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ramjet: opinions wanted (update)

I increased the pressure so the injectors would run cleaner and Brian did burn my chip based on that fuel pressure, so the pressure wasnt increased to increase the fuel curve or a quick fix. The engine mechanically is the only thing that I am sure is good other than a leaky exhaust gasket. Everything in the engine is new. The only thing I reused from the old engine is the powdered metal rods.

BTW im using the holley system with the delphi injectors and not the holley ones.
 
Less than 2K on brand new stock GM heads and I broke a rocker.

Bad rocker or cam lobe doesn't mean you'll know something is wrong other than the way it runs. Closed valve simply kills that cylinder, does nothing to compression readings or vacuum.

I'd take that thing back to as close to stock as you can electronically/hardware-wise after actually ruling out mechanical failure, with minimal cost (IE borrow whatever you can) and see what happens.
 
I dont know how well that will work. As far as the valvetrain, I can check that out, Im running a hyd. roller cam, and aluminum roller rockers. Ive got screw in studs so studs coming out is not a problem. As far as anything else, I cant get a stock vortec tbi manifold, and I doubt putting a 350 tbi is gonna do me any good. I dont know what else to do, and all my sensors are new. This is part of why im so tired of messing with the tbi.
 
Look at it this way. It worked when it came off the lot, therefore it has the potential to work that way again. Anything you have done to the vehicle, to include the engine, is suspect, as is everything related to the injection setup.

Not saying you are incompetent, simply that it worked at one point, and now it doesn't. Throwing money at a problem like this rarely works. Sure, putting a new injection system in MIGHT work, but how much is that going to cost you, simply to get around whatever is wrong right now.

You need to change your thought process from assuming that anything works because its new. New means nothing, other than it is untested in use. I will gladly use a known good part over a new one, at least for testing, because I KNOW it works. If your thought process doesn't change, then you will miss potential problems, and never figure out the problem. As well as spend $1500 to fix a $50 problem. So what if the studs are screw in? Not one has ever come off the line flawed? No rockers have ever let a pushrod go through the end of them? No pushrods ever bend? Hydraulic lifters never fail? Your problem may not be hardware. But you need to ELIMINATE problems by actually testing/checking components, not assuming anything. So far that method hasn't worked, right? :)

Think about it. Even for diagnostics, how much could you buy a complete, running TBI system for just to test? $300? How much could you sell it for when you are done? $300? I think it's an outrageous idea, but if you took a known working injection system off of one vehicle, put it on yours, and the problem disappeared, you'd still be ahead $1200 even if you never sold it. Most everything on the system can be tested, so spares aren't really necessary. If it DIDN'T solve the problem, then your problem is obviously engine related.
 
Okay. Im going to be open minded, but this is a transplanted tbi system so there could be other problems than just the engine. So where do I start?
 
Gotta start with the basics. Plugs, wires, (not necessarily replace, but check, make sure the wire routing is right, even if you know it is) the ENTIRE distributor (pickup coil, module, etc) check for frayed wiring, bad connections, check for vacuum leaks, bad gas, etc. If the fuel filter is old, replace it.

Get those out of the way.
 
iagree.gifI totaly aggre with what Dorian is saying. Sometimes it is the simple stuff that gets you. I rewired my harness and rerouted the wire to the knock sensor right under the plug wires. Not thinking to check that or even put a scanner on it I ended up chasing a ghost for a few days. The plug wires were inducing voltage on the wire and caused my knock count to go way up and in turn the ECM retarded the timing. Just like it was suposed to do.

Don't just assume it's one thing. Verify all of the known goods right from the basics.

iagree.gif
 
So im still liking the ramjet option, but I went ahead and went through the engine this weekend. I readjusted the valves and that helped a little. Everything with the ignition was good, better than I thought. Still the engine has a rough idle to it. Its intermittent sometimes. The things that bothers me is the #5 and # 8 cylinders run cool (by checking header primary temps) by about 150* but they are still sparking. #3 seems to run hotter than normal by about 100*. Any new ideas?
 
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