Hi, I'm looking for some options/opinions on the best way forward with my car. A short history is that it's an ABF engine, running on KR fueling. Or it was, as the fuel system seems to have died. The short version of this story is that my mechanic wants to swap the car over to ABF management, which would require an ECU, loom, manifold and fuel rail from an ABF vehicle. Assuming that the KR system is, in fact, dead, is this the best way to go about this? What about aftermarket options? I had a brief eBay search and even the intake manifold appears to have about six different part codes, do I need to worry about getting a particular code? At the moment, my intention is to get the car running somewhat reliably as we're planning on moving. I need the car to be driveable. I did have a thread on here a while back (link), which details the work I had done on it about seven years ago. I'm not much of an engine guy, I just like old cars.
If you are going to go new ECU then choose and aftermarket one like MaxxECU. Then, if it were me, throttle bodies
Sorry to say but sounds like your mechanic may not have experience with the K-jet system and is taking what he feels is the easier route ? ,however that is @ your expense and will result in a rather spendy exercise , however if you can find a complete system from a running motor that could save you some money but it's not a cheap job if you are paying someone for the labour . When you say it is dead what issues do you have ? it is a simple system and IMO pretty easy to trouble shoot compared to EFI as it uses a lot less parts . However I 'am biased because I have k-jet on my ABF and it runs great... this wasn't by choose because I had a lot of essential EFI parts missing when I took delivery of my motor , when I say missing they were infact stolen but that's another story . My system came off my old KR motor with 250,000km'[s on it and took little to dial in after fitting ,overall very pleased with it . Why not look into it yourself ?, you don't really need to be "an engine guy " to fault find as there is a wealth of info from members on here to assist . Whatever way you go wishing you good luck ,cheers.
I'm inclined to agree regarding the K-Jet, in the scheme of things they are not that complex and with a bit of fettling could wind up a hell of a lot cheaper than the other route. Honestly not many of us here are engine folks, it's just through working on our own cars that things are picked up and learned and then passed on here.
I agree , I had a good grounding in AFM and Motronic systems previously ,when I bought my 87 GTI and just looked @ the system and thought great this is straight forward . Yes cost wise it's better to sort the K-jet and will not cost as much if in reasonable condition ,a used EFI system could well be a gamble as you don't know what you are buying when dealing with old 25 plus year old parts, more expense again . Cheers.
No need to complicate with an engine controller when, it has been shared widely on this platform ABF engines run great on a CIS system, formerly from a KR engine. The mechanic needs changing lol. Come on, I wrote the "How to ABF" thread over a decade ago. Have we forgotten?
Okay, so I went and talked to the mechanic who's actually been working on the car. He agrees with you guys that sticking with the K-jet is the way to go. It's the garage owner that wants to move over to a mk3 system and that's apparently because he thinks it'll be easier and cheaper. Mechanic disagrees. As for what's wrong with it, fuel isn't getting to the injectors. The pump's pumping, the injectors are injecting and the lines are clear, so he thinks something's up with the component on top of the air box. Understanding how this works seems like the logical next step.
Excellent ,good see someone has made the right decision. You may not be getting enough pressure to make it run,mine ran a little rough initially and I replaced the fuel filter as it was very old ,must have been somewhat blocked as the main pump ran quieter, but I think the main cause was that the plastic filter on the inlet pipe to fuel distributer (from pump ) was blocked ,these filters are often ignored unless someone takes that pipe off ,I read somewhere these filters were used during factory assembly of the system and the dealers usually removed them @ first service ,not sure how true this is but they are very fine and need cleaning or removal If your car has been standing a while it would pay to check the dreaded suction adaptor hose from pump to tank suction ,these are known to degrade simply because they are old and crap modern fuel is little help ,would also pay to check the in tank pump as these can start to fail if the suction strainer is blocked or the pump is simply wearing out ,the main hp pump won't deliver what it should if the in tank lift pump is sub standard. Failing that you need to remove injectors and check spray pattern and if they leak when closed after that's an issue as they maybe have subjected to water contamination and they are buggered replacements are around but not cheap and you will need the required reseal ''o" ring kit also . This is a total overview that I can think of currently and there maybe more...while I remember replace your old vacuum lines or at least check them for cracks and fitment . Cheers.
