Had the car mapped today at bobs the car was running ok until we started pressing and running high boost.

The car was running very lean from 6-8000 Rpm even with the 850 injectors.

Bob tried is best to try and resolve the problem but with a test after mapping the problem was found.

The regulator was not working correct which meant not enough fuel pressure.

This has now meant another trip to tidy the mapping but we had some fun anyway.

It was a very good day apart from once we arrived at bobs.

There it was parked on his drive another new toy for Bob but this was quite something it just looked stunning sat there on his drive.

R.B

 

Very disapointing, I tend to groan when someone arrives with one of these regs fitted, RB's car is a track toy, it could very well have had this reg fail on the track with disastrous results, basically the reg was limiting fuel pressure to 3.4 bar at any boost above 0.7 bar, even with 850 injectors running at 95% there was not enough fuel, at 5700 rpm afr changed from 0.76 to 0.88 !!! That was when we were running 1.8 bar boost, loads of crackle.

The FSE reg seems to be very accident prone, so much so that I would suggest its better to leave the factory reg in place rather than fit this, or invest in a SX or similar if a fpr is considered essential however for most its not.

RB Jasons (P1) car was good apart from his clutch giving up on the second wot run, he was only just saying that he was going to uprate it so not unexpected.

Bob

 

Right that's it, it's coming off.

I've heard enough failures of these things to last me a lifetime.
I don't want mine being one of them..

(mine has been fine so far though ..... )

Andy

 

R.B.

Thanks for posting this........

Bob has suggested I return to my OEM reg or invest in an SX reg for my next mapping session in March ..

Just sorted a SX Reg from Alyn !!

Midlife.....

 

i had a fse type on mine when bob mapped my car had probs with that changed back to oem car runs like a dream
must send the faulty one back

 

Bob ref the p1 it was not the best of days for you then.Look forward to your e-mail and should be ready again by friday.

Midlife no problem i think people should be aware of this as it could lead into alot of money.

R.B

 

RB

Thanks

Just going to look at the Scoobymania website for an Autometer AFR as there is a similar fuel thread (related to FMIC's) commenting on regs and lean running.......... Thanks Harvey

Midlife.....

 

Just fitted my walbro, wont be fitting an FSE for sure now. Remap soon though

 

I sent my FSE back to their M.D., not as a complaint but to alert them to the issues that I and others were experiencing. As this was a month ago and I have heard nothing I am less than impressed.
I think Bob hit the nail on the head in that an adjustable FPR may not be required in many applications and if going for an aftermarket FPR it should be SX or similar quality.
no point saving £50 or whatever for the cost of a rebuild.
No doubt Bob will be able to come back in the future and let us know if he has any issues with cars using O/E regulators

 

So is it best to stick with the OEM one, or is there a better alternative regulator available?

I was just about to upgrade mine along with a fuel pump, three port solenoid, defi fuel pressure gauge, along with a FE TD05 on my RB5. This is all prior to going to see Bob for a remap

Thanks Phill

 

as mentioned above, go for the SX unit.
there also the aeromotive unit available and iirc its a bit cheaper but I dont have any reviews to be able to pass substantiated comment.

whats the threshold for needing an uprated regulator then?
is it power/torque?
high IDC's?

 

So how easy would it be to replace my FSE with the SX unit - can I simply note the fuel pressure on tickover, with no vaccuum attached (hole plugged) and then set the SX to the same, or is another mapping needed ?

Mark

 

Mark assuming that the FSE follows correctly then that should all thats necessary, Babber the OE one will be ok for your setup. Change the pump though.

The only issue with the factory reg is that the uprated pump overpowers it a touch off boost, this only creates mapping type issues though and once done is fine, I would rather have to cope with that (not a problem as I've sussed it) than have aborted mapping sessions and engine damage risk due to adjustable regs going **** up.

New age cars running remapped factory management are not affected at all as the ecu modulates the fuel pump duty via the fuel pump controller, no over powering takes place to speak of but, beneficially, fuel pressure ends up 3.3 bar above boost as opposed to 3 bar. (which is nice)


Happy to make this info available to all (including other tuners) in this forum as the risks from the FSE's has become to concerning.

bob

 

Can anyone answer Peanuts question, I'm sure a lot of people are wondering what stage an adjustable FRP becomes more of a necessity than stick on tat.


Andy

 

Fuzz

Big thanks to Bob for "sticking his head above the parapet" as they say.

For Newage guys like me with FSE regs I guess it's a straight choice between the OEM unit which is mappable around (but somewhere in the garage under a pile of rubbish and never to be seen again.............LOL ) and the SX reg just arriving from Alyn

Shaun

 

I've been running a John Banks (TEK2.75 ) map for nearly two years with no issues. I believe this was a map that he did for me initially, but was so pleased with the Delta Dash result, he sold this as his TEK2 Decat, KN, blah, blah (even had my turbo cover pierced for a laugh) Car has been fantastic since the day the ECU arrived in the post fitted it, and did a few careful Delta dash runs, that I emailed to John

Wanted to fit a TD05, why cause I want a little more reliable power and torque. Got a spare in my garage along with a so say modified (imported) TD05 on my Legacy (pub car) I panic bought a three port solenoid a few weeks ago, and I assumed I should have this to control boost better. Todate been using a Dawes to control boost better ??? Didn't realise I need this mapped onto my ECU??

The fuel Pump and Reg was the next step forward, before coming to see you after fitting the Turbo and Three port solenoid.

I guess what I'm asking is I know I need a new fuel pump, but what about a regulator??

I like my RB5, and to be honest I can see a 2.5 and FMIC not that far away

Thanks Phill

PS We appreciate your views and other experts people that post on scoobynet mate. Thanks for the advise, and how's that Cav Turbo you bought off my mate, lol

 

My experience of using an uprated pump with the OE reg on a classic is that it can drift through time, mainly at idle. For reasons I can't explain the fuel pressure can rise by up to 1 bar above the original setting at idle/low load.
This does not necessarily occur immediately after fitting the pump, if it did then as Bob mentioned it would be a simple case of mapping to suit. It can happen a few months down the line.
This problem however is much safer than the reduction in pressure that has been noted on some FSE regs.
Also worthy of note here is that the SX can also drift in the first few weeks of operation, not uncommon to see a 0.2 bar drift from initial settings, a tweek will bring it back in line however and then it appears to hold steady.

Andy

 

I was looking to monitor the Fuel Pressure with the Defi, as I picked up somewhere it's important to monitor. Just need to find a Defi supplier to get the gauge and sensor.

This is all so confusing for a novice like myself

Phill

PS Andy, I'm so going to send my TD05 turbo to you soon, I got a FE housing from a local chap and need it overhauld.

 

Do the FSEs suddenly fail, or is some lean out likely - (with a possibility of seeing early knock and thus saving the engine !) ?

Having run my FSE for 9 months (20000 miles) and through 2 'andy-remaps' its now sounding like I'd better get it swapped a bit sharpish -

Anyone have a price for the SX ?

Mark

 

Mark,
Alyn at AS Performance,



Andy

 

I'd also give mark @ lateral a call (0208 420 5444), when i got my sx reg and fittings he was the cheapest.

Rob

 

Thanks chaps -

Mark

PS _ Does it just fit in line like the FSE ? - i.e. I really only need the regulator and gauge... ?

my FSE is bolted to the inlet manifold, where the I/C mount used to be (now fmic) via a bracket..

 

had my sx fitted for over a year with no problems, got all my fitting and fuel pipe from mark @ lateral

 

The SX is a direct replacement for the FSE. ie the ports are in the same place.
The SX came without a guage.
FSE came back to me yesterday by coincidence but were unable to shed any light on the problem.

 

should make a nice paperweight Harvey....

 

I guess that the gauge from the FSE should fit it anyhow....

 

didnt in my case Mark.
had to plumb a gauge in line to set it up.
Still got the fse gauge so in theory I could get a thread adaptor and fit it.
Q.
The SX has two inlets and an outlet, as well as the little vac line inlet.
with one inlet and outlet (as well as the vac line) filled that only leaves an inlet for gauge.
is that right?
gauge on the inlet side?

 

Yes, outlet is at tank pressure.

 

removed...... (?!)

 

Re the oem regs, the new age cars running factory management don't need anything else and don't need mapping around, only GC8's, which are not an issue any more (for me at any rate).

As to what power, depends on mods, turbo injectors etc, I have an SX on my STi5, however I am running absoluteky stock fuel pressure so it might as well be the factory jobby. Can't say what the current power is but it definately starts with a 4 and possible a small 5.

The time to change away from stock is when fuel flow becomes a problem not.

Babber the Cav is long gone from me (1998) but lives on in cherished hands in the Southhamton area. It was a great car apart from the t box giving up the ghost due to it having been run on odd tyres at some time in its life and overheated, the thermal switch had been bypassed. I had great fun with it, in terms of experimental mods made some of this lot look very tame.

Regarding how they fail, they start to limit fuel pressure, it happens quite suddenly, a knocklink normally would light up the sky.


bob