HOWELL FUEL INJECTION

[donl]

I'M BUILDING A 4.6 STROKER FOR MY 88 WRANGLER. I WAS PLANNING ON USING THE HOWELL FUEL INJECTION THAT I HAD ALL READY PUT ON THE 4.2. WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE ELSE HAD DONE THIS AND HOW DID IT RUN? ANY HELP WOULD BE NICE.

4.6 stroker 006.JPG

4.6 stroker 009.JPG

[attachment=1]]

[gmakra]

I tried it and and fought with it over a year and a half. I reprogrammed the chip numerous times (60). The Howell kit will work with a stock 4.2 but the moment you step out of that set of specs its a whole different animal. The biggest hassle is the cam if you run anything other than stock you wont generate any power till about 1500 RPM.

So if SMOG isnt an issue go with a carb or the Weber Redline ( I use it and its awesome you can tune around anything)

If SMOG is an issue go with the 4.0 MPI.

[Plechtan]

I have no personal experience with the Howell system, but i believe it is a TBI system. a port injection system probably works better, but would cost you a bunch more money. You can get a harness for the Mopar EFI for about $450.00 then maybe get the rest of the parts from a junkyard. Maybe a good ballance would be to use the TBI but get a Clifford intake for better flow.

[gmakra]

I have the Clifford intake and while its a great intake there is a problem with the fuel ponding under the the throtle body. The problem is that the Howell (Rochester TBI) uses 12 PSI and sprays the fuel mixture on the floor of the manifold and it collects there. When you run the engine for a while and remove the manifold you will see cylinders 3 & 4 getting the bulk of the fuel 2 & 5 will get less and 1 & 6 will be really lean.

A carb would handle the fuel a bit better the Weber Redline bounces the spray off the back wall of the intake and that helps make the mixture more uniform.

[Plechtan]

also checkout the bottom of this thread.

http://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687

[gmakra]

Actually that was correct at the time but as I drove it more, I started seeing some faults and never updated the post. The biggest thing was when the temperature changed, a 40 degree morning and it would run sluggish then in the afternoon when it hit 70 degrees it would run good but the idle would creep up to 1200 as drive when on. The highway mileage was terrible. When I got into the mountains the MAP would be out of range so I would adjust just to readjust when I got back down.

The other thing was fuel distribution it really bothered me that plugs 1 and 6 were white 2 and 5 were light tan and 3 and 4 were dark brown I would change the plugs around just to find the same result. There was a vibration in the engine that was annoying that cleared up when I did the Redline kit.

The biggest problem with the Howell is that most of the sensors are no longer in the control loop. Only the TPS, MAP sensor, coolant temp, O-2 sensor, and the vehicle speed sensor (which dosent do anything other than a requirement from the California Air Resources Board this is according to Troy from Howell)

So with out the knock sensor it dosent control the ignition and I dont have the CATS program in front of me now but, it seems to me that there are a couple of other sensors that are out of the control loop.

So in summary its that the Howell kit only controls the fuel and nothing else. And while this works on a unmodified 4.2 it is very limited in what it can do on a stroker. Just my 2 cents

[donl]

SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET BACK. I WAS WONDERING ABOUT THE 12 VOLT HEATER, I MACHINE OFF ALL THE FINGERS ON IT HOPING THAT WOULD HELP WITH THE AIR FLOW. ALSO WHAT ABOUT OPENING UP THE THROTTLE BORES OF THE MANIFOLD. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WHEN THE AIR LEAVE THE TBI THAT IT BECOMES SMALLER THEN OPENS UP INTO THE PLUMBUM, THUS SLOWING DOWN THE AIR FLOW ALLOWING FUEL TO DROP OUT AND PUDDLE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE MANIFOLD. JUST A THOUGHT. I HAVE PICTURES OF WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. JUST CAN'T POST THEM TILL SATURDAY. AT WORK THIS WEEK IN L.A. AND I LIVE IN MCKINLEYVILLE, THATS WAY NORTH. ABOUT 650 MILES. ITS A WEEKLY COMMUTE. ANYWAYS LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
I'M TRYING TO COMPLY WITH CA SMOG. ITS EVERY 2 YEARS.

[gmakra]

Oh I know that feeling of CA SMOG laws having been through that personnaly. My recommendation then is to stick with the stock intake, Clifford nor Offy have CARB approval and they dont have the EGR so you will fail on that. Also if you want to control spark you will have to disconnect it for your SMOG test. Its stupid but the state wants their blood money.

Troy at Howell has a BIN for a stroker or if you can burn chips I can email you one.

[gmakra]

Also dont remove the fingers from the "hedgehog" you need them when its cold to start also it help keep the fuel in suspension.