Hearing Engine Pinging Problem

I've had Tinnitus for a couple of years now and since then I can't hear an engine ping, the very high range of my hearing is gone. Does anyone know of a visual indicator that can be mounted in a vehicle? With some of the bad fuels we pick up at some gas stations, a visual indicator would be perfect for someone with hearing problems. PJ

Paul - there are several tools that give you a visual clue. Here's one:

https://thetuningschool.com/products/plex-knock-monitor?variant=7053745619005

I've had tinnitus for about 15 years. Not fun.
Tom M.

That link doesn't seem to work for me; but I think this is the same product
https://www.plex-tuning.com/products/plex-knock-monitor/

In my idle moments, I've thought of trying to build something similar, but it's not a trivial project. Hanging a microphone on the engine is easy (most modern cars have "knock sensors") but then deciding which waveforms indicate knock and which don't is harder. You basically wind up needing to run either a FFT, or a DFT at several selected frequencies (some of which vary with engine rpm). Then tune the results to the noises your engine makes when running normally.

I was lucky, my tinnitus faded once I got away from the noisy work environment. But I'm still partially deaf in one ear (and not so good in the other )

NutmegCT said:

Paul - there are several tools that give you a visual clue. Here's one:

https://thetuningschool.com/products/plex-knock-monitor?variant=7053745619005

I've had tinnitus for about 15 years. Not fun.
Tom M.

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Yikes! That's expensive!

Understood. Perhaps one of these APPs, claiming enhanced hearing via smart phone, is for you: https://appfelstrudel.com/a/576341356/alternative-to-ear-spy-super-hearing.html
GONZO.

For a thousand bucks, take a friend who has sharp hearing for a drive and at the end buy him/her a beer.

and use ethanol free gas.

Might seem expensive, but cheaper than an upper rebuild from detonation.

JPSmit said:

For a thousand bucks, take a friend who has sharp hearing for a drive and at the end buy him/her a beer.

Click to expand...

Got that right. (Then send the thousand bucks to JP for posting the idea!)

LarryK said:

Might seem expensive, but cheaper than an upper rebuild from detonation.

Click to expand...

True, depending on the engine but, I have never heard of an engine grenading from inferior gas - if the engine is set up within appropriate tolerances poor gas should be annoying and perhaps even gum up a carb but as far as I am aware that is it.

JPSmit said:

True, depending on the engine but, I have never heard of an engine grenading from inferior gas - if the engine is set up within appropriate tolerances poor gas should be annoying and perhaps even gum up a carb but as far as I am aware that is it.

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JP - what is "grenading"? I thought grenading was what we call "back firing" (visible "explosion" out the carbs or exhaust). I think Paul is asking about knock/ping, and not back fire.

Anyway, just wondered what engine grenading means.

Tom M.

Never seen one grenade from pinging. Have seen pitted and burned piston tops and broken plug tips that had bounced around like bbs. Sometimes head can be damaged by the pinging, especilly the aluminum ones. Reset timing and dwell until it subsides or try using the more expensive premium. Pinging does create heat at the wrong time causing the damage.

FWIW, I believe this to be damage from pre-ignition (ping, pink, knock, whatever) that I could not hear. Not what I would call "grenading", as I was able to limp home on 3 cylinders (it was only about 10 miles anyway). But still unpleasant.

I did actually blow an engine in my Citroen that was far too lean, pre-ignition in the top end. grenading may have been overstating but, I still don't think this is a fuel issue but a timing issue.

I suppose you could look at it either way. In my case, the incoming fuel/air mixture was getting contaminated with engine oil, only on that cylinder. The intake valve guides were badly worn, and one of the valve stem seals I installed (after installing an external oil feed to the rocker shaft) came apart. If I had known to retard the spark on that cylinder, it wouldn't have broken a piston. So maybe it was a "timing issue".

But does it really matter why it happens?

Stuff happens. Some years back, a friend of mine got a tank of diesel fuel that had not just water in it, but algae growing in the water. He had to have the truck towed in and the entire fuel system (including the injector pump) disassembled for cleaning.

The equivalent with E10 gasoline (which is required by law here) is "phase separation", where the alcohol gets wet enough that it separates from the petroleum. Since ethanol is around 105 octane; it gets blended with low octane petroleum to get the 85 octane or so mixture sold at the pump. That means if the ethanol is taken out, the remaining petroleum is much lower octane. Guess what happens when you try to burn it.

I'm not saying it's likely enough to worry about. But it could happen. Modern cars all have knock sensors, so they know to retard the spark when they get bad fuel. Doesn't seem like such a bad thing to have on a Triumph as well.