No initial start.
Fitech 30012, 1200 hp model. 351 w stroked to 408. Lunati 292/280, .565/.565 lift 114 degrees separation. 9.4 comp ratio. MSD al6 2 with MSD locked out dist. Rotor phased 10 advanced and timing locked at 10 degrees with a light while cranking. When keyed on fuel pumps good pressure and primes. I think the gauge read 80 lbs for a few seconds then dropped. When I crank it over I get a loud bang in exhaust, then nothing. I have tried everything I can think of. I even checked cam degree. At a loss. Get good RPM reading while cranking.
Unlike a carb, EFI requires almost full voltage while cranking. Something you never get with a V8, but 11 is about the minimum you can have and have it still initialize and run right. Start with that, if you don't get at least 11 volts at the fitech power wire, try a charger to see if that works better, if so, you need a bigger battery, or supplemental source of power to feed it.
Thanks for the response.Already checked that. The voltage does jump a bit while cranking, but I never see less than 11 volts. Even left my charger in 200 amp start boost setting to see if more voltage helped. Same results. I have a remote trunk mount battery. Ground side goes to a welded stud on the frame and the engine has a #2 ground wire on a bell house bolt run to another welded stud on front frame. Power is #0 gauge to start relay. Alternator is run back to battery with a #2 cable. Wired this way to make the cut off switch function without alternator keeping power circuit functioning.
I am wired for the Fitech timing control and bundled the wiring inside a webbed sleeve to tidy up install. With timing control is there any shielding required? I want this thing to work as advertised, otherwise I will toss it in the junk ant try the Holley system
Well I know the tach wire to fitech has to be shielded to prevent interference. I covered that wire in shielding and connected one end to ground. I would nix timing control for now to see if that's your trouble.
The tach signal comes from the MSD box when using timing control. Do I need to open up the 6 wire harness to shield that part also? seems that if the tach signal has issues they wouldn't bundle it in the 6 wire harness. Tried cranking holding throttle in various open positions. Sounds like mild farts in the exhaust. I did a remote jump at start solenoid and advanced and retarded timing while cranking. No response.
Thanks for your reply
Anyone else have this issue?
Also, I do have a guage before the unit. When I key on it goes to 60 for a few seconds then the pump kicks off and the pressure drops to 40 when the pump shuts off.. Once I start cranking it goes back to 60. I have not installed a separate regulator, but I do have a new one on hand. Does this pressure flux sound correct? I welded a top ring and seal from a junk gas tank so I could drop in a submersible pump. It is rated a 340 lph at 80 psi
You got way too many things going on at the same time. None of the pressure changes sound right at all, fix that. It should be constant if your regulator is working correctly, that's the purpose of a regulator. You need to start with one component and make sure that's functioning normally, before getting yourself into a quagmire with a multitude of issues hitting you all at once. Get the fuel pressure constant first. Doesn't matter what system you put on, the basics need to be adhered to. As long as you put the shielding on the tach wire for the majority of the path, especially around the coil or other high power sources, you should be good.
Merry Christmas and thanks for your input. Out of all the suggestions the only thing I haven"t looked into is the fuel pressure. I shielded the tach wire today and went without the timing control. Same results. My fuel pressure does fluctuate while cranking. I will install that regulator I have to see if I can get a constant rail pressure. This isn't my first high hp engine, but my first Fitech. I thought I would try it to have more fuel control with boost over a blow through. Might give Fitech a call Monday if I cannot get anything to work. I even have went as far as to check my cam degree, because it seems like everything is out of sync. If I advance too far I get a backfire. retard a bunch and it just sounds like rumble farts in the exhaust. Never had an issue on start-ups in my builds. I am 61 and having been raised on a farm, I rebuilt my first tractor engine when I was 12. Several dozen rebuilds since. It was a simple 4 cyl. Allis Chalmers wagon puller that turned a bearing. Just saying this so everyone knows I am not new to engine builds and feel comfortable with wrenching, but new tech is still a learn.
Hi Plumbpiper,
You are but a young fellow. But serious, whether with a carby or wet efi throttle body, all the same basics apply. If you have compression, fuel [in this case from the prime shot even if nothing else is working], spark at about 15 degrees BTDC, it should fire and run momentarily. I am very much old school, took me a lot of fiddling and reading of this forum to get my head around the unit to where I could go for a test drive. RPM noise should not prevent it from firing, nor should too low a starting voltage, nor should poor earths, exhaust or vacuum leaks, all of these are however super super super critical to get the engine running correctly. Factory fuel injected vehicles have a lot of built in features we cannot ignore when we put delicate electronics under the bonnet [hood] of our older vehicles.
In troubleshooting I would think carby, check the plugs [I found that it is very easy to flood if it is not firing], put a timing light or tester on each plug lead to ensure they are getting spark, use manual spark timing etc etc to eliminate everything but the EFI.
Get it firing and people a lot smarter than me on this forum will help you, do not be deceived by sales bullshit that you bolt the unit on, set a few parameters and it magically tunes itself.
Thanks Ajax
Plugs seem fine and I have done the timing light on several plugs. Working on getting a fuel pressure regulator on it. If that doesn't do the trick I might pull the intake manifold and check if my large port heads are sealing to the intake properly. They are a speedmaster combo but the head ports are larger than the intake ports. I had even squirted fuel while cranking and effect didn't change. It is trying to run but just doesn't catch the rythm. I know it is a pretty radical cam, but I have run my cleveland CJ 351 with a similar cam. It's got me pulling my hair out. If I hadn't lost all of my 4 barrel carbs in a structure fire, I would toss one on to see if it runs. I might borrow one to check to see if it's my hardware.
If I ever get the bugs out this should be a pretty radical old restomod.
IT'S NOT THE FITECH. Kinda upset at whoever filled out my roller lifter order. I ordered HYDRAULIC roller lifters. I got SOLID roller lifters. I just happened to see my box that the lifters came in and checked it. Nothing on the box said which rollers. I took the numbers off the label and cross referenced and found they were solids. By putting pre-load on the lifter like you would in a hydraulic, I was actually keeping the valves open by thousands. This explains the backfires and rumbles.
Why don't they mark packaging by which item you got? I would not have known they were solids if I didn't have the numbers. I kept saying something was out of sync. Never thought about lifters as you can't see them function.
Now waiting for my shipment of the correct lifters. Pretty sure this will solve the issues.
Thanks for all the replies and help.