Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 19:23:13 -0400
Reply-To: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Tiico: a2 fuel rail installation HOW TO
In-Reply-To: <Pine.GHP.4.30.0206061102310.29936-100000@falcon.csrv.uidaho.edu>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
I just did this A2 fuel rail conversion today on a customer's van. I had a
'91 Jetta GL sitting here so I decided to scavenge the fuel injectors from
it and see how the rail mounted in the process. When I went to compare
these injectors with the waterboxer they were the same length between the
injector tip and where they would mount in the metal injector holder
(tiico). Every one else has been talking about cutting some off of the
metal holder but I decided to try it without cutting it and the injectors
fit perfectly. My only guess is that others were using some later model
injectors with the earlier fuel rail (I had some later model Jetta injectors
sitting here and the distance between the tip and the mounting point is
shorter).
So I installed the injectors first, then put the metal bracket in place.
Then I installed the plastic A2 fuel rail with the new fuel pressure
regulator pointing to the front of the van (I did cut the two mounting point
off of the fuel rail). I used a couple tie-wraps to tighten up the
injectors a little on the mount as the foam rubber that was originally
supposed to do this has deteriorated a bit. Then I re-routed the fuel hoses
and reinstalled the throttle valve.
It was actually pretty easy. Throttle response and low end torque seem
improved. I am going to drive the van around this weekend. If this works
out I think I am going to start selling these injectors, fuel rail and fuel
pressure regulator as a kit for Tiico folks. To me it makes more sense to
install a new engine with new fuel injectors, and fuel pressure regulator
all at the same time.
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
http://www.vanagain.com
Phone: (856)-327-4936
Fax: (856)-327-2242
-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Pollard [mailto:poll7356@uidaho.edu]
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 2:26 PM
To: Kenneth Wilford; Ryan Alfonso; Sean B
Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com; Vanagon-EngConv@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Tiico: a2 fuel rail installation HOW TO
Here is my HOW TO for installtion of an a2 fuel rail into a TiiCo engine.
First, get yourself an a2 rail (www.wolfsport.com has them used, about 50
to 60$ w/ injectors) and new seals for them. Also, pick up a few meters of
8mm high pressure fuel line and hose clamps.
Remove the air-intake rubber elbow and unbolt the throttle body (4 long
5mm allen head bolts. This will give you more room to work with.
Remove a fuel line from old rail. Watch-out for fuel spashing. Remove the
fuel pressure regulator.
Remove the bolts the hold the fuel rail bracket in place. The rear one
required a Jedi mindtrick to get the wrench in there. I used a
socket-allen wrench -> universal-> 3" wobly extension -> 6" extension ->
ratchet wrench combination. Got it?
Remove the old fuel lines from the rail and then remove the rail and
bracket.
Cut 9/32" off of each post on the TiiCo bracket. Before you do this,
dry-fit the rail and bracket and see how much you need to cut off, in case
your rail was differnt from mine
On the new rail, cut the existing mounting flanges off so the tiico
bracket fits on it. The a2 rail will be installed upside down from
convention.
rub a thin film of oil on the o-rings of the injectors and slide it in
place being sure to firmly seat the injectors in the ports.
Slide the bracket in place and screw it in. Make sure the bracket and
injectors are all snug. NOTE, the screws provided are now about 1/4" too
long! Either put in shorter screws or stack a few washers under the
screw-head to take up the space. That is what i did.
Now plumb the fuel and vac line. The nipple on the fuel pressure regulator
on the fuel rail is for the fuel-return line and the plastic nipple on the
fuel rail is for supply line. The bottom fuel line (supply line) is very
close to a sharp edge on the intake manifold. I did two things here- 1) i
filed down the corner a bit to be somewhat smooth 2) put a few inches of
raidator hose on the fuel line and zip tied it in place.
Your old vac-line hose will fit.
Watch how the fuel lines are routed around and through the engine
compartment, making sure not to rub on things here and there. Bad. If you
have that situation, use some 9/19" ID radiator hose and zip ties to
aleviate the rubbing.
Put the throttle body back in place. The map sensor (on the bottom of the
tbody) will be snug agains the end of the fuel rail.
Put the air-intake elbow back in place too. Connect the fuel injector
wires and any other stuff you removed in the process.
Turn on and off your ignition about 10 times. this will fill the fuel rail
with fuel. Now look and smell for gas leaks. Look again making sure you
put everything back in place too. No leaks yet?
Start the engine. It will run like crap for the first 5 mintues while the
fuel rail primes itself. You can alevaite that by pre-priming the fuel
rail by not connecting one end and flushing fuel into a mason jar
instead.
The injectors have a pronounced clicking as compared to the vanagon
injectors. Don't let this scare you- it certainly scared me at first!
Again, look for gas leaks. None? good. If you messed with your fuel
mixture settings, adjust it back to 128 and you should be good to go.
Any questions? I think that does it.
Matthew Pollard "Racing with the wind and flirting with death
Dept. Of Chemistry So have a cup of coffee and catch your breath"
University of Idaho
www.uidaho.edu/~poll7356