Full Size Jeep Network

Dr. Marneaus wrote: On a side note, i've already put well over 1000 miles on it since submitting my registration which was in mid July, which is actually kind of a lot for me. Especially seeing as I can only drive it an average of 400 miles per month without passing my limitations for classic vehicle.

Tatsadasayago wrote: You might try a trick I've used in the past to keep the connector from falling off:
Push it on, then add a dab of RTV silicone on the outside between the connector and cluster and let it sit for a day.
If you need to remove it, it will come apart easily enough, but not come loose when driving and wheeling.
I lay on the driver's seat upside down, add a glob of RTV to a finger and reach up in there and dab away.

lolz

Tatsadasayago wrote:

Dr. Marneaus wrote: And yeah on the speedo. The crazy thing is how loose the connector on the back of the dash is. I mean... It's totally able to just fall off on long trips. It's so frustrating....it's the worst that I can't get my hand up in there to get it tight enough or apply loctite or anything....oh well I'll just have to make sure it doesn't fall off to often and fix it really quick if it does

You might try a trick I've used in the past to keep the connector from falling off:
Push it on, then add a dab of RTV silicone on the outside between the connector and cluster and let it sit for a day.
If you need to remove it, it will come apart easily enough, but not come loose when driving and wheeling.
I lay on the driver's seat upside down, add a glob of RTV to a finger and reach up in there and dab away.

My sarcasm.....you missed it lol.

Tatsadasayago wrote:The body/fenderwell grounding is often problematic because the metal to metal contact is somewhat precarious. There should be a 12 gauge ground wire coming off the negative battery cable to the core support or fenderwell. These connections are often compromised with age and create a resistance to ground. I've found that adding braided ground straps (Robbed from ex-cop Diplomats and Crown Vics) between the core support, fenderwell/fender, fenderwell to frame and engine, hood and doors to body were needed to kill RFI when running HF radio mobile. Similar principles apply for the DC ground path.
The same goes for the grounding lugs under the dash frame. They like to rust and corrode often, especially if the windshield or A-Pillar leaks water down the backside of the heater controls to the ground point.
Nothing a few minutes with a scuffing pad or wire brush and sealant won't cure.

I have a ground from my battery running to the fender well, that bolt is where i make all my ground connections, well, for the most part. So the relay is currently run to a bolt through the fender well which has a direct connection to the battery.

Dr. Marneaus wrote:

Tatsadasayago wrote:

Dr. Marneaus wrote: And yeah on the speedo. The crazy thing is how loose the connector on the back of the dash is. I mean... It's totally able to just fall off on long trips. It's so frustrating....it's the worst that I can't get my hand up in there to get it tight enough or apply loctite or anything....oh well I'll just have to make sure it doesn't fall off to often and fix it really quick if it does

You might try a trick I've used in the past to keep the connector from falling off:
Push it on, then add a dab of RTV silicone on the outside between the connector and cluster and let it sit for a day.
If you need to remove it, it will come apart easily enough, but not come loose when driving and wheeling.
I lay on the driver's seat upside down, add a glob of RTV to a finger and reach up in there and dab away.

My sarcasm.....you missed it lol.

Ya got me good there.
Looks like I surely did...

Well, I actually had that problem and RTV was the shadetree fix for the round connector and speedo cable end with the retaining clips snapped off.

*Goes back to the 'Special People' ward*

Dr. Marneaus wrote: I have a ground from my battery running to the fender well, that bolt is where i make all my ground connections, well, for the most part. So the relay is currently run to a bolt through the fender well which has a direct connection to the battery.

Best to use a good engine ground with EFI and ignition systems, especially fuel injection systems.
I have seen many many times a good engine ground solving strange driveability issues, especially with fuel injection systems.
When I was a wrench for a living, used to get cars in the shop all the time that had been "repaired" previously or elsewhere, all kinds of sensors/parts thrown @ them.
Many times running a new ground wire to engine, or cleaning the ground @ engine and problem(s) solved.

babywag wrote:

Dr. Marneaus wrote: I have a ground from my battery running to the fender well, that bolt is where i make all my ground connections, well, for the most part. So the relay is currently run to a bolt through the fender well which has a direct connection to the battery.

Best to use a good engine ground with EFI and ignition systems, especially fuel injection systems.
I have seen many many times a good engine ground solving strange driveability issues, especially with fuel injection systems.
When I was a wrench for a living, used to get cars in the shop all the time that had been "repaired" previously or elsewhere, all kinds of sensors/parts thrown @ them.
Many times running a new ground wire to engine, or cleaning the ground @ engine and problem(s) solved.

Good to know. So do you suggest running the ground for the computer of my EFI to the engine block? Or just the ground for the relay for the HEI? I have a spare grounding strap (braided thingy) that I havent gotten around to running from the back of the block (EGR bolt) to the firewall.

Currently, I have 2 straps from the engine to the frame horns, battery to fender well as mentioned above, but nothing from block to body.

If it was me, I would use an engine ground for both EFI & Ignition.

So woke up and decided to take the jeep to breakfast and to run errands. Bumped fuel pressure up to 35psi and adjusted the EFI down to 360CID, left power valve pump squirt and idle AFR where they were.

It seemed very happy, drove strong overall. My butt dyno test resulted in only taking 7-8 seconds to gain the speed vs. 9.

When I hopped in it and tried to leave the house however it fell on its face, after a little feathering the pedal it went away. This major big/almost stall has happened once or twice before. After that t ran normal. It wasn't cold at that point, it had idled for a few minutes but obviously wasn't operating temp.

Then it was still doing the hot start stumble, not nearly as bad as that one when I took off, but it either needs to be revved once or twice before putting it into gear or if I put it in gear and go on a hot start its iffy for about 30 seconds and almost stalls when I get into the gas.

Out of curiosity, how is the compression of this engine?

Dr. Marneaus wrote:So woke up and decided to take the jeep to breakfast and to run errands. Bumped fuel pressure up to 35psi and adjusted the EFI down to 360CID, left power valve pump squirt and idle AFR where they were.

It seemed very happy, drove strong overall. My butt dyno test resulted in only taking 7-8 seconds to gain the speed vs. 9.

When I hopped in it and tried to leave the house however it fell on its face, after a little feathering the pedal it went away. This major big/almost stall has happened once or twice before. After that t ran normal. It wasn't cold at that point, it had idled for a few minutes but obviously wasn't operating temp.

Then it was still doing the hot start stumble, not nearly as bad as that one when I took off, but it either needs to be revved once or twice before putting it into gear or if I put it in gear and go on a hot start its iffy for about 30 seconds and almost stalls when I get into the gas.

Sounds like it's too rich @ idle, and maybe too rich on accel?
I'd try playing with settings a tad. You globally changed the fuel map again, so having to adjust the little things is normal.
That's just part of EFI tuning, getting a good base fuel map, then tweaking things like cold start, hot start, acceleration enrichment, etc. etc.
For example if the idle AFR is too rich & acceleration enrichment is too high, combined you can get a bad stumble.

Stuka wrote:Out of curiosity, how is the compression of this engine?

It checked good when I got it, 20,000 miles ago. I havent checked since.

babywag wrote:

Dr. Marneaus wrote:So woke up and decided to take the jeep to breakfast and to run errands. Bumped fuel pressure up to 35psi and adjusted the EFI down to 360CID, left power valve pump squirt and idle AFR where they were.

It seemed very happy, drove strong overall. My butt dyno test resulted in only taking 7-8 seconds to gain the speed vs. 9.

When I hopped in it and tried to leave the house however it fell on its face, after a little feathering the pedal it went away. This major big/almost stall has happened once or twice before. After that t ran normal. It wasn't cold at that point, it had idled for a few minutes but obviously wasn't operating temp.

Then it was still doing the hot start stumble, not nearly as bad as that one when I took off, but it either needs to be revved once or twice before putting it into gear or if I put it in gear and go on a hot start its iffy for about 30 seconds and almost stalls when I get into the gas.

Sounds like it's too rich @ idle, and maybe too rich on accel?
I'd try playing with settings a tad. You globally changed the fuel map again, so having to adjust the little things is normal.
That's just part of EFI tuning, getting a good base fuel map, then tweaking things like cold start, hot start, acceleration enrichment, etc. etc.
For example if the idle AFR is too rich & acceleration enrichment is too high, combined you can get a bad stumble.

But its only when its on a hot start, then all symptoms go away within 30 seconds. Doesnt do anything weird when driving or starting from a stop after that initial hot start.

Drives well on highway and everything. Since I upped the fuel pressure, I suppose I could drop power valve a little and maybe even try to raise my idle AFR a bit since the higher fuel pressure should be allowing more fuel.

Do you have cataloging ability with this system? That would be the best route. Then you can see exactly what is happening when these issues pop up.

For grounds, I've always said there's no such thing as too many. 2 from engine to frame, 2 from frame to body, 2 from engine to body. Extra ground path never hurts anything.

FSJ Guy wrote:Do you have cataloging ability with this system? That would be the best route. Then you can see exactly what is happening when these issues pop up.

Not to my knowledge.

Dr. Marneaus wrote:

babywag wrote:

Dr. Marneaus wrote:So woke up and decided to take the jeep to breakfast and to run errands. Bumped fuel pressure up to 35psi and adjusted the EFI down to 360CID, left power valve pump squirt and idle AFR where they were.

It seemed very happy, drove strong overall. My butt dyno test resulted in only taking 7-8 seconds to gain the speed vs. 9.

When I hopped in it and tried to leave the house however it fell on its face, after a little feathering the pedal it went away. This major big/almost stall has happened once or twice before. After that t ran normal. It wasn't cold at that point, it had idled for a few minutes but obviously wasn't operating temp.

Then it was still doing the hot start stumble, not nearly as bad as that one when I took off, but it either needs to be revved once or twice before putting it into gear or if I put it in gear and go on a hot start its iffy for about 30 seconds and almost stalls when I get into the gas.

Sounds like it's too rich @ idle, and maybe too rich on accel?
I'd try playing with settings a tad. You globally changed the fuel map again, so having to adjust the little things is normal.
That's just part of EFI tuning, getting a good base fuel map, then tweaking things like cold start, hot start, acceleration enrichment, etc. etc.
For example if the idle AFR is too rich & acceleration enrichment is too high, combined you can get a bad stumble.

But its only when its on a hot start, then all symptoms go away within 30 seconds. Doesnt do anything weird when driving or starting from a stop after that initial hot start.

Drives well on highway and everything. Since I upped the fuel pressure, I suppose I could drop power valve a little and maybe even try to raise my idle AFR a bit since the higher fuel pressure should be allowing more fuel.

If it's only hot restart and only 30ish seconds sounds like a problem with transition to closed loop. I'd try adjusting idle AFR. If you don't have access to choke settings or fuel map, not sure what else you can adjust?
A quick google search found similar issues with others using atomic efi.

Well, hopefully its not just a fault of the system.

Will putt around a little more this weekend and see what's up.

Okay. So, drove like 150 miles over the weekend towing and wheeling.

Truck ran fine, seems to have good power. it's a fairly steep grade up the 395 out of reno to the north valleys where I live. I was able to keep 60ish while towing the pop up mph without downshifting. So, thats good news. I had the pedal down and it just chugged along smooth. It was warming up and you could smell everything but it didnt hesitate or surge or have any issues. Just slowed down a little bit which is understandable.

It was, however, hunting on start up. This seems to happen on a "luke warm start". When I'd fired it up on cold mornings, when the ECT is like 50* or less, it seems to do what it needs to do, and idle fine. When its like 70* or there abouts, I feel like its going into cold start but sees the engine is already kinda sorta warmish, and lets it idle down while the engine is still, for all intents and purposes, "cold."

Also, it is weak for the first 30 seconds or so on a hot start still.

Otherwise, running and drving just fine.

NICE!
Maybe try raising the idle AFR just a touch? Can you do .X adjustments?

babywag wrote:NICE!
Maybe try raising the idle AFR just a touch? Can you do .X adjustments?

Yup, I can. Its currently sitting at 13.5 in order to get rid of the miss.