EFI vs. Carb.

[Pickupman1707]

Hi, First off i would like to say I'm not a big gear head. I was talking to a friend of the family whos a mechanic and he suggested to me that by stripping my truck of all the smog controls, throttle body, etc. and going to a 4 barrel carb i would make my truck, a 1988 F150 4X4 with a 302 run a lot stronger. It acts like its sick with all the smog controls. How much increase in power could i expect? Is it worth switching or does the EFI system just need some TLC?

 

[LEB Ben]

Sounds like your mechanic friend doesn't have a firm understanding of fuel injection. Besides the overall simplicity aspect, I would consider it a major step backwards. Not to mention the fact of expense with all the swapping that would need to be done...because it's not just as simple as adding a carb. It would be much simpler and cost effective to just to give your EFI system a little TLC.

 

[dragogt]

Where are you at? That will play a big part in which way to go..

Both have there good points and bad points, efi can be alittle more dd friendly, BUT if tuned Right so can a carb; It just requires alittle more hands on..

 

[95F350XL]

I love EFI, I never had any probs with mine. Carbs are a pain in the winter when its cold, and require more work in the long run. Id try to figure out whats makin your truck run bad. Fords EFI is really simple and your mechanic should be able to fig it out no probs. You can also strip all the smog stuff off the EFI system and it does run better, at least my trucks do.

 

[Redlightning]

I don,t think you are going see much of a gain with just swapping to a carb.











and .............................Welcome to the site.

 

[KdPate]

Sounds like the mechanic buddy of yours is stuck in the past thinking EFI sucks. Both have their pros and cons. Me I prefer EFI for the street and carbs for the track. EFI on our trucks is ok but can be made better. I dumped the "batch-fire" EFI that our trucks came from the factory with ( firing 4 injectors at once) and installed a sequential fire mass air conversion kit (fires each injector individually) using a "new" injector harness, computer for an 89-93 Mustang, and a mass air meter. It made the truck run so much better and helped with fuel mileage. I did ditch the smog system on mine due to the exhaust mods I had (no way to hook into the smog pump pipe) and do little tweaks to it.

Best thing to do is go through and do a THOROUGH inspection of the EFI system/ vac. lines./ ignition before dumping the EFI. Do a good tune up, adjust the base timing to 12-14* BTDC, Add an aftermarket y-pipe w/ a cat (Bassani makes one) and see how it runs afterwards. You won't be disappointed....

 

[conanski]

As it sits the 302 in your truck has pretty low output, that's mainly due to the puny cam and restrictive exhaust. Swapping on a carb by itself will make no difference to peak power because the EFI intake is simply not the choke point and the EFI controls will deliver as much fuel as the motor needs at any particular time just like a carb would. These truck do have a mess of additional smog components that are not directly related to engine operation and as a result can be eliminated. That system is called the thermactor air injection system and it just helps the cat burn off excess gas at cold start, otherwise it doesn't do much. If the cats are gone this stuff can go too.

If your truck isn't running as it should then take advantage of the EFI smarts and pull the codes, it's easy to do without a code reader but a basic reader is cheap and makes the process mistake proof. Pretty much any problem possible has been experienced and fixed by somebody else so all you got to do is make the first step and ask for help.

 

[Fordzilla80]

If you're gonna switch to a carb,you might as well just take out the entire mototr and rebuild it,cause as previously mentioned,the 5.0's in these trucks are pretty wimpy from the factory,and you're gonna be doing alot of work if you want it to perform.

 

[Pickupman1707]

Okay, so I've decided to stick to the EFI. I got the motor timed now and it runs alot better than it did, but I'd like to get more power and increase gas mileage if possible. How can i do that without spending a fortune and without rebuilding the motor. I was gonna start with headers and true duals. What else would you recommend? Keep in mind i'm not a gear head, please give clear explanation as to what you are talking about please. Thanks for everybody that posted by the way, its much appreciated.

 

[LEB Ben]

A basic tune up often times helps...cap/rotor/plugs/plug wires, fluid swaps, the basics. The single biggest improvement you can make would be a cam swap though...but judging from your post, you'd need someone to do that for you.

 

[dragogt]

Okay, so I've decided to stick to the EFI. I got the motor timed now and it runs alot better than it did, but I'd like to get more power and increase gas mileage if possible. How can i do that without spending a fortune and without rebuilding the motor. I was gonna start with headers and true duals. What else would you recommend? Keep in mind i'm not a gear head, please give clear explanation as to what you are talking about please. Thanks for everybody that posted by the way, its much appreciated.

Headers and exhaust is a good start, but "true duals" will hurt you more than help you.

http://www.bassani.com/auto_search/

 

[Skandocious]

Listen to Aaron-- opening up the exhaust is always the first thing you should do with these trucks. Revamp the exhaust system so it can breath a little bit more (wider pipes, better flowing cats and mufflers, possibly a less restrictive y-pipe).

Then if you want to go one step further, headers are a great option. I've heard a lot of people claim that longtube headers will offer 30-40hp gains right out of the box. I wouldn't waste much time on shorties unless longtubes are illegal in your state (they are in California, I know that).

 

[NeXtras]

Power and Gas mileage NEVER go hand in hand

 

[Skandocious]

My efan gave me increased power and slightly better gas mileage

 

[5.0]

My efan

Oh boy... not e-fans again!

My truck has no fan at all yet

 

[5.0]

Power and Gas mileage NEVER go hand in hand

Reminds me of this...

Power
Dependable
Cheap

You can have only 2 of these at the same time.


.

 

[conanski]

Okay, so I've decided to stick to the EFI. I got the motor timed now and it runs alot better than it did, but I'd like to get more power and increase gas mileage if possible.

What did you set the timing at? Stock is 10deg advanced but most of these motors will tolerate 12-14deg before detonation(pinging) becomes audible under load, and more timing = more power and better milage. You don't want to drive around with the motor pinging away all the time though.. that will kill it sooner or later and power will suffer, so once you find out how much advance it takes to make it ping back it down a degree or two.

 

[wizzard351]

i personaly like a carb set-up better just because theres no $80 sensres to go out or computer gliches. ive gota 92 f150 that im absualutly disgusted with the 302 efi set-up and im gona change all this come spring. ya'll watch out for a good biuld thread with pics. im gona get after it when it warms up.

 

[auto02]

Headers and exhaust is a good start, but "true duals" will hurt you more than help you.

http://www.bassani.com/auto_search/

are you serious?when i put true duals on my truck years ago they knocked over 3 tenths off my 1/8 mile times!