Hey guys

Seen a few cheap adjustable fuel pressure regulaters.

just want to know is there any use of having these, can they improve performance or economy depending on setting, has anyone played with them before.

its for a EL.

Thanks

its not needed unless your boosting your car, even then you can use the standard one for over 250 rwkw

so just a bit of wank then really

just would like to find were my power is going in my EL, just so slow until over 3000rpm.

If the engine is ok in upper revs then pretty certainly you don't have fuel pressure issue.

Is your BBM pulling into long path position when the car is started? - ie. look at the actuator on the front of the manifold without the engine running - that's in short path - then when you start the engine the actuator should pull it round so the adjuster screw is bottomed on the stop - that's long path. If it's not pulling round then there's either a vac or electric issue with the switching system and you're running on short path all the time which will make the bottom end feel soft.

If it does pull round ok then give the throttle a bit of revving - not too high or violent tho - and make sure that it doesn't seem to be relaxing off the stop when the throttle is operating (which would mean there's something screwy in the vac plumbing / switching and it's directly following engine manifold pressure).

It's meant to stay hard on that stop until 3800rpm.

Other possibility is that the adjustment on that actuator arm has been messed with so the butterflies aren't properly shut in the short path position - from memory the setting is just a poofteenth on the screw to back it off from internal contact position (I guess the screw is only even there to stop the butterflies contacting and wearing inside the plenum). ie. back off the screw, move tharm until itstops in the long path position of it's own accord, then wind the screw in to the stop and then a tiny bit more - the isea is so that it's not actually quite bottoming internally.

If that's all ok then the next thing I'd do is make sure your ignition base timing is right.

After that, I guess it's possible the cam is a tooth retarded (might have jumped or been set wrong at some stage).

I'd doubt you have any cat or exhaust issue - that would be causing issues in the top end.

Depending on how many kls its done and what has been replaced in service id say a good start would be the replacing o2 sensor,leads,plugs,cleaning injectors,tps. If it has done more than 200000klms id say get your coolant system tested for possible head gasket issue. My engine still runs fine but head weeps(head gasket issue=upgrading soon with xr6 motor)I aint no pro when it comes to fords but buying an 02 sensor sure got it revving hard.Bought one for $60 bucks so if yours is old looking it's worth a go. Also cleaning carbon from throttle body helps with response,more power. Other than that you will have to ask someone with more extensive knowledge on fords. Hope this helps

thanks for the replies,

not sure on the ks on the car as it had a NL cluster in it when i got it so i know that is not original.

i have done 2000ks in it so far and it has not lost any coolant or oil at all so i would say the head gasket is ok.

when i got it it had AU injectors on it but if i would tap the throttle that car would flood and stall, i put EF ones on there and that fixed that issue but still down on power.

The butterflies are moving when the car is started as it should. i have changed fuel filters and all that stuff so i guess i will have to look at timing. i might take the top half of the manifold off and clean it as its not very hard to do

also do you think the gear box could be causing an issue. it sometimes slams into 2nd from 1st and hangs in gears for a while. i would like to replace it anyway.

Im no expert on gearboxes but yes an old gearbox will slow your car down. Not sure as to how much though or how much increase you notice. Can be a number of things,worn drivebelts,clogged filter,old oil,ect. May just need the belts tightened and service eg filter-oil change, depending how bad it is. Gear change issue can be a number of things but a throttle position sensor is a good start. Went through 2 auto's only to find that my throttle position sensor was playing up. Up to you if you want to replace it,cost is about $100 but atleast you ensure that this will not be a problem with future gearboxes. On the gearbox side of things get it inspected by a (honest)auto gearbox mechanic to see how bad gearbox is. If it just needs a service then no need to replace gearbox. I forgot the el has a dizzy so could be timing with your engine power increase if your plugs,leads,o2 sensor checks out ok.

Last edited by Ef Ghia XR6 on Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

yeah filters and oil have been done in last few 100ks, i have a whole spare manifold with TB and TPS i might swap it all over and see how it goes, easier than doing a gear box.

mate has a T5 with new clucth and cable i can have for 200 just need to find a EL Manual ECu

Yeah worth a go before changing gearbox's.. A manual would be mad as!! I want to do the conversion myself but will have to make a reinforced manual pedal box first as i have heard of the troubles with sh$t breaking. Can't find a cheap enough manual one in good condition to reinforce so using an auto one. Good luck with it all hope ya get her cranking hard!!!

yeah the reason my mate is selling his is that he broke the pedal box and split the firewall. he has taken all the Xr gear out of it engine, interior diff etc and put it into a gli. just the gearbox left so i will more than likely get it and source a ecu and pedal box

Sounds like the go. Curios as to where his flywall split though. Hoping it was where the cable goes through and not elsewhere,otherwize i may be in some trouble after converting to manual lol. I found a good thread on making a manual pedal box out of an auto on this site and it gave me an idea for mine

That sounds like it was pointing to an issue somewhere - ie. unless there was something wrong with those AU injectors or one / some of them then that shouldn't have been happening - those injectors might tend to be a tad richer at idle but overall should still have run perfectly fine even at idle.

Is the rail pressure a bit high? Is it possible someone previously has messed with the fuel pressure regulator? - maybe some genius thought that jacking it up to 400kpa would give instant 30% better power (does the top look sort of caved in? )... - or maybe it's just faulty?? Maybe partial blockage in the return line to the tank from the regulator?? Only proper way to check is somehow read the operating pressure in the rail.

Make sure your Air temp sensor is plugged in - and same with the coolant temp sensor that the ECU uses - on pre EF the ECU used it's own coolant temp sensor which was different to the one the guage read - on EF it's all done by the one sensor - don't know how the EL does it? (ie. if it's a combined sensor like EF then normal instrument readings should mean the ECU is seeing the right thing).

Where I'm coming from is looking for things that will be making it run massively rich at and off idle and in the bottom end - so that once the revs get up and the engine is breathing enough to use the fuel then it feels better at that stage.

Things that can very drastically affect that are the Air temp (ACT) sensor and Engine coolant temp (ECT) sensor - and then from there TPS, MAP and HEGO can all affect it.

Also make sure ignition base timing is right - prolly do that first of all...

Digging into other possibilities I recall my ED drove like crap after having the cooling system serviced - turned out the radiator place had put an 88 degree thermostat in it - I replaced that with a factory 96 degree one and she was all happy again.