Injector data...its ALL what its cracked up to be!

[Redline Motorsports]

Well this weekend I had the opportunity to see whats really involved in collecting the all important "injector data" we so often talk about online. Over my career as a calibrator I have had my share of issues with poor quality injectors, lack of data and bad data. Now that I have a good understanding of how critical it is AND the effect it has on drivability and overall performance I'm not looking back.

We flowed a few different sets of injectors that are currently being marketed and its quite concerning to say the least. Many people think that as long as they have the size of the injector they are all set...wrong answer! Some of the things that are critical are;

Injectors stability and predictabilty at pulse widths below 4.00 ms
Overall injector flow rate (static flow)
Consistency between sets of injectors
Proper spray pattern

The above items noted above where all observed this weekend. We also ran some stock unmodifed sets to compare to and observed the effects of "drilled" injectors, especially when not done correctly.

The tests performed where done using the SAE J1832 test methods which is the test method that all injectors in the OEM world are tested by. Its a very specific test which includes using a certain fluid as well as warming up the injectors for so many cycles before testing.

Its a decathalon of testing! I was quite surprised to see how some of the injectors are completely uncontrollable at low pulse widths. This now confirms why a few cars we tried certain drilled injectors on where very hard to get good fueling control. According to SAE the injectors must be within 3%...the injectors we tested where closer to 12% off.

I am not at liberty to discuss which injectors we tested but if your injector supplier doesn't test with the SAE standard and you claim to be good calibrator your wrong...



Those who haven't read this write up will have a better idea of what we experienced during our tests

http://www.calibratedsuccess.com/Ass...ingDrilled.pdf

Howard

[swingtan]

Agreed!

I've only worked on a few cars with non std. injectors, but those that provided the full injector details made tuning very easy. Injector Dynamics for example provide the required injector data to suit tuning with EFILive for their injectors. This includes the small pulse adjust values that are critical to light load tuning.

Simon

[mowton]

Not trying to open an Injector war , what are your feelings on the Bosch Racing 127 Lb/hr injectors being offered from the "other" injector supplier?

Thanks,

Ed M

[slows10]

^^ Did you get all the data required to set your tune up with these injectors? If you did not, then you probably already know the answer to that question on the 127 lb injectors. I saw these cost $115 bucks each on their website. If they did not come with data that is crazy. Can a similiar set of ID's be bought for the same price? EDIT I just saw that id 1000's are only $3 more each.

[swingtan]

It all comes down to what Howard has posted and the injector data. Bosch make good injectors, so do other manufacturers. Providing you are getting a properly matched set and the tuning data is provided, then you should be able to knock out a decent tune.

[J.Abbott]

Howard,
Thank you for the video. It is awesome. We did open a can of worms and other things that need to be looked at. For instance has anyone really though about how important the spray pattern is. For example it is easy to say we can adjust for it in the wall wetting settings, but as we watched this and asked questions, what about the tables we can't really control. Like what effect does it have on IVT since that is modeled. Very important questions and what is more important is that the injectors stay as close to the original pattern as possible.

[eficalibrator]

Cool video montage, Howard. Did I mention that Dave and I were in the middle of editing my new fuel injector video last night when you called? I'm thinking that the performance industry is just now waking up and smelling the coffee with regard to actual injector behavior. The more we can educate everyone, the more the sport/hobby can progress as a whole. The people feeding consumers bad data are going to start getting weeded out pretty quickly if they don't get on the bandwagon with the rest of the automotive industry and start testing using established procedures and generating valid data.

[Redline Motorsports]

Not trying to open an Injector war , what are your feelings on the Bosch Racing 127 Lb/hr injectors being offered from the "other" injector supplier?

Thanks,

Ed M

No wars Ed! It is what it is...we the consumer don't manufacture this stuff but need the right data to make it work. I haven't worked with that injector directly so I can't really comment. We could "assume" that since its manufactured by Bosch and its unmodified by the outside world that its been engineered to work. This being said....if we can get the data according to J1832 we would be in good shape!

Howard

[Redline Motorsports]

Howard,
Thank you for the video. It is awesome. We did open a can of worms and other things that need to be looked at. For instance has anyone really though about how important the spray pattern is. For example it is easy to say we can adjust for it in the wall wetting settings, but as we watched this and asked questions, what about the tables we can't really control. Like what effect does it have on IVT since that is modeled. Very important questions and what is more important is that the injectors stay as close to the original pattern as possible.

I know we talked about these issues this weekend and we may never have the ability to compensate but many of those tables are effecting emission requirements as EVERY molecule of fuel has to be accounted for. I think the bigger of the issue is the spray pattern, especially what we saw on the bench, that can have a major effect on the drivability. Fuel blasting on the intake port wall that was suppose to hit the intake valve can show up as "tip in" issues and lambda recovery after the throttle has been put back to steady state.

My brain is still swollen from all the data this weekend....

HT

[eficalibrator]

Just a small slice of the bigger fuel injector video I'm working on...



Click on the "More Info" button at the top right to see my description as well.