I had retarded the timing to 0 degrees (with te1 and e1 bridged) before the pinging finally stopped on my 22re.
Ran it for a while like that and decided to go back to 5dbtdc cause engine was really lacking power. Tried all different kinds of fuel injector cleaners, air intake cleaners, spark plugs, checked the egr system, tweaked the AFM to richen the mixture but alas. So i set all the settings back to stock and now i just run premium in her and that stops the pinging. Does anyone know how reliable the knock sensors are? Im not getting any code from the ecu for it but would it be worth my while changing it out, its an 89 motor with 135k mile on it. If thats not the problem i guess i'll open her up one of these days and clean the carbon buildup off the valves and pistons.