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Other Aftermarket Electronic Fuel Injection

chrishalfman

chrishalfman

Active Member
I see the EFII question/review listed below (and see they are a sponsor). I?m a several months from getting my engine and started wondering if anyone has used any other electronic fuel injection systems? My current plan is to use a carb on the engine. Has anyone fitted a Holley aftermarket EFI or something similar to an aircraft and had any success or failure with it? Maybe I just haven?t kept up with reading my airplane magazines lately?? Or maybe I need to ask the order of magnitude cost of the EFII system for an O-360. Thanks!
 
SDS

I was the Crew Chief for Mike Dacey. We used Ross's system on "Bad Intentions", a Questair Venture (highly modified). The Continental TISO-550 stock fuel system could not deal with running at 3,000 RPM and over 65" of boost. It required Mike to play with the mixture knob when going to high boost. No adjustment would work at high and low boost.

We put the SDS system on the aircraft and it turned it into a two lever operation, throttle and prop. We could control fuel flow so that EGT and TIT's stayed within normal operating limits from idle to full race power. (Estimated at around 700- 750 HP) We used ADI in large quantities to keep it from detonating.

To use the SDS system, or any other EFI in an aircraft you must have a backup fuel pump and a second battery. There is a simple way to keep the engine running even if the EFI system fails, but it requires fuel pressure.

We never had a single issue with the system. Once tuned, it was the one thing we never worked on.
 
Last edited:
EFII

Hi all,

I'm pretty new in the forum, I'm coming from Italy and I just started an RV7 QB.
I'm through the diffucult engine choice process:
I'd like to have a 360/370 fuel injected but, due to the high fuel cost in Italy, I'll run on Mogas.All of the people installing a classic mechanical fuel injection and running on Mogas are experiencing very difficult hot start due to vapour lock.
I'm seriously thinking about installing the EFFI ignition and injection system.
Do you have any suggestion and report about the affordability of this system?
Am I right or not about that just few of the Vans community installed such kind of system?Except for the cost do you think is a good choice for my new engine?

Thanks
 
Welcome to VAF!

Marco, welcome to VAF.

Good to have you aboard :D

Your best source for info on the SDS is to send a message to Ross. You can click his log in name in the post above, and a drop down menu will appear, click on the Private Message line.
 
AFP

You really only need to look at Airflow Performance.
Hot starts are a none issue with their purge valve.
The system is fully mechanical and has been around for many years.
 
Not really, just simple and inexpensive.
In addition AFP addresses one of your main concerns,
Vapor lock on start up. The purge valve on the AFP is designed
Specifically to deal with the hot start problem and is aproved for
All kinds of fuels,avgas, mogas with or without ethanol.
It has a long proven track record and Don Rivera, the owner of AFP
Is a frequent contributor on this forum.
Save your electrons for other important things
 
Purge Valve

I'd Be glad to,its just a little awkward typing on the phone
Since I am away from home.
Purge valve is attached to the spider on top of the cylinders.
When opened it directs fuel back to the tank or a T in the fuel
Intake line somewhere between the tanks and the electric fuel pump.
On a hot engine you simply keep the purge valve open, turn the boost pump on
And purge hot fuel and vapor back to the tank.
It allows you to fill the entire fuel system up to the spider
With cool fuel and proceed with a normal start.
In addition when you open the purge valve to shut down the engine
And leave it open you will not have fuel percolating into the cylinders
And flood the engine while it is sitting on the ground,another
Contributing factor to difficult hot starts.
It basically acts as a second mixture cut off only better in that
It results in a abrupt and clean shut off.
There is an extra push pull cable required to actuate the valve
As well as a little extra plumbing but well worth the extra effort
And small expense.
I'll post some pics when I get home
 
I-MKLK said:
Hi all,

I'm pretty new in the forum, I'm coming from Italy and I just started an RV7 QB.
I'm through the diffucult engine choice process:
I'd like to have a 360/370 fuel injected but, due to the high fuel cost in Italy, I'll run on Mogas.All of the people installing a classic mechanical fuel injection and running on Mogas are experiencing very difficult hot start due to vapour lock.
I'm seriously thinking about installing the EFFI ignition and injection system.
Do you have any suggestion and report about the affordability of this system?
Am I right or not about that just few of the Vans community installed such kind of system?Except for the cost do you think is a good choice for my new engine?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi Marco,
I'm installing the complete EFII system in my 7 build. I know there are not as many of these systems out there as there are other systems, but more and more are coming on line all the time and I really think this type of setup is the way of the future. It's very easy to install and it's MOGAS compatible. Robert, at EFII is great to work with and his customer service is top notch.

Mark
RV-7 getting closer all the time!
 
Mark33 said:
Hi Marco,
I'm installing the complete EFII system in my 7 build. I know there are not as many of these systems out there as there are other systems, but more and more are coming on line all the time and I really think this type of setup is the way of the future. It's very easy to install and it's MOGAS compatible. Robert, at EFII is great to work with and his customer service is top notch.

Mark
RV-7 getting closer all the time!
Click to expand...


Thank you Mark,

I also think that such kind of system should be the future even if a lot of people are skeptical about its reliability.
Did you choice the two batteries cinfiguration or two alternators or both of them?
I'm worry about incresing weight but considering also the use of electronic ignition the weight gain should be around 15lbs.
 
I-MKLK said:
Thank you Mark,

I also think that such kind of system should be the future even if a lot of people are skeptical about its reliability.
Did you choice the two batteries cinfiguration or two alternators or both of them?
I'm worry about incresing weight but considering also the use of electronic ignition the weight gain should be around 15lbs.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's understandable that some people would be skeptical about a system such as this....it's hard to change old traditional ways of thinking. There's nothing wrong with the old school way of doing things...it's proven itself well in its long history, but electronic fuel injection and ignition has also been around for a long time and has also proven itself well but it just hasn't matured quite enough in airplanes for a lot of people to be comfortable with it. I kind of think of it like the growing pains that the new all electronic EFIS systems went through compared to the old steam gauges. If you have enough redundancy built into your system, I think it's just as reliable as any other system. To answer your question though, I'm running both a two battery and two alternator setup. The EFII system is lighter than a traditional mag and carburetor setup, so you'll have some nice weight savings there. I think overall, by the time you add an extra battery and or an extra alternator, the overall weight will be close to the same.
 
Purge Valve

On the the engine side.

IMG_2572.JPG


On the cockpit side.

IMG_0598.JPG
[/IMG]
 
Thank you Mark, thank you Ernst.

Now I just have to decide.....

The airflow performance/dual P-Mags could be a good alternative to EFII System.
Engine is choosen:aerosport IO-375 with WW 200RV

Thanks again
 
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