You let the pressure out of the fuel system to take off the fuel rails. What happens when you put the rails back on and want to drive the car? How do you repressurize the system? Is there some trick I don't know to get the fuel pump going, like turn the key to on, but don't start engine for some amount of time?

 

I've found just turning the key on, letting the pump prime the rail until the pump stops running is sufficient to start the car. If you feel strange doing this, let the pump cycle through two times. It's that simple.

 

I'll ditto Rob on this one. When I fired my ZZ4 for the first time I had to turn on the key a few times to get any indication on my fuel pressure gauge. Once fired it was pretty easy to adjust after that.

 

I agree with turning the key to "On",not start and then off a few times to get pressure in the rails.However,I do this BEFORE putting the runners back on.I attach a fuel pressure gauge and turn the key on and off a minute apart and be sure the pressure holds,and check the injectors and etc for leaking gas.

Doing this before ensures you wont have a fuel fire before putting everything back together.When the fuel pressure rises and holds,then I go ahead and install the runners,TB and plenum and etc, then before I start the car, turn y on and off 2-3 times and check again for leaks.
I even turn the injectors back and forth to see if any gas spits out from the O rings.

No leaks, then I fire her up.
ALso, have a fire extuingisher ready in case of any problems.Be safe and do it smart.
Ive heard of a few cars get burned down because of them not checking for fuel leaks first after a repair job.Also always use new O-rings for the fuel lines to fuel rail attachment.Never re-use the old ones.Cheap insurance.

 

Hey,

Bills right on.

I assume you replaced and GREASED all the seals in the rails? If not take 'em back out and buy the $3.50 set of o-ring seals for the rails. and GREASE them so they don't tear, spin sideways, etc.
(lightly, not like a axle)

-- Joe

 

Good points Bill. As to the lubricant used on the injector to fuel rail I've seen motor oil recommended as well as silicone spray.
I used the silicone and it seemed to work OK. I replaced all the o-rings. I checked for leaks but it was with the fuel rails mounted.

 

I think any good lubricant is fine..I just use a little dab of motor oil to coat the O rings.The lube helps to keep the rubber from cracking or splitting on install so you dont "dry" install it.

Just to clarify,thats the way to check for leaks with the fuel rails mounted and pushed down into the intake manifold.I hook the lines up and press the rail/injectors down into the base but wont bolt it all down yet then do the pressure check.

Some guy posted on the corvette forum some time back,he had the TPI apart and etc and when he hooked it all back up and fired up the car,a minute later it caught fire.The cold start line in back of the rail was not tightened down and it sprayed out and got onto the exhaust.Everything burned and melted on the engine.

35-45 psi of fuel pressure is quite a bit of spray there to say the least.
Check everything and everything.

Then go enjoy the car again.

 

I wish I had known that the fuel injector seals come with the tpi gasket set. I called the parts store and the guy said that they had one tpi gasket set in stock and four fuel injector seals. He said that the seals come packaged individually. I said that I would need four more seals. I picked up the stuff today. When I got home, I find that the injector seals are packaged in 2s and that the tpi gasket set came with 8 injector seals. Now I have 24 injector seals! I guess this is just to let anyone know who doesn't already that the tpi set includes injector seals.

 

cort, I'm gonna need some of those Injector seals....

BTW.. did you ever get those headers done? I never heard out of ya on the install. If you still got my # gimme a call. if not e-mail me.