schmick325

Having had an ongoing pinging issue with the car which I though was resolved but kept flaring up again, I had the car fully checked out once more.

What was found was this:


That's a camera put down into a cylinder and what you can see is carbon on top of the pistons.

I had had 2 previous carbon cleans done on the car, however this was done through a vacuum tube going into the intake manifold. My intake was spotless, but obviously the buildup on the pistons was not cleaned up.

This time, combustion chamber cleaner was put down through the injector ports and left to sit and soften the carbon.

After enough time, the car was started and this happened:


So now all the carbon is gone and the car is no longer pinging!

Here's a dyno run after a chip and exhaust tune done at the same time:


I must thank Sonny from Marranos for fixing this issue once and for all. I literally drove the car 1000kms from Melbourne so he could work on it as I had had no luck with numerous 'specialists' in Victoria. Some telling me the car wasn't even pinging!?

The engine shows to be healthy and the carbon build up is most likely from the car being driven too lightly and on short distances.

So for anyone with a pinging 63 AMG, this maybe your culprit.

gonzales25

How many miles do you have on your ML? This makes me worried but I have yet to hear any pinging.

schmick325

The car has done approx 48,000 miles.

Oil changes always at Mercedes using Mobil 1 ow40 too at requested intervals.

I bought the car 2nd hand about 6 months ago and it wasn't pinging.

My partner normally drives the car short distances, in C mode and since we have a baby it never gets driven hard.

So now the car permanently stays in S mode and I'll be getting the oil done every 5000 kms and might do a carbon clean every 2nd change.

Our driving habits are changing as well so it should be ok.

Compression in the engine is spot on across all cylinders and there are no signs of wear anywhere.

Maverick1975

Thats great info and you must be relieved that the problem is fixed.
Keeping it M mode is even more fun...as i am sure you well now!

schmick325

Yeah it was really getting me down!

Having this car and a problem like that was very frustrating.

I just glad its all over and the car is tuned

schmick325

Woohoo she's famous

http://www.youtube.com/user/sonnymad#p/u/0/IEbRb8RexJ8

Im really happy with the numbers.

Was a 40 C day in Sydney when this was tuned too!

RuuDV

I thought i am the only one who have pinging ML63. Yeah I have the same problem, the dealer told me my car intake manifold was leaking thats why all the numbers are wrong and it make my car ping. So i decided to fix it which cost me alot of $$ and they also do the carbon clean for me as well. It went little bit better for short period time only but now its back. I hate it, i cant accelerate hard without the car pinging and when the car its underloading especially uphill. I thought this engine love to rev but in this case my ML it doesnt like revving, it just feel bad and make pinging noise when i reach around 4000rpm. I think the problem with this car its having 7th gear (too much) on the gearbox, it just continually try to shift up to the highest even when u go uphill, when u needed the power so make the engine underload which produce pinging as a result. Also, in Australia the fuel is just bad or probably my car its abit sensitive with fuel. I cant refuel Shell, Caltex, Mobil. I only use BP, but its still not that good, probably i can say its a little bit better. I have been having this problem for quite a while now, the dealer told me the same as well, that i need to drive the car hard at most of the times. So yeah, i guess i just keep on driving it, no choice since this is a common problem for ML63. I keep trying to fix it but in the end the same result, the PING will be back. Cheers.

schmick325

Take it to Sonny, he will fix it. Mine was pinging from 4000rpm as well. This is where peak cylinder pressure occurs.

If you have had it fixed once before and now it's back, you may want to consider going to a slightly heavier oil. I've got 5W50 in my car now. Do you rev the motor out from time to time as well?

I'm also going to be changing the oil more regularly now and also do a precautionary carbon clean every 10-15k klms.

Believe me it can be fixed. When I picked the car up on Saturday, it was 41C.
The tank also had Shell V Power in it (which I know now is the least favorable one to use)
and I was trying my hardest to make it ping and it just doesn't. It's just goes as it should when it was new.

RuuDV

You are in Melbourne right. I am in Sydney, so far. Yea I love to rev my car from time to time but it just feel not nice and it ping when reaching those 4000 rpm, so yea not much I can do. I always follow the recommended timeline when changing oil. I don't know about using other type of oil. I use oil that the dealer recommend. Don't use Shell fuel, if my car use Shell fuel it will trigger the CEL straight away. Caltex is the worst, it make whole engine shake when its idling on traffic lights. I used to get Mobil fuel but the Benz dealer recommend me the BP fuel its better. So far the BP fuel its ok, not that bad. Yea such a pain my car haha.

schmick325

Sonny is in Sydney, in Croydon.

I drove my car there from Melbourne as no one I tried in Melbourne could fix the car.

Take it to him and you're problems will go away.

His website is www.marranos.com.au

RuuDV

Ok thanks. I give it a shot see how it goes. How long is the procedure ?

schmick325

He may need it for a few days, not sure give him a call.