mgainaussie

I'm the Aussie guy with the 2001 S2000 engine in a 1960 MGA. Engine ran great until Easter last year, when the engine starting pinking/pingng (depends what part of the globe you come from) under load, especially on hills...otherwise runs great on motorways. It has been suggested that it could be the Crank Position Sensor...any thoughts. My initial thoughts were a bad load of fuel at the time, but the fuel has been replaced several times since, and the problem remains.

I can't use the usual OB2 reader to find the problem because although I'm using the standard S2000 ECU, it has been modified to delete many of the non-engine sensors.

Many thanks.

s2000Junky

What OCT fuel are you using? What spark plugs are you using? Not having OBD2 function makes it challenging to pinpoint. What afr are you seeing at a given rpm/when pinging? Totally stock ecu/tune? Any engine bolt ons/mods? any correlation to ambient temps? How about engine temp? Detonation/pinging is common with an engine that is running hot.

Could you have deleted an engine sensor function without being aware of it?

zeroptzero

some sensors are designed to provide info to the ecu to control detonation, intake temp sensor, coolant temp sensor, knock sensor, that may be your issue. I think the ecu is advancing timing a bit too much as it is not reading input from some sensors. Secondly, what heat range plugs are you running, and can you change to a fuel with higher octane ?.

On the flip side light pinging under load at lower rpms as you have described is often considered normal and safe in the automotive world, though it is rare on the S2000 and not usually harmful. I've often read that light pinging in situations as you've described means the engine is operating at it's most efficient point. Detonation at high rpms is what is most harmful, but you are not experiencing that.