AEM fuel rail and fuel pressure regulator

[connorling]

hi, i just got the items and put it into my b18c NR EG, but now my car is harder to start, i mean i have to hold the key for 10sec, stop and try again in order to start the car.

reson to change: pressure regulator was leaking

things done to it: car back, pod, grounding wire

[dsp26]

guessing the FPR is th AEM item too? which means it's adjustable... did you set the correct pressure on it?

38psi vacuum line on
43psi vacuum line off

[connorling]

thats the thing, i dont know how to adjust it, the FPR is also AEM.
so should i set it to 38 or43 psi?? what is better?

[dsp26]

they are the same value... reason it goes up to 43psi is because theres no vacuum pulling on the regulator to alleviate some pressure off the fpr spring...

vacuum is used by any fpr including oem to rise the rate of fuel pressure as the rpms rise dependent on vacuum.

what i meant by the 2 values is, if your gonna set it with the vacuum line connected then it's 38psi, but with it off set it to 43psi...

***EDIT***
i personally think the factory 38psi is pretty rich and i have mine set at 34psi vac on... do not deviate from oem spec unless you've seen your A/F on a dynograph to justify any increase/decrease. and according to weekly checks of my plugs it seems to like 34psi.. 38psi would always have excessive carbon build-up therefore was too rich.

[beeza]

I'm going back to stock,36 psi after all that great info and see how she goes.So when would you bump the psi up? only when you have seen the A/F Dyno graph? I had mine at 42psi with I/H/E... my plugs are black...I only saw then a week ago.

[connorling]

how can u adjust it?

[beeza]

Mine isn't an AEM one but the vacumn hose runs out the top of mine and just below it is a screw that threads into the regulator.If you screw that one to loosen it then you can screw that thread in or out to adjust it and then tighten the screw to hold it where ya want.

[dsp26]

how can u adjust it?

different on every AFPR... post a pic of yours in it's entirety and we'll see if it's adjustable.

[dsp26]

I'm going back to stock,36 psi after all that great info and see how she goes.So when would you bump the psi up? only when you have seen the A/F Dyno graph? I had mine at 42psi with I/H/E... my plugs are black...I only saw then a week ago.

42psi is hell rich.. tried that as well without dyno a/f and my carbon covered electrodes on the plugs smelled like petrol instead of clean "burned" smell...


but yeah it is best to leave it stock until you see a dyno figure. you can tune power with AFPR but it's considered a "band-aid fix". Unlike an ecu where you can lower/raise A/F at different rpm points, with an afpr if you change fuel pressure, you will adjust your rpm a/f generally linearly... kinda like cam gears....

say you needed to bump pressure to get the a/f a tad richer in the upper rpm to get optimum power, you do so and you may get sluggish as you also richen the lower rpm as it falls outside of it's a/f efficiency.

The only reason i personally screw around with mine (30psi-42psi) is coz i check my car for everything every 3 days and know when somethings not right.. ie, the look of the spark plug after fiddling with some settings... mine is happy at 34psi... but i'm also running that dodgy eBay spoon chip add-on which made my car hell rich so i needed it to... 34psi maybe too lean for some setups.


Only reason i learned of an afpr's use is coz on an sr20 where your generally around 13.7:1 A/F, changing the stock rubber intake hose to a bigger mandrel aluminium item raised it to 14.3-14.7:1 on many a setup including mine... sure the intake made heaps of power on the dyno but it's coz it was lean.. dangerously lean at high rpm... afpr was the bandaid fix to richen it up a bit more...

[connorling]

http://www.alamomotorsports.com/aem/aem_afpr.jpg

i am using 56k internet, so it takes forever to upload photo, but the link about is the same one as i got in my car.

[connorling]

if someone can cut the pic and upload it here, and point out where i can adjust, it will be good

[beeza]

Thanks dsp26! Awesome Info mate!
I would love to experiment with plug gap size and Fuel Pressure but like you said you need a dyno to see if your actually yielding any results otherwise you probably creating problems...

[dsp26]

http://www.alamomotorsports.com/aem/aem_afpr.jpg

i am using 56k internet, so it takes forever to upload photo, but the link about is the same one as i got in my car.
mate you see the red one in that pic you posted.. on the far left, you loosen that bolt and use an allen key to spin the centre screw thing....

however, by the way you put things your kit didn't even come with a fuel pressure gauge so don't bother touching it and take it to a mechanic....
if you want your own, get one of these VISION Motorworks gauges.. mounts onto the oem fuel filter:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-96-PRELUDE-FUEL-PRESSURE-GAUGE-KIT-LIQUID-FILLED_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742Q2em153Q2el1 262QQcategoryZ42604QQihZ016QQitemZ260208897943

here is mine mounted:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/dsp26/Maintenance/FPRGauge.jpg


Thanks dsp26! Awesome Info mate!
I would love to experiment with plug gap size and Fuel Pressure but like you said you need a dyno to see if your actually yielding any results otherwise you probably creating problems...
all good, but yeah.. bit hard with Honda's like i've mentioned in other threads... unlike other engines i've played with their very sensitive to air changes and tuning etc...

[connorling]

thanks, i think i know how to adjust.
by the way, i can get a gauge and mount it onto my AEM fuel rail, thewre is a hole for it
thanks

[connorling]

but why is it so hard to start??? too rich or lean?

[INTEG]

you might be flooding it, put fuel pressure regulator on the fuel line and start it see what pressure is at. i had trouble with mine when i put my FPR on it was set at 70psi which was to high it was flooding it and wont start. Take it to a mechanic if you dont know what your doing but it pretty straight forward

[connorling]

turn clockwise or anticlockwise to make it lean?????? looking at the fpr

[beeza]

Do U not have a guage where you can see the numbers?

[dsp26]

^^^dude that sig is ****ed!!! :O

but yeah.. connorling thought you said you can get a gauge... don't touch it unless you have one... for your own safety i'm not gonna tell you which way as too lean will also make hard starts and you maybe making it leaner etc...

[beeza]

Haha,cool man.Gone.But damn that was funny :)