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Fuel pressure

T

tenderfoot

Guest
I am wanting to run a fuel pressure gauge where I can see it while driving. My 350 with a new(actually reman) Edelbrock 1826 is sputtering at high rpm. I was having fuel delivery problems at lower rpm. Have done a few things to fix it. I now have a see thru cheapo filter before the mechanical pump to see if crud is coming from the tank. Replaced the pump. Have a mechanical gauge before carb, after the 2nd filter. Doesn't help me at higher rpm under load. I'd like to hear what others have ran. An electrical remote gauge in the cab or a mechanical gauge outside the wind shield? Pros and cons?
 
by the time its said and done I would do electric in cab .

just make sure you get the fuel psi range you need and possible later upgrades .
 
On my TBI I have a liquid filled mechanical gauge on the wiper cowl. I love that thing. Makes diagnosing engine problems a breeze. Narrows it down instantly.
 
454Sub said:
On my TBI I have a liquid filled mechanical gauge on the wiper cowl. I love that thing. Makes diagnosing engine problems a breeze. Narrows it down instantly.
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How did you run the mechanical gauge? I was thinking running fuel line up to a brass tee with a plug to bleed the air.
 
I found a TBI fitting somewhere online with an 1/8in plug in it. Used nylon tubing from there up to the gauge on the cowl.

I originally had it threaded directly into the fitting but that seemed stupid because I could only read it looking through the fender and that's not helpful finding a under load problem. So windshield mount for the win. Allows for extreme laziness. Love it.
 
sweetk30 said:
by the time its said and done I would do electric in cab .

just make sure you get the fuel psi range you need and possible later upgrades .
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Well that begs the question: What kind of pressure does a Fitech require?


Cuz some day, one of these, years
 
I do have that cowl hood that I don't particularly care for. But it does provide an excellent place for gauges outside the windshield
 
I made a simple bracket to mount mine. You can see my fittings and part of the tubing. It looks ok to me. I also ran a fuel pressure gauge and a tranny temp gauge inside the cowl hood with a low oil level/pressure light on a SAS LS S10. Worked cool too.
 
We use to mount the fuel pressure gauge on the racecars on the cowl. Just connected it with a -3 AN line. I’d probably run a lower pressure gauge now, and upgrade to a higher pressure one if you need to later
 
I have a mechanical fuel pressure gauge in my dash and it’s so helpful with tuning and diagnosis BUT to do this you have to run an isolator so you do NOT have fuel inside the cab. Autometer offers all the parts but it’s about $200 for everything.
 
I wonder if running an electrical gauge outside the windshield would cause glare of some sort. If I mounted it in the hood cowl but ran the wire to the dash lights to light it up at night. It would either be really cool or just bad.
 
Mine is unlit and it's ok. It's white faced so I can see it at night if there is a hair of light out.

I wouldn't run a mechanical one inside the cab unless it's isolated like was mentioned.
 
Found this say's will work on TBI motor.

Slap on a fuel gauge and tape to window when needed.
 
You may be lacking fuel volume ,not pressure..
If your using the oem mechanical pump,it may be weak,or perhaps the cam lobe that operates it has worn down and isn't supplying enough of a stroke to pump enough fuel to the carb at higher RPMs..

You can have good pressure and poor volume,most fuel pump tests say to check both by using a gauge,and seeing how long it takes to pump a certain amount of fuel out into a can with it idling..

Also flat cam lobes can cause high rpm sputtering ,usually you can hear it "gargling" thru the intake when you rev the engine up over 3500 rpms or so if a valve is not opening far enough to either let exhaust out or fuel air mix in..
 
After running a number of Edelbrock (used to be Carter AFB) carbs, I have found that that they are good at flowing fuel, but not at metering fuel. That is why I have always run electric fuel pumps, and fuel pressure regulators, in order to get both the Carter AFB/Edelbrock carbs to run right. The first Carter AFB carb I ever bought was for my 1970 Buick Skylark GS that had a big block 455 back in 1978.

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I had several Carter AFB's,my '66 Buick Wildcat had one factory on its 401 V8,and I had at least 2 or 3 Edelbrocks and AFB's on my 350 Chevys in my '72 K5 and a few other trucks,I never had much trouble with them once the floats were set right (one I had to ignore the specs and just keep fiddling with it till it ran the best)...I only used the oem mechanical fuel pump on all those vehicles,no electric one..
Those carbs do like to ice up in cold weather though,especially if you ran a spacer under them..
 
diesel4me said:
I had several Carter AFB's,my '66 Buick Wildcat had one factory on its 401 V8,and I had at least 2 or 3 Edelbrocks and AFB's on my 350 Chevys in my '72 K5 and a few other trucks,I never had much trouble with them once the floats were set right (one I had to ignore the specs and just keep fiddling with it till it ran the best)...I only used the oem mechanical fuel pump on all those vehicles,no electric one..
Those carbs do like to ice up in cold weather though,especially if you ran a spacer under them..
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My Carter AFB's always had a problem with going lean under hard acceleration, unless I had an electric fuel pump with fuel line regulation. The G-forces of hard acceleration forces fuel to flow backwards into the fuel tank, thus causing my car to actually run out of gas at the carb for a few seconds. Hard braking and turning could cause the same problem. Since I had a few muscle cars in my life, I did drive them fast from time-to-time. My muscle cars could burn up to 1-1/2 gallons of fuel in a quarter mile run, which is why my cars needed a lot of fuel control devices to make them run properly.
 
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