O.K here is the shortest version I can think of!
Truck makes a crackling pinging noise when under a strain, such as climbing a hill in loe gear or somthing, coming from the area of the CATS under the truck. Also strong rotten egg smell lately too. My assumption, faulty CATS!
Took to dealer and this is what they said to my girlfriend, because she had to pick up the truck cause I was at work! They said they could find nothing wrong except for the fact that oil from the K&N replacement filter that I installed in the truck was throwing off the trouble codes when they went to check them! They said they fixed that, but did not say how! Then they said to try using a higheroctane gas and if it still makes the noise to bring it back!
First of all I'm calling BS!
Second of all the truck is designed to run on 87 octane! I should not have to run anything else in it.
Third, why on earth would the filter through off DTC's because of the oil? The orginal stock filter I pulled out was a Nissan oiled filter anyway!

If anybody has any advice or can relate to this problem, please drop a line THANKS!

Sounds like detination. Is this the first time you noticed it or does it do it all the time? If it is the first time, maybe it is bad gas. If it is common, you might try higher octane gas.

Sure sounds like a bunch of BS to me. It does sound like it was pinging. My friend just put a K & N filter setup on his 04 Frontier with the VQ33. He decided to save money and use 87 octane at the same time. He noticed a noticable loss in power at highway speeds and was going to put the stock air filter back. He went back to super unlead and highway speed power back to normal. The engine may be designed to run on 87, but that indicated it performs better with super. Try a tank of super unleaded and see what happens

The dealer wanted my mom to run 93 in her R50 with the VQ35DE but it never pings with 87, so we run that.

Just for the heck of it, run 93 for a tank and see what happens.

Also check for cracked exhaust manifolds and/or manifold studs. They will probably be fine but it's a thought.

Where are you located? Mountains?

My truck does this. They fed you a line on the other stuff. Your SES light wasn't on, was it?

Higher octane should solve the problem. Might not have to run it that often...just run a couple tanks and see if it persists. You may have gotten a bad tank of gas.

Hey thanks for the advice guys!
I guess the truck just might run better on a higher octane. Guess they just put the min. 87 in the manual for legal reasons. I dont know!Has any one had any problems with putting aftermarket intakes or filters on there trucks?
OH by the way I live in western PA! I've been thinking about changing the plugs too, Any recomendations on what to use?

My friend just put an aftermarket K & N filter on his. He got it off of Ebay.
It gives the vehicle a deeper, meaner sound on acceleration, because of the increased intake noise. Actually, sounds pretty cool.

Factory NGK plugs are about the best you can use. Don't get sucked into splitfires or Platinum+4's...they're not worth the extra expense.

quote:

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Originally posted by Desert Rat:
Factory NGK plugs are about the best you can use. Don't get sucked into splitfires or Platinum+4's...they're not worth the extra expense.

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Extra expense? My NGK Laser Platinums (the OEM plugs) ran me almost $13 each!

That sucks, man. My NGK V-Powers (OEM) were about $1.50 each or something cheap like that.

Laser platinum Shmatinum unobtanium my dollars from my walletum.

I would wash out radiator/AC condenser ,from the rear towards the front. You could soak it all down w/ sInmple Green or other safe aluminum cleaner ,first,to help the dirt release/wash off better.
Then you could try sucking a little Seafoam thru either the throttle body or a vacuum line. The goal here is to try and loosen deposits( carbon)inside the combustion chamber/valves, etc.,that are creating hotspots and inducing the detonation.
Throw another can of Seafoam inthe tank before you fillup next.
LAstly , you can use water to help decarbon your engine. Just suck it down like the seafoam while keeping the engine revving.

It's possible too, that the Knock sensor is a gonner.

NGkNGKGNKNGKNGKGNKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKGNGNKNGK
NGKNGNKGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGKNGK
NGKNGKNGKGNGKNGKNGKNGKGKNGKNGKGNGK
you will now be returned to your scheduled
programing

(fixed wide NGK - datz510)

BILLE! Please remove the NGKNGKNGK... crap, it's screwing up the post by making it too wide.

An over-oiled K&N can foul the MAF sensor or other things. The OEM filter is NOT oiled.

I used NGK V-power (copper) plugs on my X instead of the OEM platinums. MUCH cheaper, same or better performance (less resistance, better spark), just don't last as long. Still cheaper to replace them 2X as often for 1/6 the cost, the #6 plug is the only real downside, but it's not so bad.

The K&N would have to be grossly over-oiled to be a problem. Like, dripping while you screw it on.

I'm with the gas guys. Higher grade gas will definitely help. It just sucks paying that extra $$$. I used to burn nothing but premium (before it was $2.50 a gallon). Anyone who tells you that makes no difference has not been paying attention. Sure, your vehicle has been designed to be able to run on lower grade fuel, but that doesn't mean it was desinged to run well on lower grade fuel.

I had this '90 Sunbird that would choke and sputter and die if you put anything less than 87 in it (and it wasn't truly happy with anything but premium). I know for a fact my Pathy runs better and gets better fuel economy on 91 octane or better.