Fuel injection

[Britboy]

My MkIII 440 Chrysler was fitted with a FiTech electronic fuel injection system a couple of years ago. Instant start up, excellent throttle response, all the reasons for having it until.........
I drove her to a car show recently and car ran fine. Drove her home after the show (60miles round trip). Parked her in the garage, shut the engine off and went about something else. 10 days later when I went to start her - not happening. Not a cough or a sputter and no smell of gasoline/petrol.
Battery is good and turns engine over. Auxiliary electric fuel pump humming away as usual. All electrics working as they should.
Upon inspection, I find there is zero pressure in the high pressure fuel pump, i.e., it's not working. I've checked the connections and they are fine. I'm thankful that it didn't fail while I was on the road of course, but it leaves me wondering how this failure might have occurred while the car was stationary and not running. (I don't suspect mice).
Any thoughts out there?
As always, thanks for any advice.

[slotcarone]

Have you checked the fuel pump positive terminal for power?

[Britboy]

I cannot do that right away. My garage is being renovated and everything's put away. But I will do. If there is power at the positive terminal, does that suggest something to you? And if there's not?????
Thanks slotcar for taking the time to respond. I appreciate your expertise and always enjoy your comments and advice to others.
Cheers

[slotcarone]

Since the fuel injection was added to the car that means any wiring for the entire system was added also. The pump is probably not in the tank but under the car near it. If there is power to the pump you should hear it running. If there is power and it's not running well that is most likely the problem. Thanks for the kind words!

[Britboy]

Many weeks later, still no Interceptor to drive.
Turns out it was a defective/failed electronic control unit. The chip at fault is among the many electronic doo-dads Worldwide that apparently have "supply train issues".
There are no new FiTech efi units in stock from which a new ECU could be obtained either.
As my daughter used to say; "I'm hooped".
Maybe I should just go back to a Carter or Edelbrock carburetor?

[johnw]

I have never seen a FiTech controller. However, given your description of how it failed, I would think a capacitor failure, manufacturing defect in the PCB, or some other failure in the controller is causing problems. Maybe it needs a reflow. The right spotty teenage kid with a soldering station can probably fix it for $20 and a bag of crisps (chips). If the controller is a potted module, this is not realistic. Unless there was a bad earth, voltage spike, or it has been miss-wired, semiconductor failure is unlikely I would say.

Presumably FiTech can't be bothered to do board level diagnosis, they just build new boards in China for less than the cost of a repair by an inhouse tech, and flash their software on it. With designs like this it is only a matter of time until the main chips become obsolete, and out of production. It has just happened a bit sooner. The best chips come from Tiawan these days. Not looking good in my view, unless FiTech chose a very popular controller, it may never go back in production again. You then rely on FiTech to design a new compatible controller for legacy customers outside warranty. Small specialist companies are more likely to do that. It is the same story with electronic ignition systems. If the software was open source, like Speeduino, people like me, with a Computer Science background and a bit of hardware design/real time control/factory automation experience might have taken up the challenge on weekends. You bought into a closed system. You could buy a Speeduino controller, and use FiTech infrastructure, which is probably a beautifully engineered piece of kit. That is a very realistic option after the spotty kid doesn't work out. https://speeduino.com/home/

Personally, the last thing I want from my hobby vehicle is another "day at the office" experience. So yes it is a mechanical fuel pump, Edelbrock carb if you ask me. Would be interesting to hear other opinions.

[jvcarrier]

I do not understand the ref to a second fuel pump - mine only has the hp pump that I can hear running for a few seconds when I turn on the car.
I seem to remember the fuel pump was fused and I put an impact cut out on it.
There are diagnostic lights on the controller and it can be plugged in to a laptop for more information. There is a gauge that one can check if there is fuel pressure if I was getting none I would check fuses just in case!

[johnw]

I do not understand the ref to a second fuel pump - mine only has the hp pump that I can hear running for a few seconds when I turn on the car.
I seem to remember the fuel pump was fused and I put an impact cut out on it.
There are diagnostic lights on the controller and it can be plugged in to a laptop for more information. There is a gauge that one can check if there is fuel pressure if I was getting none I would check fuses just in case!

I agree it all sounds suspicious. A bit like someone who doesn't understand the system wanting to swap parts. Best way to test is to put your suspect controller onto a good working car.

[DPP]

Britboy Im sorry to hear you are having problems, but for me the simplicity of a carb is what makes old cars great I know there are advantages to a fuel injection system but I also think it takes away the quirks these cars have.

I am having trouble getting a throttle position sensor for my 20 year old Landcruiser which has now likely put it off the road for a few weeks. With non available in the UK I have ordered two, 1 from China and 1 from the US and will see which turns up first and gets me back on the road.

[johnw]

Sorry to hear about the other trouble with postage in the other thread.

Was wondering if you are closer to resolving this issue! Any luck with spotting the lights on the controller? Plugging in a laptop? Maybe FiTech have a solution by now? They have a tech line you could email on their website.

I do not understand the ref to a second fuel pump - mine only has the hp pump that I can hear running for a few seconds when I turn on the car.
I seem to remember the fuel pump was fused and I put an impact cut out on it.
There are diagnostic lights on the controller and it can be plugged in to a laptop for more information. There is a gauge that one can check if there is fuel pressure if I was getting none I would check fuses just in case!

[Dion]

Maybe an aftermarket FI controller can help. I am thinking about Megasquirt.

A year ago I had a Jaguar XJS with a faulty ECU. Bought another s/h ECU but while this was a little better, still not good enough. No-one wanted to touch the innards of the ECU.
I bought a Microsquirt (ie. a ready assembled Megasquirt), took a deep breath and connected this to the existing wiring. Adjustements to Micro/Megasquirt can be made using a laptop and free software. There are many MS forums for help. Alternatively there are tuning shops which will adjust the MS while the car is on the rollers. MS is nothing new, has been around for years and is actively used for tuning race/rallye cars.

Because you already have the hardware (as I did have with the XJS), this would be the way I would go. It does not need to be expensive, new MS units can be bought for around 3-400 US dollars. You just need a soldering iron and the ability to read simple schematics.

[johnw]

OK, OK. While I like standard cars, I could also "like" crazy levels of electronics and modifications.

I am a closet Speeduino enthusiast. Arduino based, totally open alternative to Megasquirt which is not fully open source. Speeduino however is cheaper, more open, and improving faster. Which is best right now, who knows. They all involve more wires and soldering that ringing up FiTech and doing some simple diagnostics, checking the lights, power to the fuel pump, connecting a PC, etc. Sadly it sounds like your mechanic doesn't want to learn an old now obsolete FiTech system. There is probably a FiTech forum, where you could buy an old working controller, if that really is your problem. Someone will have replaced their controller with something newer and better!

A mechanical fuel pump, points distributor, Edelbrock carb and manifold and you will be rolling again for sure. Perhaps you can keep the ignition you have, and the electric fuel pump (fit a fuel pressure regulator that Lightning Steve often recommends to tame the electric fuel pump).

You might be able to leave the electric fuel pump in place, just disconnect it, and just suck straight through it with a stock $40 mechanical fuel pump, no pressure regulator needed as the mechanical pump supplies and regulates the pressure.