EFI has been around since the mid 40s

 

"E" FI or just "FI" ?

 

EFI, A few DeSotos in the mid 50s came with an EFI system that was originally designed for air craft engines during WW2

 

And we're talking about closed-loop O2-sensor'd EFI with a computer doing the mixture adjustments? The De Soto system (Bendix) used a set of mechanical points in the distributor. Not quite the same thing.

 

It still controlled injection pulse width using variables like throttle position, engine coolant temperature and manifold absolute pressure.

 

Much like the 72 Mercedes 350SL. It has 4 sets of injector points under the ignition points in the dizzy and an electronic brain in the kickpanel. The 4.5L benz engine looks real similiar to the Ford Mod engine that is 20yrs newer. Father in-law has one.
What a pain to work on!!!.


All brands have their good and bad points. I have owned mostly Fords in my life and the 08 Ram with a Hemi is a nice truck too. 5-speed auto with 3.92 gears helps the Hemi tow rather well. It also gets 15.5mpg around town.

My 88 5.0 Mustang has been the most reliable car that I have ever owned. It was ran very hard for alot of it's life with N.O.S. and slicks almost weekly as well as my daily driver from 88 until around 97. The original clutch lasted 130K, it still has the original unopened T-5 tranny in it. I have replaced 2 heater cores and had the Traction-Loc rebuilt(under warranty @ 30K). I had a ground cable go bad, replaced the water pump once and replaced the alternator. i bought it with 10 miles on it and other than regular maint. stuff like brakes, tires, belts and oil changes, this car has been trouble free.
It will still light the tires from a 10mph roll (no clutch dump) and gets 19mph with the a/c on. Definitely Ford tough.

I liked my 01 F150. Had the MAF replaced under warranty 32K miles, a/c hose assembly @ 37K Compressor and other a/c items @ about 40K due to the copmpreesor coming apart internally, filling the system with metal shavings.
It ran fine, but by 70K had piston slap so that when started cold, it sounded like a PowerStroke. Quite embarrassing!! Traded it in @ 78K, very disappointed.
So, there is good and bad in every manufacturer in my opinion.

 

The last good F-150 Ford put out was the 96, the 9th Genration F-1's are awesome !! I never did like ford's modular motor's !

I was looking at the new 08 Super duty spec's and the 5.4 engine that comes with the 250 ford is still using Aluminum Heads for those trucks

Not to mention ford does not use "Antisize" for the plugs and who and there right mind would go 100,000 miles with out a tune up.


Regular service and on time service and your car or truck will last a long time.

For me Oil Every 3,000 Trans Every 14,000 (4R70W) Coolant Every 30,000

All Stock Parts Same Trans No Probs Pushing 130,000 MIles Strong 16 MPG

 

It's hard to find a modern V8 without aluminum heads.
Ford, GM LSX engines, Mopar 4.7L and Hemi all use aluminum heads as do Toyota and I'm sure Nissan. Aluminum heads transfer heat better so you can run more compression and make more power without detonation.

Personally, I think the 99-03 F150's are the best looking Ford trucks. I also like the 73-79.

 

Lead Head:

Re: this?

Yes, Fuel Injection has been around for decades--I have no doubt you are right that it's been around since the '40's, since diesels have been around longer than that. And while I doubt that Rudolf Diesel's early experiments, resulting in a patent for the diesel engine in 1898, (Rudolf Diesel - Inventor of the Diesel Engine Rudolf Diesel) were fuel injected, no doubt early in the 20th century, and probably BEFORE the 1940's, diesels were fuel injected.

However, the "E" in "EFI" stands for "Electronic." Now, the source at the following link says the first "electrical binary programmable computer" was invented in 1936, that might lead one to think what you said was possible. But it's not--NO WAY was EFI in existence in the '40's.

So this is wrong:

How do I know this?

Because, if we jump ahead 10 years, to 1946, we see that ENIAC, whom many apparently consider the first digital computer (and you're talking about digital computers, when you speak of "EFI"), took up EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SQUARE FEET (18,000 sq. ft.!) and WEIGHED 50 TONS. When was the first computer invented?

IOW, it wouldn't fit in anything smaller than a freight train--certainly not an automobile or truck, let alone an airplane.

There's a reason that the Rochester fuel injection units in '60's Corvette "Fuelies" was a mechanical fuel injection system. (And when I say "mechanical" I mean NO ELECTRONICS, hence no "E"FI--just "FI".) I was not aware of an electronic fuel injection system even as early as the 1960's, but this link does say EFI was first invented in Britain in 1966.

Certainly, it was not invented in the '40's and not portable and robust enough, apparently, to be tried on a car before 1966.

This link has EFI invented in 1967, by Bosch, for VW. Electronic Fuel Injection Turns 40, Remains Vital Technology For Vehicle Performance - automotive, cars, vehicles, automobiles, The Auto Channel, news, corporate, press release, aftermarket, parts, accessories, computers, technology, women, consumer

Not all "FI" systems are "EFI" systems as, again, they may be 100% free of electronics, and be strictly mechanical, like some modern, diesel engines and the "fuelie" vets and, no doubt, the airplane you mention from the 1940's. FI, but not "EFI."

This was, no doubt, krewat's point when he said:

 

If was, but the distinction would have been lost.

 

Plants cant make 100% good trucks all the time. Once in a while a bad one gets through. Our Quality control programs in the US are made to find problems afterwards and fix them, not find problems during manufacturing. Ive owned mostly Fords since 1975 and never had a bad one. My wife WAs a Dodge Girl until here recently. Bought her a 2005 Ram Quad and it was a POS. Finally got her to let me buy her a F150 and now she will never go back.

 

After years of looking at repair records I've determined all makes have lemons. It's the incidence of problems for each brand that seems key. The CHANCE of problems with Fords is much lower than GM or Chrysler. Toyota has been better than Ford in the past but now is supposed to be similar.
As one wise post on FTE said, Drive what you like, fix it, go on with life. Just my 0.02 worth.

99 F250 5.4 manual SC long bed 4X4 117000 only needed an alternator and AC clutch and brakes. Darn good imho.

 

DIGITAL Electronic fuel injection is newer. This electronic fuel injection was analog. Everything it needed to run was hardwired into the the transistors it had. The injectors are fired electronically, it read MAP, TPS and ECT all electronically, and made adjustments to the pulse width based on those measurements with a fuel table that was literally hardwired in.The only mechanical thing on it was the secondary distributor needed that distrobuted the injector pulse single to all 8 injectors.



Fuel injection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (History and Developement, 3rd paragraph.)

1958 DeSoto with Electronic Fuel Injection

BENDIX ELECTROJECTOR (english text)

So yes, it is a fully electronic fuel injection system. It was not realiable at all because of the new "mini" transistors were made of poor materials. There is a guy that replaced all the transistors in it with newer ones, and has a fully functional system running.