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Fuel Injection Resurrection

Here’s where to discuss anything specific about your standard(ish) car or something that applies to the model in general.
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sheetsofsound
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Fuel Injection Resurrection

Postby sheetsofsound » 12 Jul 2014 01:58

Thanks to help from forum members, my recently resurrected green carburetted car is running pretty well and functioning as my daily driver. I am now starting to turn my attention to a fuel injected vehicle that I got almost by accident from the gentleman who sold me the green one.

I have brought a few carbed cars back from the dead, but never a fuel injected one. Can anyone give me some insight? The car has been sitting for 10 years and, according to the PO, has a seized head due to overheating.

Thanks,

BT

KyleTR7
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Postby KyleTR7 » 12 Jul 2014 03:24

I have a 81 FI. So if you need pics I can do my best.

HDRider
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Postby HDRider » 12 Jul 2014 15:04

Aside from the overheating issues I would start by cleaning the complete fuel system. It won't take much muck to really mess up the fuel injectors.

It will most likely need a new oxygen sensor. you should replace all the rubber fuel lines as well as the new fuels will eat right through them.

The FI system is fairly simple as it does not include an engine management system.

One thing to note is that the fuel pump will not turn on till the starter motor is engaged unless you make up a by-pass wire. There is a fuel pump shut off switch on the firewall as well that you should check also.

Edward Hamer
Petaluma CA

TR Tony
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Postby TR Tony » 12 Jul 2014 15:45

Well not sure what he means by a seized head unless it is the "usual" failed head gasket & he couldn't get the head off to fix it.

The EFI is not complicated, you just have to get used to a new set of parts! It's essentially a Bosch system, at the back of the car is a twin hole fuel tank (one for fuel out, one for fuel return), next to that a high pressure pump with filter to the engine bay, then in the engine bay the fuel rail supplies fuel under pressure to the injectors, there is a pressure regulator & return line to the tank. You will also see a different air intake system with an air flow meter. The exhaust downpipe should have an oxygen sensor.

The ECU under the dash gets various readings from sensors like the coolant temperature, the throttle position & the air flow meter, and the O2 sensor. Based on these readings the ECU fires the injectors to allow a precise amount of fuel into the intake manifold. There will be a cold start injector to provide extra fuel at cold start.

As Edward says, change the rubber hoses as the system works at around 36 psi. The fuel pump is interlocked to the oil pressure switch with a bypass circuit for starting (no oil pressure till the engine runs) through a double relay. One problem may be that fuel will have dried up in the system over those 10 years, injectors may be clogged but try it & see!

The EFI system is actually pretty robust, so if the PO did not mess around with it then chances are it will work. BUT check those rubber hoses including the fuel tank supply & return.

Tony
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<font size="1">1981 TR7 FHC Cavalry Blue
1980 TR7V8 DHC Jaguar Regency Red - sadly sold!
1977 TR8 FHC EFI Factory development car Inca Yellow</font id="size1">

sheetsofsound
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Postby sheetsofsound » 12 Jul 2014 17:05

Excellent info - thank you.

I am the third owner of this car. The first owner was responsible for the overheating incident, so the info I have is second hand from the second owner. The second owner bought the car as a project and never got around to it, which was too bad as he went to a lot of trouble to tow it over the border to Canada 15 years ago. It sat in his garage, and then under a tarp in a farmer's field. The thing is absolutely filthy and dusty under the hood, so first order of business will be to clean things up so I can start work.

The rear brakes are seized, as well as some cosmetic stuff, but I won't tackle any of that until I hear the thing run. I am currently stripping a parts car, so work won't begin until later this week. I'm sure I'll have questions once I get started.

Brent

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Postby FI Spyder » 12 Jul 2014 17:51

Also read my workshop manual section on FI. If you have a 1980 or newer OEM manual they have a section on the FI. My car was stored for 7 years and it got going and was driven back 1,500 miles. You'll want new fuel, use fuel injection cleaner for the first while. After a winter of restoration the first time I started the engine up there was a pin hole in the fuel line spraying fuel on the engine so heed the replace fuel line suggestions. The only hard part to find was the odd size fuel line from tank to pump. It's low pressure so regular fuel line is fine. Finally found it at Napa. Make sure the tank is clean as well as you don't want to just rely on the large fuel filter alone. Plus the two hole tank is no longer available so I would seal the tank with the POR-15 4 part tank sealer method once you have everything going. One caveat is the POR-15 sealer needs to be drained for it to cure properly and the two holes are not the low point of the gas tank so a bung must be welded into the tank to do this. This is shown in the slide show of sealing the tank below (it was already done to my tank as it had been previously sealed but not with POR-15 so it was flaking off).

http://s119.photobucket.com/user/Spit99 ... Gas%20Tank

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT
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sheetsofsound
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Postby sheetsofsound » 13 Jul 2014 22:42

Spyder - thanks for the excellent info. The slideshow is really helpful, and I've skimmed through your workshop section entry as well. A more detailed reading will soon follow. It looks like you've done some really nice work on your car.

I'm very interested in the POR-15 process as I've heard it gives great results. Finding the stuff seems a little tricky, but KMS Tools stocks a lot of the POR-15 products apparently. I don't know if they have the tank sealer, but they do have some other POR-15 stuff. Did you get yours online or locally?

The odd size fuel line you got from NAPA - I'm wondering if I can get it at Lordco around here as I live a few blocks from one of their stores and I have an account with them. I'll try and have a close look tonight to see what size it is unless you can remember it off the top of your head.

I will be heading over to the garage where the car currently sits later this evening and, thanks to all the info, looking at it with fresh eyes.

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Postby FI Spyder » 14 Jul 2014 13:29

I got the POR-15 kit from from the local auto parts dealer (Duncan Auto Parts). They didn't have it in stock but they ordered it in from Vancouver. I had to use two gallons of POR-14 stripper to get out the old sealer, used roofing nails as even though the stripper was nasty stuff it would only soften it so it would stick to the nails. The nails also act as an excellent way to get rid of the rust as well as it's acting as a wire brush inside. KMS should be able to order in the kit but if not most auto parts dealers should carry POR-15 and they can order it in from their supplier. You can go to POR-15's website and print out their page on it to take with you in case they don'y know what you are talking about.

As for the fuel hose I'm not sure of the size I think is was 9/16" but don't take that to the bank. the local parts dealer didn't have it and our Lordco didn't either. I did some research on the internet and some Kawasaki etc. motorbikes use it so I went to local bike shop and they didn't have it. NAPA has a couple feet so it seemed to be an odd size for fuel hose.


- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT
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mb4tim
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Postby mb4tim » 15 Jul 2014 13:43

Here are some pics from my resurrected FI. I have never worked on a FI car before - it wasn't bad. The only wires I had backwards were the ones near the thermostat hosing. If it's sat for too long, have the injectors sent out to be serviced - there's a 5th injector (cold start valve) hidden under the big plenum.

http://www.tgnagy.com/tr7/fi.cfm

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-Tim
http://www.morSpeedPerformance.com
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