Resurrection of MFI system after 15 years.

[Vintagemotion]

I’m trying to wake up my ’73 S with MFI after 15+ years of sleep. I bought it knowing the engine does not start due to lack of fuel (hopefully only fuel issues The gas tank has a brown gooey layer and likely the rest of the fuel system does to. The fuel pump does not make a sound and is likely stuck. I will try to rebuild it based on this earlier posting: MFI Open Heart Surgery II - The Fuel Pump

My questions are:
1. Is there a solvent that I can pump though the system that would clean all the old fuel residue out of lines, filter assembly and MFI?
2.Any recommendation on real good quality fuel rubber lines.

[304065]

The factory used Berryman's B-12, it is still available. Take the MFI pump off the engine and pour copious quantities of B-12 inside, this is your best shot at dissolving varnish and gum. Do NOT crank the engine with the pump gummed up or you will destroy it.

The best and ONLY fuel lines to use are made by Cohline in Germany. They are available from Pelican Parts.

Good luck!

[regency]

i'd ship off the throttle bodies to Matt Blast / Eurometric's in Boston, the MFI pump to Pacific Injection / Gus in San Francisco, locate a replacement fuel pump, send the fuel tank to a good radiator shop to be cleaned and sealed, replace all of your fuel lines.

May as well do it now, you'll be doing it sooner or later, it's an "S", do it right the first time and enjoy that car.

Steve

73 911 MFI T Coupe, Aubergine, built to E spec

[skinnerd]

I'd have to agree with Regency about sending all the parts out to get looked at by the experts.....unless you're really, really knowledgeable about them and/or handy with this type of thing.

Maybe you can clean the supply pump & throttle bodies well, and install new fuel lines.
Clean out the gas tank of all the goo.
The MFI pump on the other hand is not a trivial undertaking for sure.

Good luck.
Once you have the MFI system in good running order, you'll love it.

[regency]

i'm not kidding, i tried to go the easy way and "fix" it, it didn't work. In the end, after hiring the experts and paying them for their expert services, the result was the most awsome fuel injection system. The car is a blast to drive, worth every penny.

may as well do it right and be done with it.

[al lkosmal]

I sent my pump to Mark Jung, in Oregon. Great guy to deal with and appears to have really done his homework. Do a search on his Pelican name (356RS) to check out his new tester, expertize, etc. My pump was in decent shape, but I realized that I had no idea if it was working to spec. I sent it to Mark to be calibrated to factory specs, new gaskets, seals, pulley, etc. It's complete and is being shipped back to me, tomorrow. I'll post pix.....and a vid of the start up. Stay tuned!

Regards,

al

[Vintagemotion]

The progress: The tank is out and off to be redone. The tank was nasty and fully clogged with tar like residue. The good news is that having the batteries and tank out I still did not find any! rust
The next project is the fuel system in the engine compartment. Surprisingly I did not found any fuel residue or tar like substance in the filter housing and filter. Everything was actually pretty clean. The filter was obviously old and looked discolored but no tar. There was some fuel in the lines but not gooey as well.
Is it normal for the filter housing to be completely empty after suiting for a long time?
Since the fuel system in the back was clean I hope that the actual MFI is the same way. I will find out by taking the injector lines out for inspection.
Anybody knows the technical term for tar like disintegrated fuel?

[Grady Clay]

I’m going to recommend something much more through than trying to just get the MFI working.

The entire engine has sat for 15 years. Was there any preservation preparation? What were the environmental conditions?

This is a very unique and valuable engine. Why risk a bearing failure and worse when you have the opportunity to “do it right” and have the engine live for decades used as intended?

While you need to look at the overall condition, your intended use and your pocketbook, half measures with the engine usually lead to disasters.

I have some of these engines that have sat for 25 years now. They were reasonably well prepared and maintained. They are in a reasonable environment. I don’t expect to even rotate them with a wrench without a complete disassembly. I don’t expect to find anything wrong. I want to KNOW that everything is perfect to turn 7300 rpm every time I want (close to 9000 for the race engines).

That is what this is all about.

If you can’t do justice for the 2.4S MFI, I’ll trade you with a properly rebuilt 3.0 CIS.

Best,
Grady

[356RS]

Very well said Grady.

[Vintagemotion]

Contrary to most literature about the 911 fuel pump location being behind the gas tank under body, the fuel pump on a 1973 911S is in the lower front of the engine on the driver side.

[Vintagemotion]

The vehicle is and was in Georgia its entire live. For the last 15 years it was in dry storage hence the lack of rust. The oil was obviously changed before storage since it is clear and clean. A fiber endoscope will show the condition of the engine before final startup.

Originally Posted by Grady Clay

I’m going to recommend something much more through than trying to just get the MFI working.

The entire engine has sat for 15 years. Was there any preservation preparation? What were the environmental conditions?

This is a very unique and valuable engine. Why risk a bearing failure and worse when you have the opportunity to “do it right” and have the engine live for decades used as intended?

While you need to look at the overall condition, your intended use and your pocketbook, half measures with the engine usually lead to disasters.

I have some of these engines that have sat for 25 years now. They were reasonably well prepared and maintained. They are in a reasonable environment. I don’t expect to even rotate them with a wrench without a complete disassembly. I don’t expect to find anything wrong. I want to KNOW that everything is perfect to turn 7300 rpm every time I want (close to 9000 for the race engines).

That is what this is all about.

If you can’t do justice for the 2.4S MFI, I’ll trade you with a properly rebuilt 3.0 CIS.

Best,
Grady

[Duckworth]

"...For the last 15 years it was in dry storage hence the lack of rust. The oil was obviously changed before storage since it is clear and clean. A fiber endoscope will show the condition of the engine before final startup."

Interesting....but can the endoscope give you indication of the condition of rings and / or cylinder walls ? Many an engine that has 'sat' for extended periods experiences stuck pistons over the years. Not that it will happen in your case - but just wondering how much 'assurance' the scope can give you...

Hopefully, you won't have any issues.

[Vintagemotion]

Here is how the story continued:

1973 MFI Motor finally started.

Today was the first ride with my 911

[inaminit]

Hello- Have been following this thread with great interest. Where can you buy Berryman B-12. Thanks

[Vintagemotion]

any local auto parts place