So my AOD is getting rebuilt in two weeks and I'll be driving the T-bird on a regular basis again soon. Soon after the trans is done I'm going to be swapping in a set of 24lb injectors and a 73mm C&L MAF for the 24s. I'm just wondering if I should also install an adjustable fuel pressure regulator at the same time. The stock one still holds 39 psi. I don't think I'll need it but I just want a second opinion.
I say if the old one is fine, dont mess with it.
I'll just leave it alone then. I figure if the old one is fine there is no sense in replacing it. Plus the Motorcraft ones seem to last longer than the aftermarket adjustable ones.
An adjustable pressure reg is nice(had one for years now,kirbin)and if you've already got the rail off for the price i say put it in.
It is an easy way to raise or lower the lb of injector you have(to a point)to match your combo.
Need a little more fuel(25,26,27lb injector)turn the pressure up,need a little less injector,turn it down,it's that simple.
I say put on in you won't regret it.
If you adjust the fuel pressure out of spec you will end up with a lean or rich condition at one end. Everything in the EEC works on a list of tables and it expects things to be in a certain range.
You only need one if it runs lean at WOT, otherwise the EEC is going to adj the injector pulse by reading the A/F ratio as indicated by the O2 sensors... You can dial in a extra pound or two but, the EEC will lean the mixture back to stoich of 14:7... Still it should be richer at WOT with the extra fuel... I have an adjustable regulator but have never seen any long term gain, again due to the EEC following the O2 sensors and resetting injector delivery...
I swapped the injectors today and left the stock regulator on there. I'm waiting on a C&L MAF to come early next week so I can actually drive the car.
Did you know that you can get a car with a stock MAF to start and idle with 24s? It runs like ass and sounds like a pro stock car because it's incredibly rich but it will run. The only reason I started it was to check for leaks (I had re-connected the battery so I could prime the the fuel system before I re-installed the upper to check for leaks and then started it after I re connected everything). It idled well enough, even though it was pig rich, that I thought about running a cylinder balance test. I then decided that 2 minutes of run time to check for leaks was enough and I'll wait till the proper MAF gets here next week to run a KOER and cylinder balance test:hick:
Probably not a great idea. Check your oil level & for fuel in the crankcase if it was running pig rich. Fuel isnt a good lubricant.
It's fine I checked it. It only ran for about 2 minutes. After about 30 seconds the thing actually learned to idle:hick: Don't worry I'm not running it again till I get the proper MAF next week.
So it works fine with the C&L MAF and the stock regulator. I ran KOER codes and got a 44 and 94 (for the missing Thermactor system) and got a 9 for the cylinder balance test. I drove it and it runs and idles great.
Oh and I figured out why it was idling like a pro stocker the first time I started it. I had a busted vac line to the brake booster and that was causing my py idle. I fixed it, after I installed the C&L MAF and couldn't figure out why it idled like still:hick:.