'89 Stepside "Way Cool Jr."

[Erik the Awful]

Yesterday I got the rear brakes done and bled. I played with TBI, but no matter what it kept leaking. Then my son called and asked me to help replace the passenger front window in "La Cucaracha". It's an '06 Altima that's been wrecked three times. Every time he thinks he's killed it, it keeps running. "Oh, the rear wheel is also loose." he says. We jacked it up and the rear hub wobbled. I wish Pull-A-Part had a frequent buyer discount. We got the parts for his car and he left for work while I returned home.

I got a set of better condition sun visors and painted them black and installed them. I installed $40 worth of Pyle "Blue Label" 4x6s. There are probably a few of you recoiling in horror, but my tinnitus is bad enough that high-dollar speakers don't sound any different to me any more. Take care of your ears, God only gives you one pair. The only downside so far is that the factory speaker grilles don't fit well over the coaxials.

View media item 32131After church today I was supposed to go help do more work on La Cucaracha, but my son picked up an extra shift, so sometime later this week...

Instead I went out in the shop and pulled the injector pod on the TBI apart again. I popped the injectors out, inspected the o-rings, and reinstalled everything just as it was. It appears to not be leaking any more, but the plugs are fouled now. Tomorrow, if it's above 50*, I'll pull the plugs, pop the headers loose, put copper Permatex on the header gaskets, re-install, clean the plugs, re-install, and see if I can get it running.

View media item 32132...and as I was cleaning up I noticed the upper radiator hose is leaking again, now at both ends. Time to replace it and pray the radiator isn't cracked.

 

[Erik the Awful]

I put the new radiator hose on, got the truck running, and it was running like butt. The fuel pressure gauge was reading 10 psi. I switched back to the stock TBI with the gauge and it read 10 psi. I went to switch the modified fuel pressure regulator onto the stock injector pod and found the stock spring broken.

View media item 32138I replaced it with the spring out of my modified TBI, but no matter which combination of the original TBI base, modified TBI base, stock injectors, 454 injectors, stock FPR, modified FPR, I'm only getting 10 psi max. My last try I got 5 psi. I'd love to put a fuel pressure gauge in line with the fuel filter to see what the pressure is right out of the pump, but GM used those stupid metric fittings everywhere. I'm going to have to invest in some metric to AN to hose adapters just to diagnose the problem.

 

[cngodfather]

I did not read all of the posts up to this point. have you checked the fuel filter? The fuel pickup screen can be filled also.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Brand new sending unit/pump/sock and a brand new fuel filter. That said, the tank was full of old gas when I got it. I ran the fuel line into a jug and ran the pump until it ran dry. I then put in five gallons of fresh gas.

The fuel flow at the TBI seems to be fine. If you were to accidently forget to hook up the feed line during all these TBI swaps, it would cover the engine bay with fuel in about two seconds.

 

[Erik the Awful]

It's been a long work week - today is day ten of twelve. I got out in the shop yesterday and played with the truck some more. My oil drain plug was leaking, so I pulled it, drained the pan, and put a new gasket on it. I ran the oil through a screen into a freshly emptied oil jug, then back into the motor, because I'm a cheapskate and I'm not buying $30 worth of oil if I don't need to.

I'm still getting coolant on top of the motor, so tonight I'm going to remove the thermostat housing, clean it, check for cracks, and reinstall.

I finally got the TBI fuel pressure gauge setup to quit leaking, and I'm getting a rock-solid 10psi. If I blip the throttle by hand, it drops to 9psi for an instant. On the street the truck runs fine, but if I give it more than 1/2 throttle it falls on its face for a couple seconds.

Science lesson: Pumps, whether fluid or gas, are rated in pressure and flow. The flow rating is how much fluid or gas they move. Pressure is your plumbing's resistance to flow. The pump's pressure rating is hard it can push against that resistance. Since my fuel pressure sits at a rock steady 10psi, but drops to nothing when I put a load on the engine, it appears the fuel filter is resisting flow and preventing the pump from moving enough fuel when under a load. However, I shimmed the fuel pressure regulator to up the fuel pressure, and I got no fuel pressure increase. Maybe the pump isn't flowing enough volume to push harder than 10psi? ...and maybe that volume isn't enough to keep up when the throttle is mashed?

I'm suspecting the cheapest Vortec pump I could find on RockAuto may be a bum deal. When I replaced the fuel pump, the tank wasn't nasty, but it wasn't good, so I can't discount the fuel filter's role in this. I'm inclined to replace it anyways, so last night I got a couple spare filters. Tonight I'm going to install a fuel gauge between the pump and the filter and see what pressure I get and what it does when I hit the throttle.

 

[evilunclegrimace]

It's been a long work week - today is day ten of twelve. I got out in the shop yesterday and played with the truck some more. My oil drain plug was leaking, so I pulled it, drained the pan, and put a new gasket on it. I ran the oil through a screen into a freshly emptied oil jug, then back into the motor, because I'm a cheapskate and I'm not buying $30 worth of oil if I don't need to.

I'm still getting coolant on top of the motor, so tonight I'm going to remove the thermostat housing, clean it, check for cracks, and reinstall.

I finally got the TBI fuel pressure gauge setup to quit leaking, and I'm getting a rock-solid 10psi. If I blip the throttle by hand, it drops to 9psi for an instant. On the street the truck runs fine, but if I give it more than 1/2 throttle it falls on its face for a couple seconds.

Science lesson: Pumps, whether fluid or gas, are rated in pressure and flow. The flow rating is how much fluid or gas they move. Pressure is your plumbing's resistance to flow. The pump's pressure rating is hard it can push against that resistance. Since my fuel pressure sits at a rock steady 10psi, but drops to nothing when I put a load on the engine, it appears the fuel filter is resisting flow and preventing the pump from moving enough fuel when under a load. However, I shimmed the fuel pressure regulator to up the fuel pressure, and I got no fuel pressure increase. Maybe the pump isn't flowing enough volume to push harder than 10psi? ...and maybe that volume isn't enough to keep up when the throttle is mashed?

I'm suspecting the cheapest Vortec pump I could find on RockAuto may be a bum deal. When I replaced the fuel pump, the tank wasn't nasty, but it wasn't good, so I can't discount the fuel filter's role in this. I'm inclined to replace it anyways, so last night I got a couple spare filters. Tonight I'm going to install a fuel gauge between the pump and the filter and see what pressure I get and what it does when I hit the throttle.

Dead head the pump and see what kind of pressure it will put out.

 

[Erik the Awful]

I replaced the filter and deadheaded the pump, 60 psi. In-line with the fuel filter, 10 psi. Fuel pressure at the TBI is 10 psi. Everything is working as advertised. I'm guessing that when it falls on its face, it's still at 9-10 psi. The cam is too big for the stock TBI fuel pressure and map.

I put a shimmed fuel pressure regulator on the TBI and got 30+ psi - I spotted the fuel pressure as it was falling back to zero. I'm going to rework it and see if I can get it to around 24 psi. I'm not expecting it to run perfectly, but I'm expecting it to run better. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the tools to re-tune are about $300. A modified computer that I can tune with a laptop is about $400. Looks like I'm going to have to work the street corner for some Holley Sniper money.

While I was under the hood, I pulled the TV cable and throttle cable bracket. The TV cable was pulled about 3/8" to reach the peg, so I lengthened the bracket. The few times I've driven the truck the transmission seemed okay, but this afternoon I had it on the street and got it to act up pretty good. Hopefully this corrects it. Sorry the pic's fuzzy and off-center.View media item 32143

 

[Erik the Awful]

i just watched the latest Engine Masters video and realized I have a 750 Edelbrock under the hood scoop of the Jaggernaut. If I can't get WCJr running right on the TBI, the Edelbrock's getting a shot at glory. I already have -8 AN fittings on the carb and pressure regulator, so if I don't have enough -6s on hand I may have to order more. Ugh.

 

[Erik the Awful]

I played with the TBI this evening. I tried it with the big injectors and 14psi. It runs like butt. I tried it with the big injectors and the stock FPR. It runs like butt. I tried it with the stock injectors and 14psi. It runs like butt. The only way it doesn't run like butt is with the stock injectors at 10psi, and it bogs hard with any decent throttle input. I'm tired of dorking around with the TBI. It's garbage for my application. I'm upset I spent about $150 trying to tweak it for temporary use. The proper tuning tools are another $300-400. There are some guys on this site who really advocate for it. Not me.

Tomorrow I'm taking the Edelbrock off the Jaggernaut and bolting it onto Way Cool Jr. It's a step backwards, but if it gets it running decent, it's a good move.
View media item 32144

 

[Erik the Awful]

I removed the TBI and went to pull the Edelbrock off the Jaggernaut, then remembered I have a 650 Carter AFB and a spare Holley fuel pressure regulator. The FPR had the low-pressure red spring in it, so I still ended up pulling the FPR off the Jag, along with the -6AN fittings (I forgot, it's -8AN at the fuel cell and pump, but -6AN under the hood). I didn't have the FPR set up for a return, so I changed the fittings around and got it all plumbed.

View media item 32145It's a temporary install just to try and get it running. I'll have to order some more fittings and build some different length hoses if I'm going to run it on the street. I wasn't able to get it fired up - I'm not sure I have the pressure and return correct. My son showed up needing front brakes on La Cucaracha, so progress on the truck came to a halt.