I'm pretty sure this is down to bad fuel, we had similar problems with new cars in Croatia couple of years ago.

get some petrol on INA station just after border towards Zagreb. try to get there with as little petrol in the tank as possible an fill it up. you won't find any water in petrol or anything like that on this station, and the fuel is EURO4 compliant.

we had so much problems with bad fuel that some car companies gave shorter warranty on their cars, and renault didn't sell diesels for a couple of years. after a huge publicity and a lot of fuel quality measurements on various petrol stations and public humiliation of certain oil companies, things changed.

 

It's different here, because NIS has monopoly on producing gasoline. The only thing that's imported is Euro Diesel, and NIS recently started producing it, too. If they forbid importing of Euro Diesel, I think it's gonna be really bad news. Yet, the gasoline quality is somewhat improved comparing how bad it was...

My brother went to Slavonija a couple of years ago, and couldn't believe the difference - he said that the gas is so much better there.

The problem walkerz faces sounds like problem with engine valves which is actually called just like that - engine knocking. It happens when fuel ignites prior to valves seal the cylinder completely, producing knocking sounds. It was common on old Zastava cars, mostly with rebuilt engines, because of valves not being tuned correctly, or if ignition system is not tuned correctly..usual case when this occurs is exactly what walkerz describes - uphill @ lower RPM.
I would check with the dealer, you can probably get away with some tuning since not all owners experience your knocking problem - it it's up to fuel, everyone would have the same problem, yet you are the first one I hear complaining about it recently...

 

Yes, problem is obviously isolated, because I haven't heard anyone complaining about this
Thing that bugs me is why the anti-knocking sensor (and this engine has it) doesn't prevent this? Who knows, maybe it really is up to valves or spark plugs, it can even be improper air intake...

 

Clicking, pinging noise (like metal knocking) comes from engine arround 2000 - 2300 rpm, especially in first and second gear...

definitely looks like knocking !
few issues here:
- 2000 rpm is not a good rpm value for a full loaded petrol engine (you have said steep slopes, huh ?!)
-knocking sensor is there but is having limits also...
- for killing the little greemlins in your head..why don't you go once abroad for ful-filling the fuel tank ? If you do this, then you can check out "fuel quality" on the list of probable causes..

all the best

 

If knocking dissapears with the better fuel, I'm still in a problem, because my car is "convicted" on our lower quality gasoline which I have to use, so problem is still there.
Plus, the nearest foreign fuel station (INA for example) is far from my place
I will contact the service soon, and post here any new information that I find out.

 

walkerz INA have the worse quality in Croatia, and who ever have new car prefer some of other private stations.

 

I'm always visiting Croatia in Summer and I always take my petrol from INA stations. My brother from Germany with his SL500 also. The petrol is the best in Croatia, I think.

 

true, but still better than most serbian petrol stations. I use Tifon, but I don't think there is any near the border.

only high quality petrol in Serbia could be found on MOL stations, they claim to have EURO5 petrol. I don't know if that is really so, but Tifon in Croatia imports MOL's petrol and it's the best there is.

 

AFAIK, it is pretty much the same where you buy petrol in Serbia as it is produced in the same refinery. You should avoid some smaller gas station as they might mix it with water or something like that. I don't think anyone here sells EURO5 petrol.

For diesel, MOL is the best as they sell diesel imported from Hungary which is EURO5 while others sells diesel from Romania which quality is poorer (it is EURO4).

 

its off topic; but you cant mix petrol with water because its separate almost instantly, petrol flow benith water and all tanks have some 30 cm free space for that water, but petrol can contain inpurity which affect quality.

 

I only fill my car on MOL, which sell the best diesel here.

I agree about petrol - it's kind of irrelevant where you fill it as long as it is a bigger station with bigger customer frequencies.
I still don't believe poor fuel quality is the source of your problem since I rarely ever hear people complaining about engine knocking on anything else but cars over 20 years old...

 

Ok, I went to dealer's service, spoke with mechanic, explained my problem. He told me that they already had customers with same complaints, they even "opened" a few engines, but found nothing, and imputed "knocking" to low quality fuel. Because they didn't want to do anything (luckily, I suppouse ), I have insisted at least to notify my complaint, for the sake of warranty, if (God forbid :amen: ) something happens. So they did it, wrote it down, opened a log for my vehicle, and it is official now :lol:
I will drive with this, for now on, avoiding incriminated rpm range, so we'll see. Until we have better fuel here h34r:

 

..I will drive with this, for now on, avoiding incriminated rpm range, so we'll see..

ok, let us skip the fuel quality....seems to me that you are afraid to push a little bit the engine, and you are usually driving at low rpm.
Low rpm is favorizing carbon/soot deposits which are prone to produce engine knocking.
Have you tried ever to rise rpm above 5500? The engine noise is fain, and you feel like driving something! I can not say that is the cheapest way of driving, but if you do like that few times, this will help removing soot&carbon deposit from your cilinders, valves, etc.
However, as a general line, keep it beyond 2800rpm.

have a nice weekend !

 

No, I'm not afraid at all, with avoiding I ment driving ABOVE 2500 rpm My usual driving rpm range is between 3000 and 4000, and car performs very well that way. Beyond that, fuel consumption goes way up

It's good advice though, I will definitely try it, but still haven't pushed the engine above 4.500 rpm, because it's "only" at 8000 km, my idea is to wait at least to 10.000 km or even to first oil change (15.000) before setting it up to higher rpms. I don't know, maybe this is too long. What is the run-in period for new engine, anyway?

 

1000km is enough, as stated in the user manual. Full potential is achieved over 5000km. You don't have to fear to rev it up near the redline, taking into account that it has 8000km.

 

I think maybe because of the engine oil....

Use the good brand engine oil....
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Problem with engine knocking is finally solved!!
And yes, it was up to fuel.
I have recently noticed new gasoline on NIS petrol stations (called Evro Premium Unleaded 95 octanes), it is not produced here, it is imported. Engine is quieter, it feels like more power, acceleration is much improved, consumption is about 10% lower in all driving conditions. And most important, pinging-knocking noises are completely gone! Knock-knock, on wood this time

For drivers from Serbia (and those who are passing by ) here is complete list of NIS petrol stations that have this new fuel:
Prodajna mre?a

 

Doesn't there exist EKO in Serbia?
EKO

It contains some additives that are said to protect and clean the engine.

 

I use petrol from Nesto-Petrol stations here in Bosnia, it's very good. I also know a few 1.4 ceed owners that use this gasoline with no problems at all.