I have an 85 f250 with a 460. I'm buying a new (rebuilt) motor for it and was wondering about converting it to Fuel Injection. What parts would I need, and would I really gain that much? I just hate adjusting carbs, this truck is driven seldom and seems to always need adjustment.

 

Most guys want to convert from FI to carb. You have to be up on the electronics, code reading, wiring, and the proper placement of all the sensors. Then you have to change the fuel tank(s) to accomodate the electric fuel pump, plus run an extra fuel line back to the tank.

 

Kevin,

I've been interested in this, too. Don't quite know why most folks would rather go FI to carb, since there are so many problems with carburation that are solved with fuel injection. I've heard the truck is much more driveable with FI, no flat spots or stumbling, and no concerns with steep grades. Maybe others can explain it to us.

Holley makes a kit to convert to throttle-body fuel injection that I've considered, but it's a little pricey for my tastes. About $700-$800, if I recall. I can rebuild my four-barrel for $30 and a few hours time. But, the kit comes with a fuel pump and computer, and is supposed to be easy to do. Someone on this site (I think) was going to convert his '79 about a year ago and report back, but I don't know if he ever did.

The other option is to get FI parts from a newer truck and adapt them. With all the integrated electronics in trucks nowadays, I'd think this would be quite difficult to get right.

[i][font color=red]-Mark[i]

[font color=green]'85 F250 4WD 460
'85 Yamaha XJ700 Maxim
'83 Mustang convertible up on blocks

[font color=blue][i]"If a man speaks and no woman hears him, is he still wrong?"[i]

 

"Holley makes a kit to convert to throttle-body fuel injection that I've considered, but it's a little pricey for my tastes."


"With all the integrated electronics in trucks nowadays, I'd think this would be quite difficult to get right."


-Mark,

I think you answered your own question. FI is definitely superior to a carb in every way except simplicity and being user friendly.

 

Dave,

"FI is definitely superior to a carb in every way except simplicity and being user friendly."

Hmmm. I gotta scratch my head at that one. I just rebuilt my Holley 4-barrel carb recently, and I didn't find it to be all that simple. All those fuel circuits for various engine speeds and conditions! The accellerator pump itself has always seemed to me to be a band-aid for a fatal flaw in the way a carburetor works. Mechanical linkage, float settings, jet sizes and idle adjustments (for which you MUST use special equipment to set properly to pass the emissions test in this state) all seem pretty fiddley and not user-friendly to me. :-X23

EFI has fewer parts to mess with, you gotta admit. One of them just happens to be a damn computer! Now, I haven't troubleshot many EFI systems, but clean injectors, tight fuel lines, a new fuel filter and a good fuel pump seem to make them run pretty flawlessly, in my limited experience. I'll admit that you may need special diagnostic equipment to figure out what to fix, though. That's why I try to buddy up to the mechanic at the local gas station, and pay him to plug his scanner in and tell me what to do when I've got a problem.

My thought is, we tend to like what we know, and have little patience for what we don't know (and therefore don't like)... [i]

[i][font color=red]-Mark[i]

[font color=green]'85 F250 4WD 460
'85 Yamaha XJ700 Maxim
'83 Mustang convertible up on blocks

[font color=blue][i]"If a man speaks and no woman hears him, is he still wrong?"