Back to fuel injection...

Discuss with fans and owners of the most luxurious aircooled sedan/wagon that VW ever made, the VW 411/412. Official forum of Tom's Type 4 Corner.
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ubercrap
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Back to fuel injection...

Post by ubercrap »

Well, I've had the '73 sitting at my house for awhile now and I was going to wait to work on it, but I can barely stand to see it and not do anything. Yeah, maybe I'll still part it, but I have a lot of time on my hands! It has the single Weber setup on it right now. Supposedly it ran, but when I got it, the carb was dumping a bunch of gas on top of the engine when I tried to start it! Anyway, I'd like to put fuel injection back on the thing, and I do have the fuel injection parts from the '74, but they look like they are very deteriorated. I had the crazy thought of maybe converting it to run on CIS? I have quite a few CIS system doodads and parts (and could get the rest cheap) and have a little bit of experience working on it. I've looked at the Miller site:
http://www.sandrail.com/millerfi/kits.html
Sounds good, but it is still kind of unclear to me. I'm defintely not trying to make this a super-high performance motor, I'm looking to put together my own junkyard-scavenged system here. Maybe it's a pipe dream, but tell me if you have any ideas.

Edit: OK, I'm taking a look around in the Fuel injection forum, and there seems to be some info in there. I guess is there any 412/ type 4 specific info I might need to know? I was also thinking of using a VW Motorsport Euro 16V fuel distributor. It has no lambda or any other extra junk, just a WUR. So, I'm figuring in addition to the fuel distributor (either VWMS or CIS "basic") and airbox, I would just need the fuel pumps, CIS "basic" Cold start valve setup and auxiliary air regulator, throttle body, injectors and lines. Anyway, try not to be too hard on me (Ray) I'm just a young self-taught mechanic here. I'm doing my best to learn, so forgive my ignorance.
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raygreenwood
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Post by raygreenwood »

Stop! There is nothing basic about CIS parts. Many of them can be adjusted to be put in a great many cars...but you have to be really working on it....and must know the sytem well. Its much easier to pull a complete system from a working car...so at least the parts are calibrated to each other as a working system...if not for the engine you plan to put it on. Though simple in configuration, CIS is THE most unforgiving of injection. It must be correct. It must be set up correctly .....PERIOD. Bolt it up...check the parts....set the baselines by factory on the airflow unit. Set the baselines to factory on fuel pressures. Then start adjusting. Once you get to this stage, its really pretty simple to adjust. Its when people assume that its simple in the beginning and do not check EVERY parameter....that it ends up being 3 months of hell working it out.
Ray
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ubercrap
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Post by ubercrap »

I see, my best bet then may be to put dual carbs on it then since it has already been "hacked" by the removal of the original injection...
wildthings
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Post by wildthings »

If you can find a complete OEM fuel injection system, whether J-jet or L-jet, it will almost be a bolt on. This fuel injection systems are pretty much self contained, the only external hookups are two or three wires and the throttle cable. The operative word here is "complete", that includes all the injectors, sensors, meters, brackets, relays, wiring harness, and air cleaner. The best bet is to find a Type 4 powered vehicle that was running recently, and strip all the parts yourself, so you know that you have them all and know where they go. Remember to replace all those old fuel lines with new fuel injection quality hoses, and use fuel injection quality clamps.

To me the worse part of dealing with an old VW FI system is all the old leaky vacuum lines and cracked special hose connectors. This was one of the reason I swapped my '72 411 from a J-jet to an L-jet, this eliminate a lot of hoses and connectors, and increase my new and used parts availablity. This swap only took a few of hours, most of which was figuring out a clean way to install the air cleaner mounting.
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raygreenwood
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Post by raygreenwood »

That true with the L-jet, but the D-jet actually was slightly more adjustable and produced better hp. But....the main problem with any of the old injection...besides the vacuum system...was the aged harness.

I wasn't saying not to try CIS. Thats excellent injection. It should work as good or better than L-jet. But...read some of the back posts conderning the few people I was trying to help install CIS. There is a great many things that are basic factory checks and adjustments....that had to be done even on the watercooled cars this injection came from....that people just steafastly refused to do before they got out on the road and tried to drive and adjust it. Without the proper checks...you have no idea if it is even adjustable. Its really simple injection in parts and layout...but very precise in the way it meters. Ray
alsehendo
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Post by alsehendo »

80-83 Vanagon FI L-Jet will bolt up and run as is. I used a modified IDF aircleaner.
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ubercrap
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Post by ubercrap »

Thanks, that could help.
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