Injector replacement and what not to forget...

[RobinB5]

34 minutes ago, harveysalgadopix said:

I went ahead and put the RC Injectors in using the top clip, don’t like that they are barely seated into the fuel rail. RC claims that the Injectors were specifically designed for Lotus Esprit’s, Why not make them slightly taller? The injectors would be properly seated in the combustion chamber and the fuel rail. If you are installing RC Fuel Injectors you will see what I am talking about. When you bolt down the fuel rail your now out of alignment, drive the bolts thru and now the fuel rail has pulled the injectors out of the combustion chamber slightly  My Esprit seems to be running fine, however it bothers me that I cannot have my Injectors seated properly top and bottom. 

Chris, where are your clips?:

[Barrykearley]

If they are clipped in - the o rings correctly installed and the rail bolted down - then I’d wager a crisp £50 note them injectors won’t fall out.

[RobinB5]

[harveysalgadopix]

My clips are in, that picture was from when i was going back and forth with Joe from JAE, think I already mentioned Joe originally told me to use the bottom clips, you helped me figure out that wasn’t going to work, everything is fine now, my exhaust manifold was leaking near the firewall, nuts had come loose. This was making it difficult to problem solve the injectors,, had 2 bugs at once. Have you done any recent work on your Esprit? Would love to hear about it. 

[RobinB5]

Chris, well I replaced my injectors, didn't bother to clean the outside of fuel rails (  ), used clips to seat the new RC injectors, the top and bottom rubber o-rings compressed well into their seats.. All is fine, no leaks, improved performance. 

[harveysalgadopix]

Those are most definitely the same Fuel Injectors I pulled out of my 89 Turbo! I’m not crazy! Stock Rochesters.

[RobinB5]

After a few miles of post-injector replacement driving, the main thing to note is the complete lack of backfire. Previously, when suddenly taking one's foot of the accelerator after a hard acceleration, there were all kinds of thundering grumbles and pops in the exhaust. Now nothing, zilch. Can only assume the old injectors weren't spraying fine enough, leaving blobs of fuel that didn't fully combust in the cylinder, but did in the exhaust. Can only assume fuel efficiency will increase as well (though have not, and will not ever, bother to measure that). I still hold that acceleration is better, but as discussed before that might be psychosomatic, but to be honest I'm not fussed, she still 'feels' more responsive   Long live one's perceptions over measurable reality !!

[Giniw]

Have you checked the BLM with espritmon since you changed the injectors? Is it still more or less centred or is corrected a lot?

[RobinB5]

Good idea. Will do a logging tomorrow using the latest Espritmon version that shows the BLM cell values.

[Escape]

14 hours ago, RobinB5 said:

Can only assume fuel efficiency will increase as well (though have not, and will not ever, bother to measure that).

I fully agree it's all about smiles per gallon and not miles per gallon. 🙂  I do however keep track of the fuel consumption of all my cars, because it is also an indication of engine health (and because I'm an anorak 🤓).

Great to hear your Esprit is doing well and you're enjoying the drive!

Filip

[Chillidoggy]

Robin - I just remembered there's a power/torque calculation function on Espritmon, which is free! Obviously it's a bit late now for a pre/post injector change comparison, but it might give you an idea, and it may be useful to provide reference info if any changes are made in the future.

[RobinB5]

My laptop is a bit fubared at the moment (certain keys on the keyboard are non-operational forcing me to use an external keyboard). Too much of a hassle taking all that and connecting it up in the boot. I do rather like @eriks4's approach of having a dedicated laptop mounted from the roof upside down in the cabin! Should and could be a permanent fixture. Just need to find an old laptop and figure out how to run the cable from the boot to the cabin.

[drdoom]

4 hours ago, RobinB5 said:

My laptop is a bit fubared at the moment (certain keys on the keyboard are non-operational forcing me to use an external keyboard). Too much of a hassle taking all that and connecting it up in the boot. I do rather like @eriks4's approach of having a dedicated laptop mounted from the roof upside down in the cabin! Should and could be a permanent fixture. Just need to find an old laptop and figure out how to run the cable from the boot to the cabin.

Chapman would have wanted a tablet for lightness, and prefer it mounted lower. 😉

[Chillidoggy]

14 hours ago, RobinB5 said:

My laptop is a bit fubared at the moment (certain keys on the keyboard are non-operational forcing me to use an external keyboard). Too much of a hassle taking all that and connecting it up in the boot. I do rather like @eriks4's approach of having a dedicated laptop mounted from the roof upside down in the cabin! Should and could be a permanent fixture. Just need to find an old laptop and figure out how to run the cable from the boot to the cabin.

There’s another ALDL plug under the glovebox you could use. You might have to search for it, but it’s rumoured to be less reliable than the one in the boot.

[Giniw]

Why would it be less reliable?! It's a bit farther from the ECU but still... ?!

[Chillidoggy]

56 minutes ago, Giniw said:

Why would it be less reliable?! It's a bit farther from the ECU but still... ?!

I don’t know why, but please go and try it, and let us know how you get on?

[Escape]

27 minutes ago, Chillidoggy said:

I don’t know why, but please go and try it, and let us know how you get on?

I use the ALDL under the dash most of the time, as I like to do a log driving home or such to see different real life operating conditions. Never had any problems.

I know the power supply is different and obviously a longer length of cable but no reason for it to behave differently, unless there is a bad connection somewhere.

[Giniw]

I have used both in the past and they work fine on my car.

Maybe someone had an issue with his wiring indeed? Or maybe they used the alarm connector instead?

[Chillidoggy]

 

 

A quick search reveals two such issues. I recall my own front ALDL plug was intermittent in connecting.

[Giniw]

Thanks, I didn't know.

Glad mine works nicely!

[Bibs]

On 04/11/2021 at 11:34, Giniw said:

Why would it be less reliable?! It's a bit farther from the ECU but still... ?!

That's exactly the reason it's less reliable! 

[Vulcan Grey]

Both ALDL plugs work fine in my 89SE

[Giniw]

I heard the ones with a working secondary ALDL plug were worth triple the standard cars.

[Chillidoggy]

There should be a poll:-

Is your under-dash ALDL connector reliable?

(A) Yes.

(B) No.

(C) I didn’t know there was one

(D) What does ALDL mean?

(E) Where can I buy an ALDL lead?

 

[Sparky]

Having tried quite a few under the dash, I have found some to be a bit snarky.