89 Ram 50 2.6 manual tranny ping

[Leadfoot]

Just picked up a SWEET 1989 Ram 50 with 150K on the clock. Truck was babied (my great Uncle) and garaged its entire life. No body rot (which in New England is amazing), and only minimal frame rust.

The truck has been sitting for 6 months and has not been driven on the highway in at least 3 years. I took it and drove it before I bought it and it was great around town. Idled smooth, had pretty good getup and go for a carb'd 2.6, etc. I re-registered it, changed oil and coolant, and had it inspected and decided to hop on the highway, I couldn't get over 45-50 MPH and it stuttered REAL BAD (assumed it was mainly due to the gas as it hadn't been filled since this past summer and the new fuel sucks). Limped it off to the next exit, topped off tank (was about at half) with premium and added a bottle of drygas. Drove backroads home, got up in the morning warmed it up and headed to work. Now it would get to 65MPH but under load (sometimes light) it would ping pretty good, so I would downshift to 4th and sometimes 3rd to get it to stop pinging.

I ran the tank almost dry (well past the empty mark on the guage and filled it with fresh 87 octane (I know bad choice), a bottle of seafoam, a bottle of drygas, and a little bit of Marvel. Truck ran better but still pinged under load. Ran back roads and ran it to 1/2 tank and topped off with Premium again (little or no change). I then swapped out fuel filter, and it still did it. Decided to check timing (right at 7 degrees BTDC), so I backed it down to 5 degrees BTDC. That has helped but not eliminated the ping. I'm ASSuming EGR stuck closed or carb issues.

That being said:
Where is the EGR and is it easy to remove (for cleaning and checking).
If it's carb, is there anywhere that offers a rebuild kit and is there anything easy to check?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

[pennyman1]

EGR is located on the intake below the carb - great source of carbon buildup to cause pinging. Also checkout the vacuum lines in the carb box on the fender - the lines can crack and cause the carb box to screw with the carb and cause running issues. Advance the timing to 10 BTDC; it seems strange, but advancing the timing on the motor makes it ping less and run better, without running premium gas. I had an 88 2.6 auto that I fought with for the same reason till I got it to run right. Try 89 octane gas from different brands until you find one that gives the best running and economy; all brands are not alike, and the gas changes from summer to winter.