WTF is this sound, pinging?!
 

Well when i shift from 1st to 2nd, then let off the clutch and push the gas down, i hear this noise that is coming from either the engine, or somewhere around it...I noticed it the day i drove my car off the lot with only 50 miles on it, know it has 3600. it's a 2002 mustang GT, in 5 speed...the noise almost sounds like a mix of clicking, and the noise when your about to stall out, and u clutch it, you hear something raddle or shake or something. I really hope it's not ping...It doesn't just happend when shifting, it also happens if I'm driving in a gear, then hit the gas, it will make the noise for a split second, then not stop. I don't feel a power loss, or maybe i'm used to it, I don't know. I really hope it's not ping. All I have is the K & N intake w/o silencer, and flowmasters. Is it the intake sucking in for that brief moment? AHH!!! thanks.

need more input
 

is your sound normally under a load as well and worse with the a/c on ???

when the AC is on, I can't really hear anything, but I don't think it's louder...IT happens all the time, not just under a load or in hot weather, but in cold weather also.

The first thing I would do is try a tank of premium gas and see if it goes away (I'm not saying this is the solution if it does go away, it will just narrow things down). If it does it is probably detonation (aka pinging). No matter what take your car back to the dealship to see what's up. If it is just detonation the car just needs to be retuned (hopefully). I've had two mustangs (5.0 and 4.6) and both did not like 87 octane, especially the 5.0. I would run high quality midgrade to save money over premium gas and found out that my cars ran fine on Texaco midgrade (Texaco was the best, both cars never pinged on Texaco midgrade, Amoco the worst, always pinged on their midgrade) and the pinging would go away. I'm a bit concerned that you hear this all the time and not just under hard accelleration. Good luck and let us know what happens.

i use mobile 89 every tank of gas, and one times used exxon 93, and my car ran slower (i thought), and I still heard the name...With pinging, correct me if i'm wrong but wouldn't the knock sensor jump in and retard the timing to stop detonation and wouldn't I fell a loss of power? I really hope it's not pinging, that's all I need.

Take It Back to the Dealership
 

As far as I know the Mustang fuel system and computer is not capable of detecting the level of octane and then adjusting the timing and whatever else to prevent the ping, and increase or decrease power. In fact I am almost positive of this fact because my family has had cars which do this. I really wish the mustang had this capability, because my car does ping on occassion (and this was prior to my mods). Prior to all my mods the one or two times I did put in premium gas I too felt that power was cut. Anyways, since you've tried the high octane thing, get it back to the dealership, the few mods you've done should not void your warranty in any way. The one good thing is that it sounds like the problem is very consistent, which means they should have no problem finding the issue and fixing it.

I had pinging on my mustang and it ended up being the weld breaking on my H-pipe. A piece of metal inside of the pipe was sticking out and when exhaust would go buy it tapped it against the inside wall of the pipe and rang loud. Only heard it in 1st and 2nd gear. Just a thought probly not it. Good luck.

Well if it stil happens with high octane gas then it probably isnt pinging. Ive had my car at about 16* advance timing with 91 octane and on a really hot day it pinged once or twice. when it pings, the check engine light DOES come on trust me it happened to me. so if its pinging you should get a CEL. if no CEL then probably no pinging.

I knkow that my car sounds more rattley compared to my old civic but part of that is just the RWD setup... the power goes from flywheel to tranny to driveshaft to diff to axles then to tires so lots of parts gotta start moving and on top of that you got a tranny right next to your ***, not way up front near the bumper. When i put my tri-ax shifter in the car it definitely made lots more clicking and stuff but thats normal. Even if you dont have an aftermarket shifter you might still hear clicks.

If its a short thud or clunk when you smash the gas then it just might be your driveline smacking in when it receives power.

Why dont you go for a ride in an old 80s stang and listen for sounds??? then your new GT will sound pretty darn quiet HAHA

Thats what I figured...A friend of mine has a 2000 GT and gets the same noise, said the same thing, you know what you're talking about!

As far as everybody else goes, thanks a lot, you gave me some very useful knowledge...

Compared to my friends 5.0L, my car is really quite.

Thanks again.

when i first start my car in the morning i get a rattle when i take off sounds like something is loose butr goes awaywhen operating temp comes up but it definetly comes from the engine