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RyanRodman Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:43 pm

Hey,
My name is Ryan and im 19. Some of you may remember me from some of my old posts about troubleshooting fuel injection on my '69 fastback. After very little real testing, i brought it too an aircooled shop where they obviously suggested carbs rather than wanting to work on the fuel injection, so i made the switch. I hated how the car ran and the terrible fuel consumption with carbs and soon parked it and bought my first watercooled vw, a 2004 gti that i love. However i do miss my fastback and hated seeing it just sit there so ive decided to switch back to fuel injection and get her back on the road.
The car:

Im currently 140 some odd pages into the fuel injection sticky and i think i have my head wrapped around this system pretty well, and between this forum the bentley manual and my ohmeter i hope to get this car running sweet. I will have many questions so i decided to start a mini build/rejuvination thread. I decided to pull the engine and do a general clean up of the engine and bay, new clutch etc. and assemble most of the injection on the engine before it goes back in.
The dreaded carb setup...weber 34 icts.

Removing Engine



I read you where suppose to support the irs trans after removing the engine, i hope this is safe/actuall doing something. I couldnt leave the transaxle on blocks because we had to push the fasty back outside so my roomate could bring his '78 rabbit in the garage while i freshen up my engine.

The shop that removed my injection seemed to be carefuel when removing parts, they didnt cut any wires on the harness and there is only one broken joint where the crankcase temp sensor hooks up.

I tested coninuity throughtout the harness and all (apart from the broken wire) seemed ok. The terms coninuity, resistnace, and ohms are all still new to me, but i have my ohm meter and am willing to learn as i still am fairly new to this.
I pulled one of the carbs off to see if i had the correct head to manifold gasket. It had a rubber one about as thick as a dime, is this the correct one for when the intake runners go back on? I read the metal ones are garbage.

I have one cracked injector holder, probably do to the fact im missing two of the little metal spacers that prevent over tightening.

I just sent out the origional fuel pump and distributor to Jim Adney to get rebuilt. Im not going to take any shortcuts this time, i want to do everything right the first time so i can really enjoy this car. :D
Thanks for reading, any advise, input, hints, and recomendations are really appreciated.
-Ryan

vlad01 Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:28 pm

good on ya mate. this is what i want to hear.

I had a TLE and it was the best type 3 ever in regards to how it ran, instant start, powerful, economical, heaps of torque in fact enough to do sustainable burnouts on stock tyres.

Geez I miss that TLE, I had to sell it to pay the electricity bill :cry:

and it sadden me as the buyer said he was just going to rid the EFI system, I begged him to keep it, but I don't think I got through to him. :roll:

KTPhil Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:11 pm

Intake runner "gaskets" are about 6mm thick and made of a hard bakelight-like material. The ones you have are soft and too thin.

Congrats on the judgment to put back the EFI. You won't regret it, with the help you will get here.

RyanRodman Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:37 pm

KTPhil wrote: Intake runner "gaskets" are about 6mm thick and made of a hard bakelight-like material. The ones you have are soft and too thin.

Congrats on the judgment to put back the EFI. You won't regret it, with the help you will get here.
Thats kinda what i thought, ill search the classifieds.

JSMskater Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:51 pm

congrats on the return to FI!

if you think your harness is good, awesome. If you come to find out its not, hit me up. I make new ones, and while its not "cheap", its 100% new from end to end and will make all the sensors play together like they were meant to. :wink:

I'll be following this thread to help as much as possible. 8)

supaninja Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:22 pm

Ryan- my hat is off to you dude. It warms my heart to see the younger generation is open-minded enough to venture into the dark and scary realm of EFI while most of the older guys are too set in their ways and insist on running those controlled fuel leaks. I wish the best to you dude :D

rosevillain Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:29 pm

I have always used the bakelight sandwiched between two cereal box gaskets.

Good luck, lots of help here for you.

What were your original problems?

sharkskinman Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:46 pm




My First Time:
Ultra Black
Brayer Roller From Craft Store
Tile From House
pair of Phenolic Spacers

needs a bit of refinement But Makes a Really Good Seal



You can get the original spacers with the intact paper gaskets
But Paper gets hard and stops filling all the little places as it gets older

you can also get a set of Injector seals
And the connecter hoses to the Plenum( i also seal mine with a gasket maker)



and Skater?
do you use regular D-Jet connectors or Cut Down L-jet ones??

the L-jet ones Work Fantastic
Im thinking of making one Using them

RyanRodman Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:53 pm

supaninja wrote: Ryan- my hat is off to you dude. It warms my heart to see the younger generation is open-minded enough to venture into the dark and scary realm of EFI while most of the older guys are too set in their ways and insist on running those controlled fuel leaks. I wish the best to you dude :D
Believe it or not im more scared of the complexity of carbs than i am of the fuel injection.
rosevillain wrote: I have always used the bakelight sandwiched between two cereal box gaskets.

Good luck, lots of help here for you.

What were your original problems?
I found a set of spacers in the classified and emailed the person, waiting on a reply. The car was my reliable daily my senior year in highschool, apart from a rough idle at coldstart, however it started cutting out at cruising speeds and i just threw in the towel :(

supaninja Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:56 pm

Sounds like it was either a petering-out CHT sensor or a loose connector for it.

RyanRodman Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:03 pm

supaninja wrote: Sounds like it was either a petering-out CHT sensor or a loose connector for it.
I replaced the CHT sensor with a new one, never really changed the way it ran, howerver i tinkerd with the TVS a lot and think that could have been part of it, or possibly just a loose connection like you said.

vlad01 Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:21 pm

supaninja wrote: Ryan- my hat is off to you dude. It warms my heart to see the younger generation is open-minded enough to venture into the dark and scary realm of EFI while most of the older guys are too set in their ways and insist on running those controlled fuel leaks. I wish the best to you dude :D

I feel that way about carbs. They are like women,.... temperamental, unpredictable, needs lovin to do their job, make no sense at all and leaks once a month or so and when this happens no one is happy :cry:


EFI works way better 8) EFI is the logical choice. pun intended :lol:

rosevillain Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:51 am

RyanRodman wrote: supaninja wrote: Ryan- my hat is off to you dude. It warms my heart to see the younger generation is open-minded enough to venture into the dark and scary realm of EFI while most of the older guys are too set in their ways and insist on running those controlled fuel leaks. I wish the best to you dude :D
Believe it or not im more scared of the complexity of carbs than i am of the fuel injection.
rosevillain wrote: I have always used the bakelight sandwiched between two cereal box gaskets.

Good luck, lots of help here for you.

What were your original problems?
I found a set of spacers in the classified and emailed the person, waiting on a reply. The car was my reliable daily my senior year in highschool, apart from a rough idle at coldstart, however it started cutting out at cruising speeds and i just threw in the towel :(

Mine has been cutting out/ dying randomly. Good luck with that one. Hopefully your attention to detail will solve the intermittant problem.

RyanRodman Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:40 am

rosevillain wrote:

Mine has been cutting out/ dying randomly. Good luck with that one. Hopefully your attention to detail will solve the intermittant problem. .
Ya this will probably be a slow build, im in no hurry because this isnt my daily like it used to be.

Mike Fisher Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:26 am

Tram uses an O2 sensor clipped to my tailpipe, when he adjusts my MPS.

RyanRodman Mon Mar 26, 2012 12:16 pm

Mike Fisher wrote: Tram uses an O2 sensor clipped to my tailpipe, when he adjusts my MPS.
Im saving adjusting the MPS as a last resort, i think it was little things like vacuum leaks that where part of my problems.

Tram Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:25 pm

Please do NOT use RTV anywhere on that engine. :roll:

RyanRodman Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:33 pm

Tram wrote: Please do NOT use RTV anywhere on that engine. :roll:
I dont even know what that is, so i wont :D

JSMskater Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:42 pm

RyanRodman wrote: rosevillain wrote:

Mine has been cutting out/ dying randomly. Good luck with that one. Hopefully your attention to detail will solve the intermittant problem. .
Ya this will probably be a slow build, im in no hurry because this isnt my daily like it used to be.

Rose and Ryan -- cutting out and dying randomly is the relays, wiring, or pump. usually the hardware itself it ok. if its happening only at high RPM I would begin suspecting the pump and the wiring to the injectors/trigger contacts first, and as always the grounds.

I've also seen this with ECU's that have an internal ground going bad -- but very rare.

Tram Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:39 pm

RyanRodman wrote: Tram wrote: Please do NOT use RTV anywhere on that engine. :roll:
I dont even know what that is, so i wont :D



Excellent.



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