Home Made Fuel Injector Cleaning Machine

[60dgrzbelow0]

Along those lines, watch out what you use to clean parts before welding. I'd imagine some of you have seen this article but this is the kind of amateur mistake somebody like me could do

http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm

Glad you're making progress on the apparatus again.

Thanks for the encouragement... And thanks again too for adding to our collective information and knowledge on how to do things safely!

[60dgrzbelow0]

Hello Folks...

For the "Visual Shorthand" of the latest efforts... Please go here if other things in your Friday evening hold sway with your attention and you just want the update without the detailed "Project Patter":

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

This has been a very good day for this project and huge leap forward towards its completion. This morning and throughout this afternoon, I had to do some "engineering housekeeping" chores to remove the last few pebbles from my shoe that might seem like little, nagging things, but without these final fixes, they could stop the project dead in its tracks. If you recall further back in one of the posts, I mentioned the weird inability for the down-drain plumbing to complete vacate the lines. Well, I finally had an Archimedes-like moment this morning in the shower, sans my yelling out "Eureka" (Greek for "I FOUND IT!" when Archimedes realized his nude body displaced an equal volume of water onto his bathroom floor when he got inside his tub and it all spilled out) and sans my usually tolerant neighbors having to watch me run down the street, naked as a Jaybird... but brimming with enthusiasm for my latest revelation.

You see.. I finally reasoned out that since the Multec II EFIS are fitted with sealing "O"rings on this new rail...AND... the fact that the precise hole I drilled for the tight fitting Acrylic Down Tube leading inside the EFI Cleaning Fluid Catch Container was air tight... unless I somehow managed to relieve the pressure building up inside the down drain portion of the system when activating the OTCs, then gravity drainage would literally be "Stoppered" before it could exit the tube right at the hole in the base plate of the Silver Tray.

When I realized this was happening, the simple solution I came up with was merely to drill a 5/64th " hole through the edge of the green sealing screw cap lid adjacent the other acrylic pipe hole and then slip in a hand-curled section of a red WD-40 "spray tube". With the pressure now able to escape in a manner that would allow the free flow of compressed air inside of the container, I would still be able to keep the fluid inside free from any atmospheric dust and dirt settling in there. This problem definitely would have occurred had I just drilled a typical bleed hole and then let it go at that.

The other problem was that I needed to make the hole in the bottom left hand corner of the silver tray for the Down Drain lengthy tube feed into the shape of an ogive (think of a 9mm Luger Parabellum Bulllet shaped hole in the lower base plate). This adjustment in combination with placing two tightly squeezing tight plastic zip ties around the curving portion of the tube allowed it to slide comfortably through the hole and neither bind nor kink nor slow nor stop the returning fluid from escaping all that clear acrylic plumbing up inside the tray.

Next, I went over all of the Tygon Fuel Line fittings; which after a little tightening here and there, held the Three Bar (43.5 PSI) operating pressure that is the consistently desired level for all cleaning and Flow Matching activity. It's a small recommendation here... but should you be inclined to build your own replication of this project, take the time to find as many small, high quality stainless steel screw banded hose clamps and then double the number you obtain because you'll use absolutely all of them somewhere along way and perhaps need even more before all the connections in all the various tubes and piping are properly sealed up.

Of course before buttoning up all the lines with secure finality, I had it in mind to do a double-reverse pressure clean out of that slender S/S line and I do not regret my abundance of caution here in doing so.. The linked photobucket imagery will clearly illustrated how severe the contamination of that inner pipe was from all those metal filings cleaned out during this procedure. And so... I moved on to collect all of the expelled fluid and then filtered what came out with a double layer of "Mr. Coffee" Coffee Filters into a clean plastic containers and then poured the contents into the Collection Container for one last visual inspection. Now this may seem like a silly move on my part... but I wanted to make damned sure that no Metal Mung was waiting to ambush any or all of the six (6) injectors on the rail and provide me with false negative variables in determining whether or not I succeeded in ensuring that the EFI Rail was equally pressurized along its length...or not. Pressure cleaning that pipe several times and finding all that metal residue being removed allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief and be confident then that I could finish installing the remaining Tygon Fuel Line and securely seal up the system. I shot two quite lengthy videos which include the capture of many of these issue on film for all to see. And, the last video was my vindication for thinking I had problem that needed a solution with an uncertain potential for success... and the satisfaction that comes with finding out I was right on both counts.

What remains to be done tomorrow morning is for me to run a fairly lengthy cleaning cycle on this intrepid set of six (6) Multec II EFIs . After that of course what needs to follow on is a careful Flow Balance Test that shows the final operation of "The Fourth Generation FrankInjector EFI Cleaning Machine". If all goes well... then all that remains is for me to design a clock wound-spring device along with a timed camshaft to fire both OTC Banks at once, but with the aid of my usual assortment of symmetrical phalanges in some odd and sundry combinations. I will NEVER turn this machine on and walk away from it! I'm too concerned with a sudden fire or explosion that needs my immediate attention. I would however enjoy being able to lean back in my garage work chair...crank open an Ice Cold Diet Coke...take a sip and say..."Ahhh..." while listening to the OTC buttons clicking and clacking on and off with the rhythmic EFI cleaning activity brimming loudly in the background. When I am able (or when YOU are able) to solve the EFI electronic control side for this machine...then it truly will deserve to be put in the can as a completed project. I'm all ears to listen to anyone's ideas, with the caveat that something actually get designed and built equal to the task and practical to make and test to see if it will actually work. I think I've done my fair of the heavy lifting on this project so far and I sure could a little help in solving this one last issue.

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

[60dgrzbelow0]

With ethanol blends, water contamination is only going to get worse. Refiners have had headaches trying to keep the ethanol pure when it's such a good solvent and wants to contaminate itself by cleaning up the transmission pipes, destroying valve seals, etc.

You're absolutely right. But isn't is funny that even with all that stainless steel being used in most of the other fuel system components, this "Morton Thiokol"-like FPR design always leads to a serious failure in the end? For example... the tragic and entirely avoidable $25 Billion Challenger Disaster as the unintended consequence of NOT including the Three Laws of Thermodynamics in their "Oh Sh*t" "O" Ring design considerations. Jesus Palomino!!! In this case though, the GM engineers either failed to test their ENTIRE system long enough under exposure to the natural elements (and sometimes unnatural ones) to discover the unintended consequences nature can throw at us, what with Hurricane Katrina-like events... and then the salt and brackish water flooding our vehicles, etc. ...or...there is always the convenient possibility they allowed the sub-component manufacturers to slip one over on them as to the alleged durability of Cadmium Anodized Steel Components in mixed metal<> mixed chemical fuel delivery environments.

I thought about one other unusual circumstance that often rears its ugly head in nature when the ever-present chaos invades an otherwise fairly predictable dynamic fluid system. The weird cup design they decided upon using here and the concentration of the corrosion and damage in that location reminded me of what happens when a fast moving river stream encounters a linear obstruction. Any heavier sediment moving along or being pushed or carried within the stream will slow down and drop those objects as the water velocity on either one side of the river bank or the other continues along to maintain the volume of water while the fluid pressure adjusts here and there to get around these new obstructions. The velocity of the inner portion slows down while the out areas speed up to ensure that the same volume of water is getting through. In time, such rivers and streams will begin to "Ox-Bow"; meandering or oscillating from river bank side to the other as the heavier materials settle and collect over time, changing their directions, courses and shapes.

The stainless steel cup in this configuration strikes me as a perfect place for the heavier water to separate out from the fuel in the fast moving, pressurized stream by centrifugal force, leaving the water to collect inside the cup in the upper and outer areas where it can act to erode the Cadmium coating off of the inner race of the FPR. A similar action occurs in the swirling motion (caused by the Coriolis Effect) when flushing a toilet. Invariably any "rings" or deposits happen along the upper and out edges of the water bowl, in part because of this action. You don't have to look very far in nature to find the most striking empirical example of this happening. Just take a close look at the linked video showing the action of The Great Spot south of the equatorial plane on the planet Jupiter. Here is a perfect demonstration of how this phenomena works, even in such a gigantic, roiling and moving fluid system. You can see that even with all that gaseous mix in crazy motion, areas of calm can persist like this spot for hundreds of years.

In any case, as far as this dynamic fluid system is concerned, had they made ALL of these components out of stainless steel and not with any planned obsolescence in mind, the presence of this event would have made no difference in the overall performance of the fuel delivery-fuel injection system. Have a look at these examples as a visual point of reference that the S/S Cup design of this Vortec Rail is reminiscent in its basic shape to this bizarre event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_1hihXOAjw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s56pxa9lpvo&feature=endscreen&NR=1

And in the case of the Ox-Bow phenomenon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1X4aAfHpzw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55DQM_Ud8BQ

[Tbay99Venture]

A Word About Using ARP Thread Sealer...

While the ARP Thread Sealer is handy in MOST applications involving Water, Anti-Freeze or Coolant, Oils and Gasoline, should you get your hands on this Good Stuff... DO NOT USE IT IN ANY APPLICATION INVOLVING OXYGEN LINES< FITTINGS OR OXYGEN TANKS. One of the ingredients in its manufacture is Teflon. Teflon burns at around 900 degrees Fahrenheit and instantly converts to Phosgene Gas.... (World War One and trench warfare should come to mind here)... as this gas is fatal when breathed.

Along those lines, watch out what you use to clean parts before welding. I'd imagine some of you have seen this article but this is the kind of amateur mistake somebody like me could do

http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm

Glad you're making progress on the apparatus again.

[Tbay99Venture]

With ethanol blends, water contamination is only going to get worse. Refiners have had headaches trying to keep the ethanol pure when it's such a good solvent and wants to contaminate itself by cleaning up the transmission pipes, destroying valve seals, etc.

[60dgrzbelow0]

Okay... I had some very interesting development in this project today that should draw some interest in the trailvoy.com site and anyone owning either a GM Trailblazer, Bravada or Envoy style vehicle equipped with the 4.2L Vortec Engine. I'll start with that info, but if you prefer just viewing the close-up images of what the matter concerns, they can be found here:

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

The latest images and two videos from today's efforts will show that I was successful in breaking down the back portion of the fuel rail and discovering that S/S cup the Fuel Pressure regulator resides in is NOT directly ported to the inside of the rectangular fuel rail pipe! Rather it is simply a hollow chamber that has a hole drilled into it and that is where the slender input pipe is attached acting as the main feed line for gasoline, snaking down the back side of the fuel rail and inserts into the far end for normal fuel entry. On the inside of the S/S cup, the FPR has a matching short fuel line serviced by the incoming gasoline line and a small O-Ring that seals of the small pipe opening. Removing the FPR involved using a Torx #30 driver for the FPR hold down position and the support bracket. Now here is where my concern developed about what happens after that:

The fuel rail assembly is some combination of either S/S or Aluminum metals... ordinarily not subject to rust or corrosion under normal operating conditions...right? True... but have a look at the photos of the interior circumferential flange of FPR, just BELOW the level of the large sealing blue fuel proof O-Ring and the problem will become obvious. The entire area of the FPR around the edge of this unit had completely rusted through with almost all of the concave screen insert covered with a rusted and oxidised residue. The Mung, Rusty Flakes and the Disgusting Black Goo that was in there told me two thing were at play here:

(1) The cheap, anodized ferrous metals making up the body of the FPR are subject to rusting out over time in the presence of normal fuel that has water mixed in, merely as a consequence of the fact that no gasoline fuel is perfect or without the presence of H2O atmospherically condensing inside the fuel tank.

(2) Given the particular design of this fuel rail... Either there is a Dead Spot in the rail "cup" shape that allows swirling water droplets in the fuel to collect and remain for extended periods ...or... Rainwater, Road Sludge or the natural tendency for water vapour to condense upon cold metals allows the water to sit inside the edge of the S/S Cup long enough to rust and corrode away the interface between the outer FPR rim, the O-Ring and the cup itself. Over time, this garbage ate its way into the inner surfaces well enough to clog up the FPR large pores of the mini-screen (useful for stopping Cat's Eye Marbles...Maybe ) and/or slip through the holes to end up clogging some or all of the Fuel Injectors over time.

Now you might say, "Well...this was probably because this particular Fuel Rail was removed from a junk yard motor that was out in the elements for a very long time and not protected inside the engine compartment, or covered by a hood." Yes, that could be true ... but know that I also disassembled another identical fuel rail assembly removed from a freshly parted SUV and yet, these symptoms were identical. In any case, FWIW,... if you own any of these kinds of vehicles and the Vortec Engine is either sluggish, lacking power...or maybe idling oddly rough without throwing any codes, etc., then this might be another place to investigate the problem.

Moving on to the latest 4thGenFrank Progress Report:

After removing the FPR, I took a 24 TPI Hacksaw Blade and very carefully sawed off the slender pipe where it curved inward, as close to the S/S cup mentioned above as possible while the rail was still mounted on the FrankInjector Stand. The reason I did this was because I wanted to be able to reverse flush any metal particles that may have invaded that small piping and make certain they would not enter the naked EFI Cleaning Fluid and migrate directly inside the mounted EFIs. This was paramount since there is no fuel filtration available at this position in the Fuel Rail System. I also wanted to investigate whether or not the EFI Cleaning Fluid used in the original test video(s) had ever managed to penetrate all the way through that narrow tube and into the FPR when the stream of cleaner was being pushed into that slender tube from the opposite direction within the square body of the Fuel Rail.

To kill these two birds with one stone, I cleaned up the sharp edges of the freshly sawed slender pipe and then attached a short segment of Tygon Fuel Line to it and a small S/S clamp. I then routed the Tygon line into a small plastic butter tub stuffed with a few, fine paper towels to catch the expelling EFI Cleaning Fluid and any trap any metal particles it managed to flush out. I videotaped this procedure and the results were very positive. What came out of the pipe was combination of stale fuel first, followed by a trapped column of air and then by the EFI Cleaning Fluid coming out of the far end of the square Fuel Rail. When pushed under the pressure of Three Bar (43.7 PSI) in this reverse direction, you could see first hand that the air in that line acted like a compressible shock absorber, preventing the Last of the Six (6) EFIs in the sequence from developing enough pressure to properly eject the cleaning fluid. Having observed this occur, I was confident that by using BOTH fuel lines to pump fresh EFI Cleaning Solution through these two fuel lines, the old crap and any air left inside will be eliminated and solve the problem of balancing the pressure along the entire length of this long fuel rail.

To do this, I tried seven ways from Sunday to locate an Automotive Triple-Barbed, 1/4" NPT Fuel Line Fitting, without success. I finally settled upon using some Brass Plumbing Fittings instead. My photobucket site images will show some imagery of these components being assembled with some ARP Thread Sealer (NOT LOCKER) while the brass threaded body joining the barbed sections was being held by a cheap Harbor-Freight Drill Press Vise. Using this handy tool made this job a lot easier to do, preventing me from cutting up my hands; noting here that things made of either Brass or Bronze metals are often called "self-lubricating" and slips easily when in contact with tools and objects from their harder steel brethren, or snapping off any of the barbed stems on fittings that usually happens from "wrench slips". The only thing I missed from doing it this way was being unable to invent some brand new swear words. I did NOT miss having to go buy more brass parts. A 9/16th Box End Wrench worked well with the Vise during this normally "tough to tighten down" assembly.

A Word About Using ARP Thread Sealer...

While the ARP Thread Sealer is handy in MOST applications involving Water, Anti-Freeze or Coolant, Oils and Gasoline, should you get your hands on this Good Stuff... DO NOT USE IT IN ANY APPLICATION INVOLVING OXYGEN LINES< FITTINGS OR OXYGEN TANKS. One of the ingredients in its manufacture is Teflon. Teflon burns at around 900 degrees Fahrenheit and instantly converts to Phosgene Gas.... (World War One and trench warfare should come to mind here)... as this gas is fatal when breathed.

I am happy to report that, short of the need for just one more S/S Clamp for the Triple Barbed Tygon Line assembly, this part of the project is nearly finished. Tomorrow, I'll put in a fresh batch EFI Cleaner, do a careful line pressure check and then power up the rail. If simultaneous actuation of both OTC units reveals that finally, all six (6) of the Multec II EFIs provide an equalised series of stable spray pattern cleanings, then I'll advance to conducting a Flow Balance Test of this EFI set... and we'll see what happens!

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

[60dgrzbelow0]

Okay... This might seem a little goofy... but since I like giving credit to any and all out there in the land of creative thinking on the subject of cleaning electronic fuel injectors to a fair-thee-well... Remember the guy I mentioned a few posts back who had some nifty, simple ways to make a bench machine? Well... I failed to call attention to his mechanism of choice to time and fire his injector "spurts" ...He employed the motor out of a kitchen electric mixer and after turning it sideways and mounting it in a vise on his flow-bench... he used some kind of metal rod or axle with the necessary number of eccentric camshaft lobes to physically contact some analogue pressure switches so he can to" Fire and Forget" his injector banks during what might turn out be long, unattended cleaning sessions.

Now... while I admire his ingenuity... I will never encourage anyone to set up their own "FrankInjector Machine" in any way that would cause them to have a lapse in common sense and good judgement and decide to walk away from anything where fuel and air under pressure are close enough to any ignition source to catch fire.

Nonetheless... His idea has got me thinking of a way to fix the two OTC Injector Devices in a rigid box and perhaps have a similar mechanism to rotate in close proximity to the spring-loaded push switches and turn them with something like a big spring-wound egg-timer or even an old clock spring. This video shows a device that might work.. .but if you look at it too long, you might suffer from vertigo and lose your lunch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Gfc1Iq0GY&feature=related

If it worked... I'd probably give it a name like "The Franken-Wankel EFI Timer" ROFLMAO

[60dgrzbelow0]

Okay...

The 4th Generation FrankInjector Machine has been completely assembled and is fully functional as of late this afternoon.

For the (3) latest HQ Videos and around 35-40 Images look here:

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

I worked through finishing the Box/ Rack and installed it onto the "FrankenStand" and then installed the newer of the two GM Vortec fuel rails because the one I started with was just too damned grotee and filthy inside to trust. I had a third set of Multec II injectors and after lubricating them well with some 3&1 Oil, slipped them into place and secured them with the six locking metal clips. I removed the wiring from the other rail and after painstakingly loosening those damned Green Locking Push-Pins, managed to get the harness(es) installed and they laid out nicely along the upper rail. I used a variety of plastic ties to fix the two sets of (3) three Multec I EFI cables/connectors out of the way and used the ties to arrange and fix the Multec II connectors in place as well. Then I went to work on disassembling and cleaning all the Nylon and Acrylic Down Drain segments salvaged from "Frank III" before deciding instead to measure, cut and install all new hosing from scratch. That turned out to be a better idea, however during the later testing phase, I found a slight leak at the brass elbow on the outer EFI and will deal that problem tomorrow.

After assembling the final Down Drain connection to the Drain Tank (I had to drill a 1" hole in the base plate to feed the piping outside) I then double checked all my clamp connections and then applied power to the ATX Power Supply to test the two OTC Units for functionality. With every connection tightened and with all the fastening completed, I did a walk around and took HQ digital photos posted at the attached link, I then shot a walk-around video to show the entire machine from top to bottom. Later, I filled the EFI Cleaning Fluid Cylinder with the mix of Lucas Oil, WD-40 and Techron and during the second video of the preliminary low pressure testing of the device, I found a leak at the lower Schrader Line. After shutting down the air pressure valve... I replaced the Schrader Valve small clamp with a wider, more robust S/S clamp and that fixed the leak. I brought the pressure up to 3 Bar (43.5 PSI) and continued with testing for leaks and using first one bank of OTC EFI connectors and just as I suspected might happen... the last EFI on the rail was unable to pressurise with any fluid due to air being backed up in the slender pipe that would normally be pushing fluid through that line via the Fuel Pressure Regulator, which is not being used in this rail application. I've given some thought to solving this problem in one of two ways:

(1) Find an acceptable barbed "T" or better yet, a "Y" fitting and split the fluid input with it, attaching one to the large, patent return line and the other to use in place of the blocked access to the thin Rail Pipe. This should allow the EFI Cleaning Fluid fluid to enter from two different locations, and hopefully push all of the air bound areas of the rail clean with a solid stream of fluid, forcing out any non-condensable atmosphere anywhere inside the rail with an incompressible fluid stream along the way.

(2) Simply cut off the thin aluminum pipe where it exits the FPR and also cut it off at its re-entry point at the far side of the fuel rail and simply fill in those open areas with some JB-Weld.

I'm happy with these results so far and I'm very glad that I can easily service both Multec I and Multec II EFIS on the "New Hotness" that is "The 4th Generation FrankInjector Machine". I'll troubleshoot and solve what remains to be done tomorrow and shoot the final videos to demonstrate the results of the cleaning actions in all phases. If all goes well, I'll also do a Flow Balance Procedure to see how these MII EFIs behave. I think this latest version looks much more professional in its equipment layout and design. I especially like the extra space in the front of the functional Silver Box-Tray that allows me the chance to lay down tools, clamps, extra EFIs, etc. and not interfere with the operation of the machine. Let me know if you have any other ideas I've missed that might improve "Frank IV"...

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

[60dgrzbelow0]

Okay Folks...

Nine new images of today's progress and one HQ video can be seen here:

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

With the build of the wooden table/box completed, this afternoon I turned to on disassembling the wiring harness on the ugliest of the two GM 4.2L 6 Cyl EFI Rails I bought off of eBay and then proceeded doing likewise with the original wiring harness I doped out into a functioning and working harness for the 3rd Gen FrankInjector Machine. I managed to cut, splice, flux and solder together a brand new Dual Harness equipped to handle both the three Multec I and three Multec II wiring EFI Connectors serviced by one OTC EFI Tool for the left and right banks of the machine (three per section on the rail). I tested my connections first and having found no problems evident, I organised the wiring bundles for both sides and then used almost an entire roll of High Quality Electrical Tape to isolate each EFI Segment for both connector flavors and discretely wrapped them all up .

I then laid the entire EFI rail and harness inside the new Box/Table for the purpose of shooting the latest HQ video that will be self evident of my success today. Tomorrow, I'll mount the new 4th Generation Blended Rail/ Harness assembly onto the new "FrankenStand" and attempt to hook everything up. If all goes well, after assembling the Down Drain Plumbing and plugging the in-dwelling six Multec II EFIs into the drain tubes, I'll run a half-gallon mixture of Lucas Oil-WD-40-Techron EFI Cleaning Solution through them and videotape the action from start to finish so you can see what is going on before, during and after this first test.

THIS TIP IS WORTH KNOWING...!!!

I'm sure we've all heard the Old Wive's Tale that the best and easiest way to get the super-sticky, gummy black residue left on our hands, fingers and everything else in between when removing old electrical tape is to use Mayonnaise, Hand Cream or Cold Cream. This is probably true... but I have found that by spraying a healthy dollop of KROIL "The Oil That CREEPS" Anti-Rust Fluid onto a shop rag and wiping down the wiring harness and my hands with the stuff...all that awful gunk came right off like it was nothing! After washing my hands in hot water with some dish soap, I then wiped down the wiring harness with some Isopropyl Alcohol to get the remaining slippery residue left from the KROIL oil off the wiring. After that, it was a breeze to splice, flux, solder and then re-tape all the various loose electrical ends I had to deal with and work them into a decent, permanent and workable pair of harnesses. I suspect that any good penetrating oil like Liquid Wrench or WD-40 will work, too.

One last thought on how long this has taken.... From the time I started building this version (piggybacked of course onto the last bunch of hardware) it has taken less than a fraction of the time, energy and money compared with my initial investment and I would encourage anybody seriously thinking about making their own version of "Frank" to have a high degree of confidence that enough R&D has gone before into this device to make its replication relatively easy now...and most importantly... with proven reliable and consistently reproduce-able results.

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

[60dgrzbelow0]

Okay... I worked on the Frame Table or Tray to support the EFI Cleaning Fluid Down Drain Plumbing and the 50 ml Flow Balance tubes in a way that might seem too elaborate, but the fact is, once I have all this equipment in place, I don't want to have to worry about the "Final Resting Place" for all this stuff falling apart from exposure to the variety of cleaning solvents and the weight of assorted tools, loose EFIs and other things. If nothing else... what I built and "gilded" today could also double as a Battery Box for the AOTC (Ark Of The Covenant)... should The Almighty decide he might need a back-up unit in a pinch (sans Cherubim Cover ...of course). You'll get the idea from these images:

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

A word about the Aluminum Tape I used to finish the edging on this rectangular box:

When I was servicing my air handler in the attic last year, I discovered a huge number of places in the return line air box housing and the A/C conduits that were leaking like sieves... So much so that I literally went through rolls and rolls of the Nashua Aluminized A/C Duct Tape. This stuff is amazing.. but dangerous in the hands of a fool. Think of it as made out of the similar kind of metal stripping that makes up the blades in your Razor. If you have to handle this stuff... watch the edges when patting it down for secure fastening. If you get too enthusiastic with it while moving your bare fingers too close to the edges of the stuff...it will cut you to the bone and slow your work down while you figure how not to bleed to death in the crawl space above your garage. When doing the final "press" into any surfaces...wear some decent gloves that will allow you to get the job done uninjured. The other thing to be careful of is this stuff is completely conductive of electricity and should never be used to wrap or insulate any wiring. Period. Once applied... this material is completely impervious to water damage or rot and decay. hence its friendly application in the moisture condensing environment of air conditioned piping. It is quite durable when applied to any wood that is dry to the touch and will keep all covered areas splinter free... which is why I liked using it here. Once rubbed in good enough to see the wood grain imagery in the metal tape...it ain't coming off. It is fairly oil and chemical resistant and that is the other reason to use it on "The 4thGen FrankInjector Machine"

[60dgrzbelow0]

Okay... I used the waning hours of this afternoon to finish the preliminary mock-up of "The FrankInjectorFour Machine". To save some time, I located some lighter gauge perforated angle iron and angle ground them in a pile to expand the inner dimensions of the EFI Cleaning Machine Stand and stretch it from 16.5" out to 29" and then just bolted everything back together. Then I fastened BOTH the Old Brass Design Fuel Rail and the New GM TrailBlazer Aluminum Fuel Rail to the upper and second deck second deck cross piece with a handful of plastic tie-wraps for an initial, visual comparison of these two designs in fuel rails . I note here that even with the powerful, jet-like action of the expressing nozzles, these large ties are more than adequate to resist Newton's Third Law of Motion and any lateral movement from the actions of the device in operation: (It's not in a moving car, so you can be as creative as you want on how to mount and hold these rails in place and still get the cleaning jobs done with no support failures to either rail and no "HARD" fasteners to have to f*ck with if any equipment adjustments are required).

Next... I'll dope out the new EFI Cleaning Fluid Down-Drain Tubes arrangement by extending the clear acrylic segments between the nylon "T" plumbing attachments and then try to build a stable, level and flat platform to support the 50 ml Flow Balance Tubes. Shortly, I will also dope out the harness MetriPack (sp?) connector on the GM Aluminum Rail to the existing Dual OTC Harness so I can pick and choose which ones I want to use depending upon whether I'm cleaning the Multec I or Multec II EFIs.

As ever... my photos on this latest work can be seen here:

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

More to come by and by... (So Far... So Good... :>))

CYA

[60dgrzbelow0]

Hello Again, Folks...

Thanks for still pushing the envelope for the control side of this device... I appreciate it...

I've decided to build a “Fourth Generation FrankInjector Machine”. Here are the reasons why:

For the CLIFF NOTE images (in no particular order) on this latest development, please visit my photobucket here:

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

On the wings of repairing my 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer throttle body, I took an interest in the design and functionality of the “square box” all aluminum Fuel Rail that is fitted on this ubiquitous GM Vortec 4.2 Liter in-line six cylinder engine, handling the six Multec II fuel injectors for this motor. The straight line design of it and the accessibility afforded by its layout prompted me to think it a very worthy alternative to having to build your own fuel rail from scratch. I decided the only way to investigate this was to visit eBay and search for some used fuel rails. I was not disappointed when I found two different sets offered at fairly reasonable pricing and was lucky enough to get them with their complete sets of injectors and electrical connectors and harnesses attached as well.

When they arrived a bit later, I was hoping during my examination of them that the GM engineers had been lazy enough to incorporate the existing injector port dimensions and retention clip designs to allow for the insertion of the older Rochester Multec I style injectors. Sure enough, I discovered that the old style injectors with upper “O” rings and clips fit inside and on the aluminum fuel rail perfectly! This fact alone meant that I would be able to service both type of injectors with that single aluminum rail and just need to pigtail one or the other set of injector connectors to the existing power harness mated to the twin OTC controllers.

Since both the Multec Type I and Type II injectors are of the High Impedance Design, there is is no need to obtain other types of EFI firing and control equipment. One additional design consideration for this “4thGenFrankInjector Machine” is that the support framing will have to be widened from the present 16.5” width out to 26” in order to accommodate the longer,wider spaced GM aluminum fuel rail. I'll need to figure out what to do about having two fuel lines and whether or not one can simply be blocked off or perhaps use both with a dual line feed into the rail to provide balanced fuel pressure over the long length of this new rail.

My only over-arching concern with the difference between the two designs is that the older Multec Type I injectors have their coils internally made to be in direct contact with the fuel to act as a coolant process, while the newer Multec II design has the coils situated outside in a manner that the fuel cannot take heat away during their actuation. I will have to be cautious here and keep their duty cycles minimal until I can figure out if there will be problems from overheating them during the activation of the pressure cleaning and flow balance episodes.

My next set of questions concerned whether or not there were any limitations of re-building these Multec Type II EFIs. To that end I contacted “MR. INJECTOR” himself and discussed the history of “Frank” here on www.60degreev6.com. He looked over everything we've done so far and found the idea of using multiple kinds of lubricants and injector cleaning fluids a novel way of clearing out the old, stale fuel residue that can build up over years of either excessive use... or from simply sitting idle in a junk yard for years on end. He suggested a $30.00 kit (obtained via eBay) that contained all of the necessary components (plus more...a very generous kit) to bring new life to an old and tired set of GM Multec II EFIs.You can peruse what he offers here in the comprehensive ways he can clean your fuel injectors (or enable you to do your own):

http://www.mrinjector.us/index.html

Those of you familiar with this and many of my other posts involving safety issues know that I'm a stickler for these details and always encourage the greatest attention to these safety issues at all times whenever fuel, air and any ignition source might pop up its ugly head and accidentally wreak havoc during any repairs. It follows that some of these issues bleed over here in the photos on my site which include some images of the means by which I will safely and completely evacuate the old, stagnant gasoline from any vehicle. I will be using an unusual, modified aluminum pump, safely powered by a pneumatic drill in lieu of using anything electrically or battery powered, reducing the chance of any ignition or fire occurring during this touchy procedure. I purchased two five (5) gallon USA made Steel (CARB approved) Gasoline-Fuel Cans @ $50.00 each to use as collection containers designed for the safe, long term storage of old (and new) fuel(s) along with a fifteen foot length of TYGON special semi-clear yellow plastic Fuel Hosing to feed down inside the gas tank through the center of the cut-off top of a Chevron Techron bottle prior to pumping the tank temporarily as dry as possible. I then intend to replace the in-line cannister fuel filter and immediately re-fill the tank with a good mixture of Lucas Oil, Chevron Techron and High Test Gasoline to flush out, clean and re-condition the entire fuel system from tail to nose. This procedure will prevent the entrance of old, stale fuel into the newly re-conditioned EFIs when the engine is once again started. As always, your collective input and ideas or suggestions hold great value to this project...

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

[Tbay99Venture]

The laptop certainly makes it easy to fiddle with the pulse rates. If making up the audio is a little programming-intensive, you could set the serial port for 1,000 bits / sec, 7 data, no parity, 2 stop bits and shove hex 07 (^G or bell) characters out back to back. Since the start bit and zero bits are the same polarity, while the stop bits, ones bits and idle (marking) bits are the opposite you end up with a nice symmetrical square wave. That would be for the high pulse rate -- 5ms on & 5ms off.

Cut down to 100 bits/sec for a 50ms on / 50ms off run of pulses. You can calculate how many 'words' are needed to go out the port for the desired duration of your injector test.

The serial port should be able to drive your circuit if the audio port can. Possibly it can drive several copies of it (fan out) to fire the injectors in bank mode.

[robertisaar]

wow, it has been a while Bob....

i've been considering this, and have a basic schematic worked out to hook up a transistor that can handle the ~6-7 amps the high impedance injectors most of us have on our motors and control the transistor using an audio signal coming from my laptop, but i have a LQ1 project taking up all of my time.

[60dgrzbelow0]

Hello Folks...

Long Time... No See … Anything... from 60 Degree... :>)

(Rumors of my death have been GREATLY exaggerated... I'll shoot a short video later and link it to explain what I've been up to...)

As a delightful sidebar to the work done so far on “The FrankInjector Machine”...and FWIW in the continuing saga (new ideas) of “How To Clean Electronic Fuel Injectors”... Here is yet another method of a DYI fix for your Rochester Multec Fuel Injector Cleaning/Rebuilds... with the added feature of a video demonstrating how to use a special tool for the R&R of the Fuel Filter Screen Baskets:

(Superdave and Ben will love the very direct simplicity of all this...)

http://www.watkinsmotorsports.com/how_to_rebuild_a_fuel_injector.aspx

Here is where you can find the EFI Fuel Basket-Screen-Strainer Rebuild Tool:

http://www.watkinsmotorsports.com/fuel_injection_tools.aspx

Here is a video and site page covering "How to Build an EFI Flow Bench"

http://www.watkinsmotorsports.com/fuel_injector_flow_bench_homemade.aspx

And last but not least... Here is where you can find the full EFI Re-Build Kits for your particular type of Fuel Injector.

http://www.mrinjectorparts.com/top-feed-kits.html

It's finally getting a bit cooler now down here in Florida and it won't be much longer before I get my ass back out in the garage and get back to wrenching on more projects and posting their images and procedures with a link to my photo-bucket... Hope everyone has been doing well since I've been absent from the forum.

--==Enjoy the Day=--

Bob


PS... Over 22,000 Hits on this project... Wow... Whooduthunkit...huh? I wonder if any of the folks looking in ever built their own version of "Frank" Please post a note here if you did! Thanks... Oh... Brad might want to look at that watkinsmotorsport.com site at the Patrol Mustang they built...there are some very interesting designs and schematics and stuff about nitrous there as well.