My 2000 4runner 3.4L pings a lot, anything over half throttle and it starts pinging like crazy. Will changing to a 180 thermostat help?? I dont want to have to put higher octane fuel in it, especially with these gas prices right now. Also, I only have the single electrode spark plugs instead of the dual in it, will this have an effect on that.

 

I'm assuming you aren't supercharged. The stock thermostat that was in my 98 was 180 degrees. You might want to try a 170 degree 1st and maybe 1 step colder spark plugs. If you do decide to change the plugs, go back to dual electrodes.

 

If you are not supercharged, I would not put a 170* bandaid on the problem. How many miles do you have? If you are under 60K miles and the rig is Naturally Aspirated, then you are a candidate for some warranty work. However, you are responsible for taking care of maintenance items that might cause this, such as:

clogged air filter
dirty MAFS
worn plugs

Any history on the vehicle? Any mods that we should know about?

 

It is all stock with 66,000 miles on it. Its my wifes car, mine is an 01 4.7 supercharged dodge dakota. In january I changed the plugs, cleaned the TB and maf, changed pcv valve, changed air filter, changed fuel filter and ran a couple of bottles of chevron fuel system cleaner. I also changed the oil to mobile 1 syn. and have always changed the oil in 3000-4000 mile intervals since it was new. This helped a little but it still pinged under full throttle, and personally I think it runs like sh$t but I think thats b/c I'm used to my truck. In the summer when it gets really hot it pings constantly, thats why I was thinking about a lower temp thermo. At this point I will be happy using bandaids to fix the problem.

 

You should absolutely not be using single electrode plugs in the 3.4L motor.
Go get some OEM densos from the dealer and see if that doesn't help.

Don't do the thermostat, that is a total bandaid and gas mileage may go to hell after.
You might also consider replacing the O2 sensor just to be sure that isn't the culprit.
The TPS can also have a similar effect and should be checked for operation too.

 

it could be a defective knock sensor....

 

uh, why would you use single electrode plugs? There's a big warning sticker on the engine that says use dual-electrode plugs ONLY.

When I asked gadget, he said the 170 thermostat would keep temps down on my NA.... And he said don't get the 160 thermostat (the TRD is 160)...

but it was mentioned here that it'll kill my mpg... so now I'm not so sure.

 

In my experience with Toyotas, running higher octane fuel should significantly reduce the pinging (just my 2 cents)