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2009 Forester engine ping "They all do that"

tmedo1tmedo1 Member Posts: 1
edited May 2014 in Subaru
Hello everyone. I have a 2009 Forester that pings under light to moderate acceleration when pulling away from a stop sign or driving between 20 to 40 MPH and maintaing speed on slight hills and is audible with the windows either open or closed. My Forester has only 8500 miles on it and I have always used "name brand" gasoline from various stations. I took it to the dealer today and was told that this is a common issue with this type of engine because of the cylinder layout/orientation. I personally feel that this is a bunch of bull___. I feel that with modern day electrical advanced timing and knock sensors this should be a thing of the past and that "ping" or "knock" is really detonation and not a good thing to have happening inside my engine. Anybody have any comments? Thanks for any help.
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Comments

  • bdymentbdyment Member Posts: 573
    You are correct. This reply by the dealer is pure bull____. I agree no modern car should have this problem in this day and age, Ask your dealer if the Porsche Boxer or 911 have this characteristic. They have the same cylinder layout as Subaru.
  • grahampetersgrahampeters Member Posts: 1,786
    G'day

    Pinging should not be happening in a modern engine, if you are using suitable fuel.

    Try running the vehicle on Premium Unleaded from a single source for a few tanks. If you can source Shell's Premium Unleaded (it might be branded as Optimax or V-Power or some other name but typically 95-98 RON with detergent additives). This has the benefit of improving fuel economy and reducing coking in many engines.

    When I first ran a Subaru, I had various problems with the engine. Subaru's senior engine tech in Australia visited and replaced the ECU (which was remapped a little) but said that the single biggest cause of engine problems was poor fueling. He recommended Shell Optimax and I was surprised at improvement in performance, removal of bad engine issues and most of all by 10-15% fuel economy improvement.

    Subaru in Australia also recommend adding a top engine cleaner to two tanks of fuel every 10,000km or 20,000km. This tends to reduce coking which may be contributing to your coking and extends service life of the engine.

    Cheers

    Graham
  • saedavesaedave Member Posts: 694
    Pinging should not be happening in a modern engine, if you are using suitable fuel.

    Graham,

    Agreed, but the sound may not be pinging. The exhaust manifold rap on some Subaru fours might confuse a new owner. My four had it but my 3.0R six does not.

    Dave
  • bigfrank3bigfrank3 Member Posts: 426
    Well the other problem is that knock sensor systems are reactive. Knock (ping) has to occur and be detected by the sensor before the computer knows it has to adjust, but this should happen quickly and the pinging should not continue. I have heard my Forester ping only once and it disappeared as fast as it happened. This was also pulling away from a stop sign. Your knock sensor circuit may be numb due to a sensor problem so I would stay on the dealer if it continues.

    Graham's advice is good to try. The higher octane V-Power Shell should not ping at all, and the higher detergent level just might clean out some deposits that have accumulated. After a couple of tanks and then returning to the 87 octane, if the problem persists I would pursue the numb knock sensor thought.

    Just out of curiosity, what area do you live in, and do they use 10% ethanol? Does this happen all the time or only when it is hot and you have the extra load of the AC system? Has anyone made sure your cooling system is full with no air pockets?
  • oldladydriveroldladydriver Member Posts: 15
    Hello, I have also posted on the Impreza forum about this - but my 2008 Impreza 2.5i (auto trans) does almost exactly the same thing -- pinging -- within two months of purchase. High octane gas doesn't help. Pings on hills, pings on acceleration, pings at low rpm's between gear shifts, pings pulling away from a dead stop - and the car is also slow to downshift when the engine is under load. More noticeable in warm weather. I am looking to see if owners of other 08-09 Subarus have the same problem. Have taken it to the dealer 3 times; they claim not to be able to replicate the problem. Am now dealing with Subaru of America - no one has any answers yet, but clearly others are having the same problem. Stay on your dealer about it, and call SOA if the dealer is not being helpful. I agree - a new car should not be pinging! I had a 96 Legacy wagon with a smaller engine - and never had this kind of problem.
  • jmoorjmoor Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2002 forester with 115,000 miles on it and it has been pinging as you are indicating since it was new. I also asked the dealer about it and got a similar response. I find that if I put 93 octane gas, it is OK. I rationalize the extra cost of the gas in that I appear to get 1-2 extra mpg with high test gas so it is kind of a wash. I also have an 2008 forester with 26,000 and that one is good with regular gas though I will notice subtle pinging if the engine is particularly strained (i.e. full car up a hill) and I am light on the accelerator so the engine is at a low rpm.

    Overall I am very satisfied with the cars :)
  • aathertonaatherton Member Posts: 617
    "... have a 2009 Forester that pings under light to moderate acceleration when pulling away from a stop sign or driving between 20 to 40 MPH and maintaing speed on slight hills and is audible with the windows either open or closed. My Forester has only 8500 miles on it and I have always used "name brand" gasoline from various stations... took it to the dealer today and was told that this is a common issue with this type of engine because of the cylinder layout/orientation..."

    The engine is supposed to run on 87 octane without pinging, period. You have far to few miles for "coking", but even pinging from that would be suppressed by the knock sensor and ECU. Pinging is not a common issue with the boxer engine, as my 2008 has no trace of it, nor have I ever heard of it in two years of heavy participation in the subaruforester.org forum.

    If the knock sensor was faulty, I would expect to see a trouble code. I would try a couple of tanks of high octane, just to see if it had any effect. If that stops the pinging, then something is wrong with the sensor or ECU.
  • dpalkadpalka Member Posts: 8
    The engine on my 2008 Outback pings as well, but I only hear it when I shut the car off. Other than that the car runs fine. :confuse: I use mid-grade gas, and it does have 10% ethanol. :mad: [If I ran the country, the first thing I'd do is tell the corn lobby to take a hike. Actually I'd use stronger phraseology, but I try to keep things clean when I post to a messageboard! ;) ]
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,788
    Only when you shut the car off? So, you shut off the car, then your hear.... what? If it is more of a ticking and soft popping, that is just the metal parts cooling and is entirely normal. Pinging is a result of detonation, which only happens when the engine is running.
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
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