Engine pinging and carbon build-up

[jm2004]

Hi,
I wonder if anybody could share their experience / knowledge. I have a 3-year-plus old Paj NP petrol auto, bought new, and have only done 35000km so far. It developed pinging even only when pushed a liiitle harder. 2 garages told all computer tests on the engine returned correct measurements. One garage recommended me to "rev" it up more.

I sort of understand maybe the car (and engine) has had a very easy life. No offroading home office drive, with no major traffic jam. It is always serviced on time, correct tire pressures, fuel from the likes of BP, Shell etc. On fuel I started with ULP but have gone PULP over the last year or two.

Now the questions after the long intro :
1) This is the first time I've been told of carbon build-up after just 35000km in 3 years. Nevertheless I do rev up more, i.e. accelerate faster (within the law ). Any comments? Does this make sense?

2) I purchased one of those engine build-up "cleaning" agent and maybe subjective but I've notice improvements (i.e. reduced pinging) only after a couple of days. Does anybody have experience with these additives? Do they really work?

Thanks heaps for anybody who could help sharing their thoughts.

Best regards,

Jonathan

[jm2004]

pinging seems to have gone

Hi, further to my post, after a week plus with the tank started full 1.5 bottle of one of those "cleaner" additive for engine build up etc, and a little more spirited acceleration most of the time, somehow the pinging sensation seems to have disappeared altogether.

I believe my ears tell the truth (of the pinging sound gone), but not sure why it was gone. Maybe the cleaner actually works, maybe the build up is minimal considering the car has only 35,000km, maybe the engine management changes settings following the new driving style.

Regards,

[Para Ordnance]

Yes, that's believable... I was once told that the best value for money octane booster was " STP Octane Booster ", and this was from a race car driver who claimed it was the only product to stop the pinging in his performance BMW.
I always believe that giving an engine some serious curry up a hill, under load, etc will always benefit it

[Spajero]

You will also find that using a fuel such as Shell Optimax, or Advance or whatever the new marketing term for a 98+ octane fuel, will also give you the same results.