EFI Start-Up (tank):

[Captain D]

Hello all,

I have the Fi-Tech (600HP) w/ EFI fuel tank. For the past few years, it's been good. Recently, in cooler temps however, it's been shutting itself down. All the symptoms of a faulty fuel filter seems to be the problem. But, simple / cheap / easy things to try out, such as a new filter and a new coolant temp sensor have gone in without any change. I called Fi-Tech and we increased the warm-up fuel. Still no change. I smell fuel when cranking, so the pump may be fine. Then again, it could be anything. Any ideas? I've got it at the shop now with folks who are good with this stuff, but any thoughts that I can correlate with them would be helpful. Thank you for your time.

[John_Kunkel]

Are you saying it starts but immediately shuts down or it starts and comes up to idle and then shuts down? What fuel-flow/mixture readings are you getting from the hand-held controller?

[Captain D]

Okay, just got off the phone w/ the shop, they indicated that they're not very impressed with the EFI tank / internal electric pump. Reason being, the pump sits towards the front and top of the tank vs. being at the very bottom / lowest point. The shop can drop the tank and make modifications on the sending unit, but the point is is that they shouldn't 'have to.' Very poor design in their opinion. The only other alternatives would be to: 1.) Still use the existing tank, but install the pump along the frame, 2.) Run with a fuel-cell, 3.) Or, simply revert back to a factory tank and mechanical pump on the block.

The other issue that 'may' be a factor is that, when I had my gauges rebuilt, although the gauge may read a 1/2 tank worth of fuel, the gauge (in reality) may only be reading a 1/4 tank of fuel. Then, combine that with going up an incline and the fuel rushes towards the back of the tank, the pump is mounted towards the top and front of the tank, which equals = fuel starvation. I called EFI and they only have two option to choose from: 1.) Tube style, 2.) Float arm.

If a pump were to be mounted on the frame, are there any links or experiences folks can share about that option, just out of curiosity...? I'd be very curious to learn which one would be worth considering.

Thank you,