Feeling a bit like landing after getting shot out of a cannon, we’re back in Orlando after an awesome time and trip to the Keys. I’ll try and cover some of the goings on now but I’m sure discussions on this trip will linger on. I was pretty apprehensive heading out after just 1 day of tuning and testing the FiTech fuel injection system we put on our coach “Larry”.
Backing it off the lift there needed to be a linkage mod that had to calm down throttle response… I dug a hole in the rocks the second the wheels touched the ground! Too sensitive… I couldn’t drive it! Moving the fulcrum point, it got useable. I can’t tell you how positive the response was when we got it where it could be used…. in a word… awesome! And not too soon because thar evening Janie and I were packed and out just after the evening traffic…… I drove all night, I like night driving! 
. No cruise control in that I felt it was time to remove the original cruise when we were cleaning up the motor compartment wiring. I wanted the install to be clean and hey, having a 1 button vacuum controlled cruise control system on a state of the art fuel injection system seemed to me somehow wrong….. I roughed it through the night and low and behold out of the dark the morning we were tucked in at out spot at Jolly Rogers on Marathon Key 
Ley me first say this was a great rally put on by the Sunshine Statesmen club here in Florids, there were a pile (forgot to ask the count) of coaches and folks driving a riding them 
. Janie found some great beaches we took the Suzuki to each day 
, each “Key” or island down there has something to offer with the evenings each something special 
Guys, you gotta go to the keys! Bring money though, the parks are expensive and forget about staying at Key West! I don’t think I’d want to live there… having all that beauty and stuff….. going anywhere else would be a bummer!
So after the Saturday chicken (yes, fried!) dinner and a good sleep we were ready to go back to this cruel world and life as we know it. Was a blast and oh yes… the FiTech cruise control worked great!
Hey the Keys were nice but lets talk fuel injection a little:
The only time I lifted the engine cover was to show the system at the Saturday morning club tech session! BTW, we had a really good talk about fuel injection with those there…. great contributions to the discussion. Seems that FiTech had a following in the group. One guy who is a wiz on hot rods, performance and just playing with cool cars saved a classic Mopar muscle car from the auction block when he replaced a pair of belching carbs with a FiTech system that tamed that pony to useable power.
As he explained fuels have evolved to the point that carburetors sucking a fuel/air mix does not work well with the stuff. In the late 80’s, it was determined the fuel delivery system needed to be sealed and pressurized to reduce emissions. No more open vents to allow fumes out… the system had to be sealed and spraying this new fuel stuff we have is the proper way to use it. Yes, fuel does not atomize the way it used to so carbs can’t work as they were intended. This really explains alote of our fuel issues today.
The FiTech is one of the first in a progression of technology to match the needs of the fuels we have today. “Self Learning” is everything and a 2 sensor hookup makes it a no brainer! Oh and the trip down to the keys and back in our coach?
No vapor lock… THAT was for sure! Something I have always had to pay attention for…. it’s gone! It was HOT driving back yesterday… leaving at 11am from Marathon Key, Janie and I hit the heat all day. In fact, somewhere around Vero Beach my beloved Troll Onan generator that saw my son the FAA school, us through years of trouble free use stopped generating power…….. oh boy, now a new generator! But the fuel injection never raised a problem.
All I did was put fuel into it and it ran… fired up within 2 turns cold, fired before I could get my fingers off the key when he was hot and never did anything but run. Mileage….. I’m not going to make a definitive statement on this because I still feel there needed to be some more advance in the timing… I mean I heard no ping (which I have used in the past of a timing indicator on proper advance. You must burn motors advanced (hot) today to burn this new stuff we call fuel but I did get a solid 8mpg there and back with no ping…. like I said I think I needed it advanced more. It’s going to be a new world for me tuning a motor to the FiTech system… purposely not connecting the fi system to the distributer I wanted to keep “fire” and “fuel” separate for easier problem diagnosis. The technogeeks always wanna connect those 2 systems together…. I know, it will be more efficient…. I don’t care, I wanna be able to diagnose … gimme fuel… gimme fire and we’ll run…. I want to keep that diagnostic tree standing. It will be important one day I feel.
We had left out the wheel lines because of time and it was a little annoying hearing the air sucking in from the cone shaped air filter under the drivers seat… sound coming out at the wheel. Kinda cool though climbing hills (excuse me, there are no hills down here…. those were highway overpasses!). Anyway it sounded neat and giving it coals from a traffic light I’m sure it scared a small car taking off next to me!
But guys… no problems, no vapor lock… no pump 3 times to get fuel to the spark plug…. turn the key and it’s there! Tickle the gas pedal with your pedal and you are gone! Get where you’re going, turn the key off and the motor turns off… no coughing, no run on, no nothinn, it turns off. No boiling fuel and smell from the float bowls….. it just runs.
In the upcoming weeks I’m going to work with my coach and put out a manual and unique parts to install the system. Maybe a video too! I want everyone to have the knowledge of this system and what technology has brought us too.
I still will support carbs., reman them and use them but I must say that:
RIP carburetor…… it’s going to go the way of the 8track/cassette/CD/now USB as far as music…. I lived though that when I was in electronics… looks now I will see another transition.
If you decide to dive into FI yourself be sure you use the newest technology geer. Self learning, low cost where you can buy 2 and keep 1 under the sofa in case of troubles…….. it looks to me as this is where we’re going. The government is going to continue to poison our fuel supply, we need to address the issue.
OK, I’m groggy from the days off but now it’s time to crank up this monster shop. I’ll see you tomorrow and thanks for hanging around til we got back…. it’s rock-n-roll now……. see ya tomorrow……
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