Fitech efi Fuel Injection

[MaddJakk]

Bad system period. Does not work, is not Plug n Play, Tech Support cannot make it work on a new Stroker. Returned the system over month and half ago, still jacking me around. BBB Complaint finally, my patience is gone and "they" made me do it. Buy a reputable system. I towed my truck home EVERY TIME I left home testing it. Put a Double Pumper on it and it/s reliable. Buyers beware.

[Thumpin455]

Mine works, running the mean street, supposed to handle 800hp. I didn't use their fuel command surge tank thing, I built a fuel system for it with a Walbro 225lph pump mounted back by the tank and ran 3/8 steel hard line with An fittings. I'll probably do the oe style nylon line for my next driver with EFI, makes this easier and fewer fittings needed. Lots of people are having issues with the sump thing they sell. If you have vacuum leaks, it won't run right, just like any EFI.

I got it because it's inexpensive, and I wanted to build a high pressure fuel system for a later megasquirt multiport system. The only way to test the different methods to build the high pressure system was to put EFI on it. This works great for that. It will also run on any of my engines, even the E85 only 455s.

Does it run better than my carbs? Can't tell about power since it's on a mild 400hp 400 Pontiac, and all but my Qjet performance carbs are now E85. Mileage is about the same as one of my Qjets, but power is better than that carb. It's vastly better than the Edelbrock carbs I have, they range from 600 to 800, and they suck compared to this cheap EFI. Occasionally it takes a couple cranks to get it started, probably due to my fuel system not having a check valve to keep the fuel from back flowing. It idles kinda high for a bit longer than I'd like, but I can fix that when I want to with some tuning.

It's not the greatest thing out there, not even close to other systems I've worked with, but for what it is, and the price which isn't much more than a real performance carb (not Edelbrock crap for stock engines with clueless owners) out does ok. I had a problem with it in June, Cody from tech was on the phone with me for a couple hours as we tried to get it to read the tach signal. Sent it back, got another one that was apparently a test piece for a forced induction 355 a week later, and it's been running great ever since.

Maybe the difference is I know carbs and EFI very well, maybe not.

[Barry Donovan]

I analyzed the build thumpin..
I bet you are just right.But as the big duration cams have its way, it is going to kill that unit.
I'd keep it on average numbers.

I would put one on my 20 inches of vacuum 1.8 liter.
barrel down the cfm myself or whatever. I have been ready for injection for sometime.

[RustyRodder]

Bad system period. Does not work, is not Plug n Play, Tech Support cannot make it work on a new Stroker. Returned the system over month and half ago, still jacking me around. BBB Complaint finally, my patience is gone and "they" made me do it. Buy a reputable system. I towed my truck home EVERY TIME I left home testing it. Put a Double Pumper on it and it/s reliable. Buyers beware.

How about telling us a bit more before you go badmouthing a companies product?

[MaddJakk]

What more can I say, Tech installed on 69 Chev truck, SBC Stroker broke in with Double pumper Used the Command Center and put this set on. It was all over the place, backfire thru intake at times during startup, other times wouldn't start. Spent a lot of time with Tech Support, really wanted this to work. A month into messing and fussing, towing home I gave up. Tech Support couldn't make it work. Got a return order, month and half after returning it I'm still getting run arounds. .No refund, exchange or repair. I just gave up on a system that advertises install, run. It learns and is advertised as Plug and Play. Just sharing my experience. We did everything they suggested finally giving up the ghost.

[Mike Copeland]

We have installed a couple of then. Both were on big block Chevys with pretty good cams. Both have had Aeromotive on-tank fuel pumps. Both cars have run perfect. They start with a turn of the key, and drivability is much better than with carbs.

I can't say the same for some of the other "big name" systems we have installed.

[novadriver]

Well I have a 600 power adder on my Nova with the Fuel Command Center. It's sitting on a 355 with a 142 supercharger. I'm up to over 5000 miles on it so far and in a two weeks i'm driving from Maryland to the Grand Canyon then Vegas and back.(another 5000 miles) Did have a problem with the vent on the FCC but I sent it back and they fixed it. I have had a few issues with getting in touch with a tech at times. and they don't return calls or e-mails the best. But i will say in talking to people with other EFI set-ups and the money spent. This one is pretty good. The best thing I like because i travel a good bit and always worry of a possible break down. I carry a carb in the truck and i know it's it only a five minute swap if needed. I average 13.5 city and 18.2 on MPG so far. And i don't know shit on how to tune this EFI stuff So all in all for $1,700.00 that was including making braided lines it's a good product but you need to give it a chance.

[JamesMayberryIII]

.

Occasionally it takes a couple cranks to get it started, probably due to my fuel system not having a check valve to keep the fuel from back flowing.
.

If you'll remember the OEM's ECU would click on the fuel pump for 2 seconds, then stop before cranking on almost any tbi set up..
The problem is this EFI doesn't have this.. and it should.. the ecu should energize the fuel pump relay for 1-2 seconds to get the psi up to spec before cranking..

[milner351]

Thanks for sharing experiences - nothing beats knowing what the real customer service is from real customers.

I still can't wrap my cheap frugal head around 4 digit fuel system costs when I can get a swap meet carb for $25 and a rebuild kit for $30 and be down the road with a stock replacement mechanical fuel pump for another what... $18? But I'm a cheap SOB and usually don't build stuff that's very fast....

Someday when I figure out how to clone myself and quit sleeping, I'm going to build a Mega Squirt system.

[SuperBuickGuy]

all in on my Howell system, I've less then $600...

[74NovaMan]

all in on my Howell system, I've less then $600...

Are there details in one of your project threads? If so, which one? Thx

[OUTLAWD]

I've got mine on a 493" BBM and so far so good. Not using their command center. This car runs like clockwork with the carb, no different at the track with this setup. Not any better MPG either. Will be tested on drag week in a couple weeks. Not sure if I bring my carb as a just in case...haha

I will agree the tech support leaves something to be desired. First time at the track the data logging stopped working. But, you get what you pay for.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Are there details in one of your project threads? If so, which one? Thx

FJ4overland - nutshell is I bought the harness for $400 and the rest of the bits for $200 at a swap meet. There's no reason you couldn't piece one together with junkyard parts and their harness... that said, any TBI is going to be challenged with any kind of radical cam - but on my '40, it'd be pretty dumb to run that kind of cam.

[Thumpin455]

Thanks for sharing experiences - nothing beats knowing what the real customer service is from real customers.

I still can't wrap my cheap frugal head around 4 digit fuel system costs when I can get a swap meet carb for $25 and a rebuild kit for $30 and be down the road with a stock replacement mechanical fuel pump for another what... $18? But I'm a cheap SOB and usually don't build stuff that's very fast....

Someday when I figure out how to clone myself and quit sleeping, I'm going to build a Mega Squirt system.

I agree. I have a bunch of carbs laying around, real easy to rebuild them and put them on. The problem is what I want to do with my fuel project. Can't heat the fuel in the lines with a carb, so I need to get started with EFI. Its far easier to tune EFI than carbs, and since I have a wideband already, why not go with the full monty? Up here everyone runs Edelbrock carbs, so its near impossible to find Holleys, and the only Demon I have seen is mine. I don't exactly live in a hotbed of high performance up here, so if I need a different carb, I probably have to buy a new one. I know how to go about the high pressure fuel system now, and this thing runs good even with gas that has been sitting for months, none of my carbs would do that unless they are my E85 carbs.

If I had more swap meets with decent stuff near here, or just others like me who build and have parts stashes, then it would be much less justifiable to go EFI on anything..

Besides, this thing will run on my 467, and the 1050 on it costs as much as this thing did and drivability leaves something to be desired. That will be the acid test for this thing, feeding a 700hp Pontiac with a big freakin cam in it.

[Scott Liggett]

One of my customers is a shop that has installed more than 30 in customer cars. He keeps pushing our company to try them. He has not had a single failure and purchased 30 more. I trust his opinion because if they didn't work reliably, he would be eating a lot of unpaid labor.

Fitech is a relatively new company. I am not sure I like their warranty process about having to send in the parts to get them fixed, with the car being down while they fix it. They will need to learn a better process and handle the increased sales they are getting, or they will have big troubles real soon.

I can't say it is really cool to go around joining forums just to bitch about your problems. When Fitech gets your system fixed and your car is running great again, are you going to go around and sing their praises, or just stay silent?