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EFI conversion reliability

I understand EFI systems and how they work. Also how to trouble shoot them. The only aftermarket setup that I have personally used was a Fast on this 472 Hemi.
Once it learned it ran awesome. Started right up. Great idle. Crisp throttle response. No smelly exhaust and flowed plugs. I fell in love.

20161118_164659.jpg
 
moparmarks said:
I understand EFI systems and how they work. Also how to trouble shoot them. The only aftermarket setup that I have personally used was a Fast on this 472 Hemi.
Once it learned it ran awesome. Started right up. Great idle. Crisp throttle response. No smelly exhaust and flowed plugs. I fell in love.

View attachment 669005
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Nice looking set up, I just sold my fitech and am going with a Holley sniper stealth 4500. My next engine I want to try out summit brand self learning efi kit, priced at like 500-600 I think? With a warranty and summit customer service you can’t beat it.
 
I'm not looking for more HP. Just better driveability out here in the multi elevations. This isn't for a race car but a street car that can go from 5000' to 11000' and then to Sea level without having to pull over the tweek the carb. Not fowling the plugs or burning the exhaust valves and the exhaust not burning my eyes or smelly up my clothes. You know, the easy button.
 
moparmarks said:
Agree. Factory EFI is pretty trouble free for the most part. My 97 Dakota has over 300,000 miles and I had the change the TPS and clean the IAV once in all those miles.
Aftermarket setups haven't been proven like the factory setups thus my question. Plus you can't just walk into NAPA and get parts off of the shelf for the aftermarket setup like you can for the factory ones.
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Well thats not entirely true...most of the TPS, Injectors are basically GM parts..I think the Terminator can be basically rebuilt with parts from NAPA
 
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I'll look into the Holley setups but I thought they were having issues with them. Maybe not? I've heard that the MSD setups had issues too.
 
Mike67 said:
Well thats not entirely true...most of the TPS, Injectors are basically GM parts..I think the Terminator can be basically rebuilt with partd from NAPA
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OK well thats what I'm wanting to know. Thanks. If I'm out on the road and burn up an injector it would be nice not have to wait a week for a new one.
 
moparmarks said:
OK well thats what I'm wanting to know. Thanks. If I'm out on the road and burn up an injector it would be nice not have to wait a week for a new one.
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Ya I think I read that on their tech page...Again these guys have a lot more expirence with them as they are actually running them now...Ive only been reading...
I think all major companies have invested enough in their product to say they are reliable...I don't know about Quick Fuels or Procomps systems...never heard of anyone running them.
My biggest worry isn't mechanical, its the electronics...if installed improperly you could have major problems, heat, RF contamination, voltage spikes ect could leave you on the side of the road I suppose...
But so could a leaking bowl gasket, stuck needle, blown power valve, cracked float ect...
I think the pros outweigh the cons by a significant margin...The self tuning is probably the biggest benefit for you guys up in them big hills not to mention cold weather starting...lol!

https://forums.holley.com/showthread.php?14818-Replacement-Sensors-amp-Parts
 
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With any of the Holley systems, most of the parts can be had at any auto parts store.
 
65RoadRacer said:
I've been running the FAST EZ-EFI (1st Gen) and have had it for about five years. The newer is the EZ-Fuel System, which has a few improvements. I'll be switching to the XFI Sportsman with the new engine soon. I've driven the car all over... SoCal to Vegas and back a couple of times, raced it at Willow Springs for a weekend - drove it to and from the track, as well. I've had maybe two issues in all these years... a fuel pump driver chip failed and a wiring issue (installer's fault). Other than that, flawless and very reliable.
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If I had to do it again I would have went with the FAST 2.0 instead of the XFI Sportsman only because I run a RacePak Dash and realized after all the wiring was done that the Racepak and XFI version DO NOT COMMUNICATE thru the can bus so data does not show and so the Racepak must be wired stand alone and cannot pull information like AFR, ECT, AFR Correction, ETC.
 
I put MSD's Atomic system on my '59 truck. Back then the powerplant was a worn out 383 stroker.
MSD told me that I would have issues in the Texas heat, unless I changed out the fuel tanks to efi type of tanks and return lines. They did offer both ways of plumbing the system.

Sure enough, when temps hit 95 or higher, the truck would lunge and eventually stall.

I've since replaced the 383 with a chevy crate LS3 and replaced the tanks.
10,000 miles so far with no issues
 
moparmarks said:
Carburetors suck. LOL. Easier to setup where you live. What are you at, about 800 ft? You can drive 1000 miles and still be at 800 ft. A little different out West here. I live at 4600 ft and there is 7000 ft change in elevation just in my county. I want to drive to the coast so going from 4600' to almost 8000' then down to Sealevel. Carbs suck.
Putting EFI on a 40 year old car is not like lipstick. Hell the is a 2002 year motor. The big thing these days is dropping a late model EFI motor in these old cars. I just dropped a 5.7 Hemi with 6 spd auto into a customers 72 Challenger.
Also my 72 Satellite 440 with a 750 Holley fires right up. Thats not the problem.
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You left out how easy the low pressure fuel systems vapor lock at altitude with todays gasoline.
 
slepr1 said:
I've mentioned this in another post about EFI...

Works great when it works, it's when something goes wrong with all the electronics and programing that you wish you kept the carb. You will basically be grounded till you call the tech line and figure it out. With a bad carb its as easy as getting another one or simple fixes.
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This is why I went with carbs. I'm mechanically inclined. I can fix about any carb with a visit to the local parts store. You can't see what's wrong with an electrical problem, that makes it harder to diagnosis on the side of the road. If your on a trip, the last thing you want is to be dead on the road with no idea of what's wrong. Plus when you call the tech line they act like your a total idiot saying you didn't do it right.
My opinion is that people are getting lazy and want a ECU to tune their car. To me that's the fun part of the project. Oh well just my 2 cents.
 
Again, you live in the flat lands. Not meaning to be a butt head but most of you flatlanders have not dealt with major elevation change in a matter of a few miles.
 
69 GTX said:
My opinion is that people are getting lazy and want a ECU to tune their car. To me that's the fun part of the project. Oh well just my 2 cents.
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I would disagree with that sentiment about being lazy. If you know how to tune a carb that's great, but not everyone does. For most of us, it means swapping out the jets continually until you find the right combination, or you pay someone a couple hundred to do it for you.

I swapped the jets on my Weber when I raced, experimenting with different jet sizes and figuring out which ones I needed for the track and which worked best on the street. Swapping them out every time I raced the car got old... taking the carb apart at the track every time took about a half-hour.

When I started racing the Plymouth and had dual quads... twice the 'old'... Swapping to EFI allowed me to drive to the track, race, and drive back without having to swap out my jets twice. Plus, I got better fuel economy and better throttle response while on the track, so for me it was progress and using better tools, not laziness.
 
moparmarks said:
Again, you live in the flat lands. Not meaning to be a butt head but most of you flatlanders have not dealt with major elevation change in a matter of a few miles.
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Yeah, one trip over the grapevine out here in California with a carburetor and you know exactly what that means! haha I lived in Denver for a while (was stationed at Lowry in the early 1980s) so I experienced that, too.
 
Fair enough, that was just my view from where I live. I didn't think the OP mentioned anything about altitude, just general driving.
 
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