voltages. Plugs have been checked and are white as, no carbon deposits or mis-gapped plugs. Have run this car on 91 and 95 RON with no difference. Pinging also doesn't seem to be inlet temperature dependant either, will ping if the inlect tract is hot or cold.

Haven't taken it in to Toyota themselves yet but I'm at my wits end, everything looks normal! Short of having an identical problem to my TR which also pinged under load except when running 95+ RON fuel. Turned out to be a capacitor had leaked onto the ECU circuit board and caused it to run limp timing. I doubt that this is the problem with the Celica though.

Have tried the obvious OZCelica/Toymods forums but they are useless and nobody seems to have had this problem before.

Even some suggestions on what I could look for would be awesome.

I work with an ex-toyota mechanic, I'll ask him tomorrow and see what he thinks.

Cheers guys I'll get a plug out now and see what it is

Out of interest, what conditions are the leads in? And do they run a coil or distributor type set up?

if its the same as the S21 camry donk, then it will be a distributor. Check the dizzy cap and rotor for corrosion if you havent already

Plugs are NGK BKR6EP 11.

They have what looks like a fine white buildup on the side electrode.

**checked these against the NGK site and they are the ones listed
http://ngk.com.au/sparkplug_cars.php?PageMode=Results&Make=Toyota&Model=Celica&Year=02%2F9409%2F982.2LST204R5SFE

How do I get the dizzy cap off? Looks like there are 4 screws holding it on, it's getting a bit dark now so I'm not going to try it tonight, will give it a shot tomorrow.

Leads look in good nick, no signs of perishing on their insulation, they look thin though, might order some new ones just to be anal.

Yeah I'd say those you have are to hot, try dropping a heat range or two. Personally I would go for 9's

http://www.aa1car.com/library/reading_spark_plugs.jpg

Other than that you may have carbon deposits on your valves. The only way to get rid of them (apart from pulling the head off and cleaning them by hand) is to go to subaru and ask for some upper cylinder cleaning agent. Subaru's suffer from this pretty bad and such they had made a product to clean the carbon off them.

Moreys also make a upper cylinder cleaner/lube. there is stuff from the states called seafoam, cleans carbon from intake, combustion chamber etc. Do a search on youtube for it and watch the vids-crazy smokin!! should be available on ebay. as for leads or dizzy, they would cause a miss not pinging. is it worse under heavy load ie laboring engine etc?

Yeah by the looks of things the plug has either Carbon or Soot deposits, rather than being too hot. Reason I say this is that the side electrode has the deposits on it and the center electrode looks relatively clean, particularly the conducting surfaces.

Rob; the engine only seams to ping under load, and it's only very slight, which is weird. I've seen a few references to seafoam on Youtube, looks pretty crazy lol Might give it a go if all else fails...

Moreys also make a upper cylinder cleaner/lube. there is stuff from the states called seafoam, cleans carbon from intake, combustion chamber etc. Do a search on youtube for it and watch the vids-crazy smokin!! should be available on ebay. as for leads or dizzy, they would cause a miss not pinging. is it worse under heavy load ie laboring engine etc?

moreys make upper cylinder lubricant for older LPG vehicles that have been converted from leaded fuel. It is not a cleaner as much as they want to market it as that.

clean them up with a wire brush and take it for a drive, if the pinging stops then there's your problem but they will soon carbon up again and you're back to square 1.

Its not only for lpg, heres a link. ive used it many times and is the best value for money. do you use a certain fuel all the time? have you tried changing brands? This is the system i want to put in my car, constantly drip feeds the upper cylinder lube/cleaner http://www.moreyoil.co.nz/product.php?catID=10

http://www.scribd.com/doc/9571013/Toyota-5sfe-engine

Heres a bit of the manual, I just checked if the vacuum lime need sdisconnecting before tuning but it doesn't.
Will keep looking.

see anything like weak spark or faulty leads would cause it to miss, but usually timing, fuel or preignition is responsible for pinging. have you tried an octane booster or even injecter/fuel system cleaner? i still think one heat range cooler plug would work considering the white deposits.

see anything like weak spark or faulty leads would cause it to miss, but usually timing, fuel or preignition is responsible for pinging. have you tried an octane booster or even injecter/fuel system cleaner? i still think one heat range cooler plug would work considering the white deposits.

Yeah I'll be putting new plugs in ASAP. Shouldn't have to use higher octane fuel to get the car running normally though, so I want to fix the problem rather than bandaid fix it.

What plugs should I be using? What part of the number is the heat range?

Your using Platinum plugs and without knowing how many Km's you've done its probably time to change them to Iridium.

http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/parts-service/toyota_parts/spark_plugs.html

Plugs are NGK BKR6EP 11.

They have what looks like a fine white buildup on the side electrode.

**checked these against the NGK site and they are the ones listed
http://ngk.com.au/sparkplug_cars.php?PageMode=Results&Make=Toyota&Model=Celica&Year=02%2F9409%2F982.2LST204R5SFE


Yeah I'll be putting new plugs in ASAP. Shouldn't have to use higher octane fuel to get the car running normally though, so I want to fix the problem rather than bandaid fix it.

What plugs should I be using? What part of the number is the heat range?

Plugs are NGK BKR6EP 11.

I believe the 6 is.

Plugs are NGK BKR6EP 11.

I believe the 6 is.

http://www.spark-plugs.co.uk/graphics/tech/ngk_sym.gif

Interesting image I found, and you are correct sir.

What heat range should I be looking at?

http://www.denso.com.au/sparkplug/finder

Make TOYOTA
Model Celica
Engine 2.2L 5SFE SX ST204R
Year 2/1994 on
Sparkplug PK20R11
Iridium Power IK20
Iridium Tough VK20
Gap 1.1

Might have some

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/6-x-Denso-Iridium-Power-Racing-Spark-Plugs-IK20,22,24_W0QQitemZ390095970640QQcmdZViewItemQQim sxZ20090920?IMSfp=TL0909201510001r16336

Did you check the timing with the check connector short circuited??

T1 and E1 from memory... should be on 10-12 degrees (the check engine light should flash when you've shorted the right ones.
If you don't short them out it's actually 5 degrees (approx) more than it shows hence the pinging.

Doubt it'll be plugs..
I ran -11 plugs on my twin cam corolla...it had 11.2:1 compression. it was the timing all the way. and crap fuel...

Spray some carby and throttle body cleaner when switched off...
Run premium fuel and it won't have carbon buildup as much.

Iridium plugs are a waste of money IMHO unless they are hard to get to as the Magna V6's are.

Champion Golds... best steel plugs ever.. and super cheap!!!!!

Steve

Yeah the timing was checked with the diagnostic circuit short circuited.

Might just bite the bullet and take it in to Toyota :(