Carburetted or fuel injected?

Cobo383 · #1 10-26-2007, 03:36 PM

I have a 1970 CJ5 with an 86 chevy 4.3L V6. I am swapping in a 97 vortec 4.3L V6. Any opinions on if I should buy an intake manifold and stick with carburetted or go with the fuel injection system? Any known problems with the stock fuel injection?

Thanks,

Cory

mach2_nh · #2 10-26-2007, 05:07 PM

Why not just put TBI on the 86 4.3? You would get nice EFI with not as many wires.

I have a 89 4.3 with TBI and it works super! Plus TBI is cheap to make and get parts for. And there are only a few things that can fail that would keep the motor from running.

JeepDawg · #3 10-26-2007, 07:04 PM

I can't figure out why everyone is so afraid of FI....and I can't imagine why you would want to keep a carb......

Keep the vortec as is....it's actually a lot easier to hook up than you think.

jeepjunky · #4 10-26-2007, 08:01 PM

my experence is that FI has fewer issues than carbs, but the carb can be reliable. ME id go FI

jeepgod · #5 10-26-2007, 09:18 PM

go fuel injection.. its not that complicated.. carbs are so... 20th century..

Smokngun · #6 10-26-2007, 09:30 PM

I'm an old motorhead from the '80's. I grew up on tuning carbs and know all the tricks to make Holley's, Rochester Q-Jets, and Carter AFB/AVS/T-Quad's work great on street/strip cars...but MAN do carbs suck on an off road vehicle! Don't be afraid of F.I., whether its TBI, MPI or whatever. It's not that tough once you learn how it works. I'd vote ANY fuel injection over the best carb you could buy.

drunkinhillbilly · #7 10-27-2007, 02:26 AM

the one problem that there is with the vortec system in the 4.3s is the spider injector system. it has distributer type fuel distrabution. this part very commonly fails on this motor resulting in the fuel leaking down into the oil and eating the bearing material causing deadline motor damage. you can check into this more by stopping by any GM dealer and talking to one of the tecs.

SilentBob2 · #8 10-27-2007, 09:39 AM

THat spider ingecter is an easy fix... Shouldn't take more than a half hour to pull the top of the intake off and replace the cracked line inside. The first obvious signs are poor fuel milage and excessive cranking when starting. The only hard part is finding a parts store that keeps that hose kit in stock. If you replace it before you put the motor in, you shouln't have any problems with it for a long time.. Only 50 bucks for the kit.....

LEVE · #9 10-27-2007, 10:16 AM

I've been running fuel injection since I bought my first EFI vehicle in 1978, a Type II VW Transporter. I'd heard a lot of horror stories about EFI, and of course the newer breakerless ignitions. But that VW fell apart around my ears. After two engines and three transmissions (160,000 miles) the one system on the VW that NEVER failed was the fuel injection. I was sold on it and swore I'd never buy a vehicle again with a carb... and never did... except the Jeeps.

When I got a chance to convert the CJ to EFI, I jumped at it. I spent the money and never looked back. It was bar-none the best buy I've made for the Jeep. It breathed reliability and new life into the Jeep. It's paid for itself many times over in fuel cost savings. It's been ultra-reliable.

Will it ever break? Sure, but I plan for that and carry spares for what I need to field fix and keep it running.

jdoggmoney · #10 10-27-2007, 05:13 PM

Silent is right. As long as your paying attention, if the spider fuel assembly goes bad, you'll notice it before any damage is done. Otherwise, the 4.3 V6 is a VERY reliable power plant. If you can get the FI stuff from your donor, go FI and don't look back.