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EFI conversion reliability

moparmarks

I'm just a guy with a screwdriver.
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I'm wanting to put a EFI throttle body conversion on my Dart with a 5.9 Magnum. I'm planning on driving this around the country so I'm concerned about the reliability of these systems. I really tired of carburetors after 45 years of dealing with them. I've use one setup that being an older Fast EZ on a customers car. We were really happy with the outcome. The two setups that I'm looking at are the Fast EZ 30226-kit and the Fitech Go Street.
Any real life experience logging many miles on these???
Thanks
 
I have FAST XFI Sportsman a bit expensive but I love it. You probably wouldn't need that though and I don't have any experience with the EZ version but if it works even half as good as the Sportsman that's would be my vote.
 
Love my Fitech. It’s the 600Hp kit. Only thing I’d say is it does require initial setup and experimentation with the idle.

Once set, it’s all good.

I probably have 800-1000 miles on mine and it has been flawless, again, other than tinkering with the idle setup.
 
There's a reason the mfgs switched a long time ago...
Im a convert and it's still on the shelf waiting to be installed!!!!
 
Holley Sniper if funds are an issue or get the Holley Terminator if you’ve got 2k. Both are great systems and a metric ton of tech support.
 
I also have the FiTech 600HP unit on my 67 442. It's been 2+ years now and still working no issues. I agree, initial setup can take some time, but after that no worries. The base idle speed must be set by the idle screw low enough to let the Idle Air Control motor adjust it up to the desired RPM. Too low and you won't have enough IAC to get it where you want it. I recall the target is 20% IAC for desired idle speed.
I have another 600HP FiTech and Edelbrock RPM manifold for my 440, but I'm still considering going to the new Pro Flo 4 plenum system for sequential injection and timing control.
 
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.
 
I have 3 friends that tried a FiTech & Fast. These were installed on daily drivers. All three got tired of poor performance & being stranded and went back to carbs.
 
So far I like the FiTech EFI, but don't have that many miles on it.
With the electronics in the throttle body, I worry about how much heat gets to the throttle body.
With my setup of aluminum heads and single plane intake, there is no exhaust crossover heat.
I also use the 3/8" thick carb to manifold gasket to get manifold heat a bit away from the throttle body.
Running a return style fuel system, with in-tank EFI pump should allow the fuel flowing through the throttle body at help cool it also.
The in-tank pumps seem to be quieter and last longer than the external pumps. The internal is also slightly easier to plumb as they have the pre-filter/screen attached to the pump inlet so you don't need to plumb a pre-filter like an external pump would need.
I did have a problem that my in-tank pump kit did not use a fuel line rated to be submersed. I replaced that hose with the correct rated hose an so far no problems.
I think these FiTech and Sniper TBI EFI kits are generally pretty good for the price, and many of the complaints are from improper installation and lack of knowledge on how the EFI works, and how to adjust them. I can say that the Sniper has much better instructions than the FiTech.
 
I'm wanting to put a EFI throttle body conversion on my Dart with a 5.9 Magnum. I'm planning on driving this around the country so I'm concerned about the reliability of these systems. I really tired of carburetors after 45 years of dealing with them. I've use one setup that being an older Fast EZ on a customers car. We were really happy with the outcome. The two setups that I'm looking at are the Fast EZ 30226-kit and the Fitech Go Street.
Any real life experience logging many miles on these???
Thanks
Geez Mark...what's wrong with a carburetor? I know I'm the oddball here, but I like carburetors except for cold starting sometimes. Granted, modern day fuel injection gets better mileage and fires right up, but to me, sticking a throttle body injection system on a 50 yr. old car is like putting lipstick on a pig, for a street car anyway. They ain't cheap neither. Just my 2-cents
 
So far I like the FiTech EFI, but don't have that many miles on it.
With the electronics in the throttle body, I worry about how much heat gets to the throttle body.
With my setup of aluminum heads and single plane intake, there is no exhaust crossover heat.
I also use the 3/8" thick carb to manifold gasket to get manifold heat a bit away from the throttle body.
Running a return style fuel system, with in-tank EFI pump should allow the fuel flowing through the throttle body at help cool it also.
The in-tank pumps seem to be quieter and last longer than the external pumps. The internal is also slightly easier to plumb as they have the pre-filter/screen attached to the pump inlet so you don't need to plumb a pre-filter like an external pump would need.
I did have a problem that my in-tank pump kit did not use a fuel line rated to be submersed. I replaced that hose with the correct rated hose an so far no problems.
I think these FiTech and Sniper TBI EFI kits are generally pretty good for the price, and many of the complaints are from improper installation and lack of knowledge on how the EFI works, and how to adjust them. I can say that the Sniper has much better instructions than the FiTech.
All good points above.
Yes, I did the inline pump, and it overheated so I went to an in-tank pump. Much quieter, runs cooler. Early systems stated a return line wasn't necessary, but most everyone will tell you that a return line should be installed. I went with a custom tank that has the return and the vent line, with a filter on the pump and an inline filter as well.

Many times people don't go the extra mile on the return line or the pressure regulator, or the inline pump, and I say it's always best to do all of that. I've been the route where I didn't and found that the system is much more reliable doing it properly. FiTech wants to compete with carburetors and is trying to keep the price down to $599-799 or thereabouts, but that is just a basic system. You will need more components especially if you do the return and in-tank pump.

EFI conversions are not meant to be better performers - most companies will tell you not to expect an increase in HP. You will see better starts, smoother idle, and better fuel economy. The only reason why every system I've ever installed had better performance was because nobody takes a carburetor to the shop to get dyno- tuned anymore. They run "right out of the box" but they aren't tuned for 'every' car. If you spend the $300 to tune your carburetor properly, your EFI likely won't give you an increase in power. But if you just bolt on the carb, you can almost guarantee that the EFI will show a power jump.

We installed most every system out there, and every car had a jump in power at the rear wheels - mine jumped 24 RWHP on a dual quad carb to dual quad EFI conversion. I never tuned the carbs, so they were inefficient in performance and economy. There are a lot of great systems, but they need to be installed properly and it's best to get the bells and whistles than just stick with a base unit to save some coin.
 
Geez Mark...what's wrong with a carburetor? I know I'm the oddball here, but I like carburetors except for cold starting sometimes. Granted, modern day fuel injection gets better mileage and fires right up, but to me, sticking a throttle body injection system on a 50 yr. old car is like putting lipstick on a pig, for a street car anyway. They ain't cheap neither. Just my 2-cents
For me, it was a few reasons I went EFI. Better mileage: jumped from 13 to 17 mpg, but the other was that I took the car to the track (Willow Springs) and it ran horrible because of the air density. With EFI... it tunes itself so I ran much better at the track. They're not cheap, but 4 mpg increase means an extra 43 miles per tankful, on long trips that made a difference - and I do some long drives. Carbs are cool, but if you're going any distances... EFI is great.
 
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.
 
Geez Mark...what's wrong with a carburetor? I know I'm the oddball here, but I like carburetors except for cold starting sometimes. Granted, modern day fuel injection gets better mileage and fires right up, but to me, sticking a throttle body injection system on a 50 yr. old car is like putting lipstick on a pig, for a street car anyway. They ain't cheap neither. Just my 2-cents
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.
 
I plan on using an in tank fuel pump and running a return line with regulator. Not taking any short cuts.
Yes the carb is easier and can trouble shoot and fix on the side of the road. Thats why I'm asking about real life reliability of the EFI setups.
 
Is there any car built in the last 20 years that is carb’d? I’m pretty sure efi is reliable. That includes the aftermarket efi set ups.
 
Like anything parts can fail, efi isn’t an exception. If it’s a constant issue and not parts breaking it’s a user issue not a part. One thing to remember even though they’re advertised as bolt on and go it’s not th case. There’s plenty of tuning and tweaking to do.
 
Geez Mark...what's wrong with a carburetor? I know I'm the oddball here, but I like carburetors except for cold starting sometimes. Granted, modern day fuel injection gets better mileage and fires right up, but to me, sticking a throttle body injection system on a 50 yr. old car is like putting lipstick on a pig, for a street car anyway. They ain't cheap neither. Just my 2-cents
Not about mileage. Range. Elevation over 8000 and ambient over 100 not friendly to carb. Especially with ethanol laced fuel. If I piddled around locally here at sea level and never travelled, I would not need EFI either.
 
Is there any car built in the last 20 years that is carb’d? I’m pretty sure efi is reliable. That includes the aftermarket efi set ups.
Agree. Factory EFI is pretty trouble free for the most part. My 97 Dakota has over 300,000 miles and I had to 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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Not about mileage. Range. Elevation over 8000 and ambient over 100 not friendly to carb. Especially with ethanol laced fuel. If I piddled around locally here at sea level and never travelled, I would not need EFI either.
Didn't you just put the Fast on your car?
 
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