* Not mentioned yet, the cylinder head itself will need to be modified for the fuel injectors; the ports have 'scallops', making the gasket surface more teardrop-shaped than round. Easy modification, but will involve grinding.
Period Ferraris and Lambos (among others) used both K-jet and later, L-jet injection (separate airflow meters on each side of their V12s!) so these systems can't be all that bad...
Hi Steve,@Stuartc seeing as your X19 is a 1988, are you going to be required to fit a cataliytic convertor and associated emission control devices? You may actually be required to fit the EFI to get your car registered - as a 1988 model - so it compllies with 1988 ADR's?
Australian legislation I'm pretty sure will require a catalytic convertor to be fitted, as everything manufactured after 1986 was required to be ULP filler neck and C.C... obviously the filler neck requirement is now defunct as leaded fuel isn't sold retail any longer, but the C.C. requirement I don't think is optional for any petrol vehicles manufactured post January 1986. (and over 700cc which is why the FSM Niki - Fiat 126 was exempt)
SteveC
I have to admit that is very desirableThe twin DCNF’s will give you a sound that FI won’t
I am quite sure you need a crank sensor at a minimum. A standalone ignition system would just make it unnecessary complex. The ECU works like a unit and is constantly adjusting ignition, fuel/air ratio based on load, revs, knock, temp etc.But agree a way forward would be Microsquirt ECU mainly as I’m not really wanting to add cam & crank sensors and be happy to stick with stand alone ignition.
You can get by without a crank sensor. It will be better with one but can certainly be done using the same distributor signal the Bosch unit uses.I am quite sure you need a crank sensor at a minimum. A standalone ignition system would just make it unnecessary complex. The ECU works like a unit and is constantly adjusting ignition, fuel/air ratio based on load, revs, knock, temp etc.
Go all in or stay with your carbs.
The distributor signal is a trigger wheel in a way, but I doubt it is supported. At least my MaxxECU required a trigger wheel (60-2 or similar), but maybe Megasquirt is different. I assume you didn't mean to have a separate ignition system. If so, you will miss some qualities with the ECU; no common interface for settings/adjustments/tuning/error log... It would add complexity and I can't see why not use all the basic features built into the ECU. Adding a trigger wheel and a sensor is a small thing. A knock sensor is probably luxury on a N/A engine, but possibility to set custom advance curves is good. As you say, ignition advance (together with fuel/air) is also used by ECU for setting idle, A/C idle up etc. This is especially important if not having an idle valve.You can get by without a crank sensor. It will be better with one but can certainly be done using the same distributor signal the Bosch unit uses.
Agreed but the nice thing is the system can be built up in increments as systems are completed.The distributor signal is a trigger wheel in a way, but I doubt it is supported. At least my MaxxECU required a trigger wheel (60-2 or similar), but maybe Megasquirt is different. I assume you didn't mean to have a separate ignition system. If so, you will miss some qualities with the ECU; no common interface for settings/adjustments/tuning/error log... It would add complexity and I can't see why not use all the basic features built into the ECU. Adding a trigger wheel and a sensor is a small thing. A knock sensor is probably luxury on a N/A engine, but possibility to set custom advance curves is good. As you say, ignition advance (together with fuel/air) is also used by ECU for setting idle, A/C idle up etc. This is especially important if not having an idle valve.
Hi, first post on here so hello everyone . . Done a lot of reading here and elsewhere on the subject matter but nothing really specific.
First off 1988 Bertone X1/9 UK Euro motor with 24/66/64/28 Cam, Weber 34 DATR 85 BHP so completely stock.
What I’d like to do is put the L-Jet FI on the car that US cars came out with.
Again a few things, I’m aware of all the differences regarding head design so I know I will need to change thermostat housing to accommodate water temp sender and probably the thermo time switch and add aux air valve, O2 sensor etc.
I’ve also read that Matt from Midwest Bayless said that on the US spec cars that if you raised the compression added either a set of headers or euro exhaust and cam that the motor would produce about 100bhp.
As the Euro motor already has the exhaust & camshaft & compression lift would it be logical that I would see the same power output and also will the std L-jetronic be able to accommodate for the cam, exhaust and compression of the Euro motor.
I’m not looking for a race car just drivability gains primarily as I’m fitting factory air conditioning.
Any feedback will be appreciated.
Bolting the stock FI system onto a carb head (essentially what I did) requires the following modifications (none of which are difficult).
1) Notching the head so that the flow from the injectors isn't interrupted. This can simply be done with a dremel (or similar). Ideally, you would have a FI head available that you could copy, but in the worst case I can take some photos of a spare FI head I have here.
2) The thermo time switch. This is part of the cold start system (which you should note is completely separate from the injection control unit) and controls when the cold start injector will operate. Essentially, it is simply a time delay system based on a thermoswitch and heater. When cold, the contacts are closed powering the injector. With the electrically controlled heater element, after about 8 seconds the switch will open causing the cold start injector to shut off. With a warm engine, the switch will already be warm so the contacts will already be open.
3) The Auxiliary Air Valve is also part of the cold start system. It is responsible for bypassing air around the throttle plate causing a richer mixture when the engine is cold. As the engine warms up, the amount of air passing through the AAV becomes less until the valve closes completely. It also contains a heater element so that the closing of the valve is somewhat time dependant. With a warm engine, the valve will be warm from the block, so it will remain closed.
I was able to get around the second two issues (the thermo time switch and the AAV) via a simple Arduino micro controller connected to the standard temperature sensor in the head. This effectively allowed me to emulate the function of the thermo time switch (the cold start injector is driven from a relay connected to the Arduino). For the AAV, I used a PWM controlled idle control valve similar to this one:
Basically, you program the micro controller to change the duty cycle of the PWM output so that the valve opening is proportional to temperature. I added an extra potentiometer to one of the Arduino inputs to provide an (optional / additional) manual idle control.
You will probably need a thermostat housing from an FI car which has provision for the temperature sensor used by the fuel injection ECU. I was going to eliminate this as well and simply get the arduino to send the appropriate voltage depending on the temperature measured by the temp sensor in the head (as I felt that multiple temperature sensors was essentially redundant) but this car (with the FI engine) was written off in a crash the week after I finished rebuilding the engine (not my fault and the insurance paid up nicely). As a result, the project was put "on hold". The car is currently in Poland (at my in-law's place) and just acts as an incubator for the engine which fires up every time.
I'm back to my Australian delivered 1300 X1/9 which is a very different beast. High revving, and no electronics whatsoever. Just a nice, big single carb.
You should also get yourself a copy of this book which explains how L-Jetronic (and other Bosch systems of the era) work.
https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-Fuel-Injection-Engine-Management/dp/0837603005
Also, check out the FI links (pretty much all from my bookmark collection) from the wiki page:
http://x19.xwebforums.org/wiki/index.php?title=FuelSystem
Anyway, if you need any additional information, I'd be happy to help you with the project.
Hi Dominic,Hi Stuart,
I did this on one of my cars although I think 100bhp is optimistic without additional modifications (such as a big valve head). Here is a writeup I did for another member @maz124s (also in Australia):
While I agree with you, I think using some of the stock FI system is worth it when converting from carbs to FI. Things like the complete intake manifold/throttle body/injector rail, etc, would be extremely costly to assemble with purely aftermarket stuff. There are independent throttle bodies, custom fuel rails, and such available but they are quite expensive and will require a lot of engineering to make them fit and work right. Having the major items - like the intake manifold assembly for one example - that are a direct bolt on application makes the whole conversion much more doable....particularly for the majority of X owners that may not have the resources to do a lot of custom/fabrication work or don't want to spend a fortune.Just to add to this - I would say adding the stock EFI is not worth the investment, especially given the rarity/reliability of some the main components. Of course, if you are after a 'factory' or 'stock' setup, then I can understand wanting to stay with what production cars had in place.
Any aftermarket setup that includes ignition management (it should) will require very careful ignition mapping. I know from personal experience how quickly head gaskets will blow from too much midrange advance. Also knock detection is useless unless the system you are adding is programmable to the specific frequencies of the motor. I tried using a Bosch system from an 80's Volvo, and it did not register any knock that absolutely was taking place - frequencies of the 1500/1600 Fiat motor did not jive with what it was tuned for.