Sunday 22 July 2012

Engine fuel rail

Now the manifold is in place I started to juggle the various parts that need to fit on this side; the fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, feed pipe and injector loom.

I have seen other blogs which switch the regulator and feed pipe ends to bring the fuel inlets to the back of the engine rather than the front, so this seemed a good place to start:

There is an engine loom socket just behind the regulator which cannot be accessed when it is installed right way up, and when upside down the plug can be inserted but only just & needs the fuel rail removed to do so.

For now I flipped the pressure regulator upside down but will need some advice before making this permanent: (seems ok - see later in this entry)

Bending the fuel inlet pipe seemed easiest when one end was anchored on its mount, being very careful not to kink it and not put too much pressure on the braised ends. I also checked the injector loom would fit & offered the plenum (not pictured) to check clearances.

Still not sure what to do about the end of the pipe pointing straight up though.

Flipped it over and adjusted the route carefully to miss the plenum which bolts onto the inlet ports:

Now I have the fuel out and return at the back of the engine roughly where the swirl pot will be.

Outstanding issues to think on:

  1. Can I fit the standard regulator upside down?   Yes 
  2. The fuel inlet pipe end is now pointing straight up - I need to either:
    1. Bend it downwards 
    2. Cut it shorter
    3. See if the pipe would fit the other way up under the fuel rail without getting in the way of the plenum  <- This 
Example work found on S Bradley's blog: SJ Bradley blog - fuel rail


Hindsight:

I ended up re-working this for a couple of reasons:

  1. There was not enough room at the rear end of the engine for plenum vacuum outlet, engine loom & pressure regulator.
  2. Notwithstanding SJ Bradley's example - I think the plenum has changed design since
  3. I really didn't like that re-bent original fuel pipe - just looked too messy