I am experiencing spark knock while driving around 30 mph, usually upon lightly depressing the gas pedal to maintain speed. There is no spark knock under hard acceleration. Mentioned it to the dealer last service and was told there were no codes and the car had a spark knock sensor which should take care of any irregularities. I can usually replicate the spark knock if I gently brake torque and I always use premium grade gasoline. Oh yeah, the car is a 2006 Vanden Plas with 32000 miles and still under warranty. Has anybody any experience or recommendations that I can suggest to the dealer next service. It is very irritating.

thanks,
brdave

 

Revisit the dealer and offer this TSB.

 

Steve,

In the dealership world, whose responsibility is it to disseminate new technical info (such as TSBs) out to the service bay--the service management or the service technician?

Seems like we see a lot of these situations where the info to solve recouring problems is available but ------

 

I haven't been in a dealership for years now. Then, as a GM (Chevy) tech, we basically found factory solutions (TSBs) when we came across the repair. Even though TSBs were interpretted (for importance and impact) and distributed by the service manager, no one paid too much attention until the information was needed. Then, there are a number of different kinds of TSBs. Some are mandatory (recalls or campaigns), others are just TSBs describing intermittent problems that might not show up often (or ever) in dealerships. Take Toyota's recent accelerator repair recall - You have to know that everyone knew that TSB intimately. I have probably over 50 TSBs for the X350 alone in my private library, and I know I am not complete and that is only one model.

Not sure if there is any formal process today. Maybe Brutal can weigh in as he is active now. I'd be interested too if he responds.

 

Thank you so very much Steve 11! I find it hard to believe that the dealership would miss information like this and very much appreciate your bringing this to my attention. At the next service I will respectfully bring this to thier attention.
I do again appreciate the help and that there are forums such as this as a resource of knowledge and experience regarding these cars.

brdave

 

You're welcome. Hope it helps solve the problem for you. In defense of the dealership, this is one of those seldom reported customer problems and your dealership or the tech/service manager might not have had a previous opportunity to use it....so please remember to use "diplomacy"!

 

The dealership who services my car is excellent. They treat me very well. I think this spark knock issue is just an issue they may have not looked into far enough. I always treat them with respect and am diplomatic as not to jeopardize our relationship. Thanks again for the information.

brdave