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carb or fuel injected and age

carb or F.I. and your age

  • carb and I am over 35

    Votes: 5 9.3%

  • carb and I am under 35

    Votes: 17 31.5%

  • F.I. and I am over 35

    Votes: 13 24.1%

  • F.I. and I am under 35

    Votes: 19 35.2%
  • Total voters
    54
D

duanel

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Location
spokane WA
I was wondering if it was an age issue when it come to the preference of carb or F.I.. I am 41 and prefer carbs because that is what I learned on and understand. And I like the K.I.S.S. principle (keep it simple stupid) and it seems less can go wrong with a simple carb compared to a complex computer controlled F.I..
 
i am a carb guy, im 21. i think its easier to turn a few screws and hear it sound right rather than mess with a computer and then just "see how it runs"
 
Nothing to do with age, plenty of people older than myself that are more versed in technology than I, and that's what it comes down to. If you are comfortable learning, EFI is not scary.
 
I'm over 35 and have carbs on my rigs. I may one day make the switch to FI if I can find the time to dink with it.
 
IMHO: Carbs Suck.

You can adjust them, sure, but as soon as the temp changes 10 degrees, or the humidity changes, or the elevation changes more than 200', or it's 1/4 moon phase, bust out the screwdrivers, vacuum gauge, & portable tach, 'cause it don't run right.

BTW, I'm 36
 
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dyeager535 said:
Nothing to do with age, plenty of people older than myself that are more versed in technology than I, and that's what it comes down to. If you are comfortable learning, EFI is not scary.
Click to expand...

I have a master's in electrical engineering and FI scares me, at least aftermarket or retrofit. My fear is that I'll break down away from home and I'll be totally helpless because very few shops can handle non-factory FI setups.

Also, there are hundreds of books explaining how to set up a carb. I'm not aware of a single useful book about how to get FI up and running and how the guts of it really works. I don't know why one of the gurus over at thirdgen doesn't write a book about TBI upgrades and mods; there's got to be a pretty good market out there.
 
It's real simple...go get the GM manuals, they explain it thoroughly. :) Of course, this is stock, and you mention that.

I know plenty of folks that have carb problems that they can't fix, or have off-road, the ignition system is never foolproof, nor is fuel delivery. If it's stock FI, availability of parts is NOT an issue. '87-95 for TBI on just about all vehicles, that's a wide range of applications that use the same parts.

My engine will run on 4 cylinders, or with a dead cylinder and fuel spilling into the other intake runners, can a carbed engine handle that?

Even with a "failure" EFI will usually run. ECM dying is very rare, that's about the only thing that is specific to EFI that can leave you stranded that a carb doesn't have.

Not to mention, who actually spends time to make sure their "bolt on and go" carb isn't washing down the engine with too much fuel, or running lean up top?
 
I put a carb on my bbc temporarily. Once I can afford the edelbrock MPFI that is where I am going. On a dyno I think programable FI is easier to tune. No needles no pumps no linkage just hook up the laptop and key in the changes.

Entire fuel maps and timing curves can be changed based on different parameters. And you can change between different maps with the click of a button.

I have a '85 BMW 745i, it's a euro turbo model. I have 3 different fuel maps set up. 1 for passing emissions, 1 for economy and 1 for all out performance. I can change between the three in about 30 seconds.
 
I prefer injection if I have money , and carbs if I don't . So my Blazer has a carb , and my k2500 has injection since that is what they came with . I spend all my money on other upgrades and toys .
 
No carb, no computer, no distributor. Diesel is the ultimate for K.I.S.S.. It doesn't get any more simple than that.

For a gas engine I'd still go FI. I'm 41, and my opinion of carbs is that they are fine for lawnmowers and chainsaws and not much else (unless you're drag racing)

Rene
 
tRustyK5 said:
No carb, no computer, no distributor. Diesel is the ultimate for K.I.S.S.. It doesn't get any more simple than that.
Click to expand...

Totally. That's NA diesel though, the new rigs with diesels seem extremely complex. My old CUCV is the picture of simplicity, I love that. Falls a little short in power though.
 
I have run a carb on my K5 for the past year, and it just doesnt cut it here in KY. If I were still in FL, where everything is flat, it would be no problem. EVERY place to wheel here has hills, creekbeds, and tons of off-camber crap that I cant play on cause my friggen carb wont keep the truck runnin.

Needless to say, I have a TBI setup on the way, and plan the swap VERY soon.
 
I have a carb on my woods truck because that is what I can afford. a carb on my blazer because that is what came with it. and FI on my DD because that is what came with it. if I had a choice I would have the vortec motor and trans from my DD in everyone of them. I just can't afford that.

what about propane?
 
We need TBI on one lungers too!..

tRustyK5 said:
No carb, no computer, no distributor. Diesel is the ultimate for K.I.S.S.. It doesn't get any more simple than that.

For a gas engine I'd still go FI. I'm 41, and my opinion of carbs is that they are fine for lawnmowers and chainsaws and not much else (unless you're drag racing)

Rene
Click to expand...


Sorry,but I'e had more carb troubles on lawnmowers and chain saws,etc,than any other engine there is!..I'm hoping they invent a fuel injection setup for one and two cylinder motors soon--why they didn't switch over when cars did is beyond me!...One reason is I think mower shops would lose that nearly gauranteed "it wont start" service call, when the customer tries starting it with a tank of varnished gas!...EFI would eliminate troubles with diaphrams that rot or stiffen up,and would likely make them much more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly..I was suprised to see catalitic converters are now showing up on mowers and other yard equipment!~..

I prefer carbs,because I grew up with them,TBI or EFI is still a bit of a mystery to me as to how it works exactly (but I am learning and understand the basics)..carbs are easy to fix (in most cases,some suck!)..but no carb can equal the throttle response,economy,or ability to run at extreme angles..plus they are getting to be "antiques"...won't be long before we'll need to go to a museum to see a carb!..:crazy:
 
I was going to say it and re-thought, but since you did, I agree. Small gas engines SUCK. Nothing worse than sitting there cranking on a pull cord until your arm is numb trying to figure out why something so simple won't start.

I will say that the new small gas engine applications seem to start and run without hiccup, but that's only ones that are a couple years old now. No idea if that will hold up over the years, or if my lawnmower at some point will go from reliable to a real pain to start. As cheap as they are anymore, cheaper to buy new than repair sadly.

A REAL fuel injection system (O2 sensor, throttle position, and so on) could really add weight, and certainly add cost to something like a lawnmower or weedwhacker. But I can imagine overall component life would go up exponentially with something that could actually keep the thing running cleanly at all times. Not to mention heading off inevitable emissions restrictions.
 
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I am 32 and much prefer FI to carbs even though I run a carb right now. I just simply don't have the money to upgrade and a carb is what my truck came with.
 
I prefer FI because of the complex situations it will work under. When it works right you have a hard time beating it. But when it doesn't, you usually need more than a screwdriver to fix it. And I run carbs because they are cheap.
 
I work on computerized engines on a daily basis and am thoroughly familar with the care and feeding of them.
That said I will never have a computerized engine in my K5 and diesel power is not even a consideration or a desire.
I have never had a problem running a carb.
 
I am 100% for fuel injection on a DD. for offroad, my q-jet has never given me any trouble on angles or anything, but i know it's a possibility. but, i've seen friends short out individual pieces of their efi systems (tps, maf, o2 sensor, etc) when we hit the serioius mud, and leave the engines limping, if functioning at all. needless to say, my 82 q-jet has no such problems. ultimately, though, i would prefer a simple tbi setup instead.
 
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