Out of Ideas, Engine Detonation! (non-bmw)

[Volvoracing77]

I know this isn't an E30.... but I can't figure this one out. My friend's car is a 2001 Toyota Corolla 80k miles. It's currently experiencing bad pinging starting from ~3k rpm and stops ~3.5k rpm. The MAF sensor, spark plugs, air filter, and Oxygen sensor are all new. There is no engine check light of any kind. The ignition system is non distributor type, with individual coil on spark plug setup. I even took it to a Toyota dealership and they were stumped.... the told me to run a bottle of engine cleaner through the gas tank. That didn't fix anything. I also ran a can of seafoam through the intake manifold to help with carbon build up. That didn't work either. What should I do next? I was thinking it might be a problem with the variable valve timing system..... but I have no idea. I can't believe a OBD2 car wouldn't have an engine check light come on with pinging this bad. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bryan

[abepark]

move the coils around and see if it changes.

[Volvoracing77]

Thanks for the help. I tried moving them around.....but it didn't do anything. Any other ideas???

[Farbin Kaiber]

VVTi oil switch, or the goofy solenoid thingy they put on the end of their cams. I had the same issue in an Echo.

[SpecM]

have you tried running higher oct fuel? Are you sure it's detonation, and not a mechanical noise?

My 01 Camery 2.2 used to detonate sometimes under high load in hot weather (w the AC on too), but it has knock senser and it retards timing within 2 seconds of it happaning. I can feel the power slump when it does that, the car almost stops!

A tune-up, seafoam, and a cleaned-out EGR valve nearly eliminated the problem

[SpecM]

VVTi oil switch, or the goofy solenoid thingy they put on the end of their cams. I had the same issue in an Echo.

was it not letting the cams advance correctly or what?

[gstuning]

cam sensor is probably bad.
Nissan´s get it and it retards timing.

Have a dealership check the base ignition timing

[Farbin Kaiber]

was it not letting the cams advance correctly or what?

Yeah, a lack of oil changes caused a sludge issue that plugged up the switch, and would not let the cam rotate properly. One of my tech's did attempt to disassemble the "solenoid" (I can't recall Toyota's technical neme) but it's like a valve body in a auto transmission, and onec it's open, you cannot get the ball valve or springs back in. It's about a 600.00 job or so, make sure to clean the engine out with the gumout one gal fluxh, or take it to some shop with a bilstein flush machine, I love those.

[Farbin Kaiber]

cam sensor is probably bad.
Nissan´s get it and it retards timing.

Have a dealership check the base ignition timing

That's just a crappy Nissan product issue, that's why they sell cam sensor/refrence sensors in a set.

[gstuning]

That is manufactured by Mitsubishi heavy indurstries.

[SpecM]

updates?

[2Big4a3Series]

My Mazda had a similar problem. I discovered that I had a bad exhaust manifold gasket. It seemed to be completely unrelated at the time but I read in the forums that this is a common problem for my particular vehicle and the TSB suggested that this was the way to correct it.