Lumpskie's 1989 Grand Wagoneer Build
- Thread starter lumpskie
- Start date
Dr. Marneaus
Station Wagoneer
Well, your typical vortec swap, even when done in a thrifty manner generally comes in around $5k. For the average person. If you are a master mechanic or or master fabricator who can do anything ever, you can probably get away with maybe 3 grand?
The nice thing about the fi-tech unit (with fuel control center) is that it is completely bolt on with exception of having to drill for the o2 sensor. It's to the point you can unplug the fuel control center and put your carb right back on without having to change any fuel lines or anything. Any of the other conversions require at minumum an electric fuel pump install and bypass of the mechanical pump (and usually a decent amount of new fuel line running) where the fi-tech setup keeps all of the stock stuff and just adds the fuel control center to provide the high pressure fuel to the FI unit. It also has the ecu built in to the throttle body so there's no external ecu to mount and wiring to run other than to the o2 and temp sensor. If you spend an extra $200, you can have it control your timing as well, which is pretty neat but, imo, not really necessary. If I go FI, I"m going to FI Tech route but we'll see once I start towing where I get.
Fwiw, I just picked up another '89 GW identical to mine for parts, so if any of you GW owners need anything, let me know as I'm mostly grabbing some interior parts from it. It also has the full tow package, so 3.31 gears with the external trans cooler.
Tan interior.
Dr. Marneaus
Station Wagoneer
Well that's all assuming one decides to run the fuel command center. I'm not certain that there is even any room for it on an FSJ. Without it there's a bit of fuel line work involved including their crazy *** pump and return mines and all sorts of fun stuff. I'd go the fuel command center route if possible but again I'm not sure there's roomz
lumpskie
Independent Thinker
Does your parts rig have an intact rear windshield wiper!? Let me think for a bit... I'm sure there's more stuff I need!
lumpskie
Independent Thinker
So the Waggy is acting like the fuel pump is going bad. It performs normally for short stints but, if I floor it from 0 to 60 or 70 mph, it will start starving for fuel. I had Wifey crank it while I held the end of the fuel line in a clear bottle... I wasn't impressed with the trickle I was seeing. I'm using an Airtex electric fuel pump that has only been on there for about a year. Can it be that the pump is going bad so quickly? (Has anyone heard of a pump going bad so quickly?) I'll try to hook up a fuel pressure gauge today to confirm. I've also ordered the Holley Red Top, just in case.
But, I'd love to hear if you guys think there might be a culprit besides the pump.
But, I'd love to hear if you guys think there might be a culprit besides the pump.
thethePete
Explorer
Debris in the tank? If it's original, there's a sock on the pick up in the tank and it could very well be clogged right up. Had the same issue with a 65 Mustang I was working on. Brand new motor and mechanical pump, blew the lines clean, but when we pulled the pick up out of the tank, it was obvious that it couldn't draw sufficiently through the pickup sock and was starving it for fuel.
Mitch502
Explorer
Other than clogged somewhere (check for collapsed lines, bad regulator, or clogged filters as mentioned.), but I am not a fan of Airtex. I've seen a lot of the s-series (S10's, Sonoma, Blazer, etc) pumps that go bad get replaced with AutoZone Airtex ones...many see them fail within 2 years. Let us know what you find!
It does...But it's already installed on mine (and doesn't work - circuit board is bad but I should be able to fix that).
As to the fuel issue, check your fuel filter and the sock in the tank. Do you have a mechanical pump you can throw on to test?
lumpskie
Independent Thinker
I think you guys might have been on to something. Here's what I discovered yesterday. I put a fuel pressure gauge upstream of the under-hood fuel filter and cranked away. I got 0 psi. So, I removed the fuel filter and cranked. I got 4-5psi and the Waggy fired right up. So, I took it out for a test drive with the gauge still attached and here's the interesting part. At idle and low throttle, I get around 4 psi. When I get heavy into the throttle, it drops to 0 psi but runs fine. I think that my Airtex pump is BARELY keeping up with demand under optimal conditions and, if any little blockage gets in there, it doesn't have enough juice to keep the engine running. I think it might be time to install a Holley Red Top. What do you guys think?