It's here!!

[SunSoaked]

Originally Posted by MySons68C20

Looking forward to you getting this fired up this week!

It's slow going! I only have a couple hours each night after work to fit it in among my other duties.

I spent tonight rerouting the spark plug wires. I have those plug holders that mount on the beach top of the center bolt valve covers. They can be a pita to set up. I usually drop that small 10-24 nut 2-3 times before i get it right.

I had to research and order a throttle cable bracket that fits the pro flo 4. That turned out to be a chore! Edelbrock makes a specific adjustable bracket (part #8041). However, Jegs was the only place that had one in stock. So, it, along with a new Lokar adjustable throttle cable are on the way.

Tomorrow I hope to get the injector harness routed and plugged in. Stay tuned for some pics.

[sweetk30]

why the lokar cable ?

there is SOOOOO MUCH adjustment in the edelbrock bracket i could not believe it . my gm truck cable is working just fine .

[SunSoaked]

Originally Posted by sweetk30

why the lokar cable ?

there is SOOOOO MUCH adjustment in the edelbrock bracket i could not believe it . my gm truck cable is working just fine .

My original throttle cable needs replacing anyway. It's taken the form of a pigs tail. It's stiff and brittle. It might have been the last factory part on the truck. Lol

[sweetk30]

o.k. got ya on that .

just didnt want to see you dump money in to a not needed part was all .

[SunSoaked]

Hey y'all. Got a few pix here of the install. It's been slow going due to other things going on. One of the big time consumers is the wiring. I've had to pull unused wires out of looks, run new wire, etc. I try to install the wiring like factory for reliability. I run wire, crimp the terminals, solder it, heatshrink over it, loom it and clamp it. Very time consuming.

As you can see, so much for a clean, uncluttered engine compartment! Between the Vintage Air, Dakota Digital guages, serpentine drive , remote fuel sump and dual electric fans...it gets busy.

Anyway, I'll add some details about the install soon. Just wanted to give an update. Hope to fire it up in a day or two.

[MySons68C20]

It's all the little things that consume so much time for sure.
I have to say it is looking great!

[toolboxchev]

Dig it, get er burning!

[SunSoaked]

I needed to address the upper radiator hose. You see, with the serpentine drive and my aftermarket aluminum radiator, I had to figure out a hose that fit the bill. The upper hose is an OEM hose for a 67 Firebird with a sb 400.

Only problem was it sagged under the weight and touched the back of the alternator. So, I fabricated a support bracket that uses the alternator mounting bolt. Functionally, it works perfect!

I plan to fire the beast up tommorow.

[SunSoaked]

Ok, it's up and running. First impression...HELL YA!

After priming the fuel system. It fired up instantly. It went to 1100 rpm for about 10 seconds and then slowly came down to 750. Idled perfectly like a brand new vehicle. At that point I verified the timing was at 12 degrees btdc. As soon as it hit 160 degrees it went into " learn mode." With this system you use the app on your phone. It give you several screens to display data in real time. During the wizard setup you enter some engine parameters and it gives you the proper bade map to install. This map will be very close to your engines final tune.

I have two issues:

1. The tach feed does not work with my Dakota Digital guages. I also squired some static noise in my high end stereo system. I will call DD tomorrow for guidance. They sell a can buss module specifically for the Pro-flo 4 system. That allows the ton of information from the Pro-flo to display on the Dakota guages, including the tach.
2. IAC position at idle. It says to set it between 5-15%. Mine says zero. However, the engine runs GREAT so I'm not overly concerned. The IAC controls the idle. When I put it in gear and/or turn the AC on it hold the idle instantly at 600 rpm.

This system is so far beyond the POS Sniper I had it's not even funny! It's only self tuning in the sense it modifies the base map to achieve the best air fuel ratio at idle, cruise and WOT. 90% of folks would be ecstatic with the performance of the base map.

So I will drive it and wait for the corrections to minimize and then save that map as my new base.

Seriously, I reach thru the drivers window and turn the key and it fired instantly. No more cranking for 5 seconds, no setting the choke, no dieseling run on, no more gas fumes, no more eye watering exhaust. Better milage, throttle response, engine longevity.

[SunSoaked]

Pic of 1 of 3 real-time data streams.

[oldman3]

Glad it worked out for you, will wait for more from you...Jim

[MySons68C20]

Excellent news congrats!!!

[sweetk30]

you need to set the iac position with the idle screw and target idle setting . its in the quick reference guide paper work .

glad your happy with the unit . its like reading my posts from hell and back with my efi troubles .

if you want another sticker i just got a few pro flo 4 stickers left .

[SunSoaked]

Ok. Tonight I capped every port on the throttle body. That damn thing still continued to idle! So, I ran to the parts store and picked up a can of starting fluid. Came back and fired it up. Soaked the perimeter of the intake and throttle body with it several times until it was empty. There is NOT a vacuum leak! I played with the idle screw for awhile while watching the rpm on my phone. I eventually noticed the TPS was hanging around 2. Now Everytime the ignition is cycled, the TPS resets to zero. By chance I pulled back (closed) on the linkage and the idle dropped while the IAC went up. WTH?

Then I had the eureka moment! The throttle cable adjustment was just enough to keep the primary butterflies open maybe like 1/32 of an inch. So despite the idle screw being backed off completely, the cable was holding it open ever so slightly. This thing is super sensitive! I popped the throttle cable off and the primaries closed and the IAC shot up to 12 to keep it running.

Then it started raining so I put it bed for the night.

More to come tomorrow.

[SunSoaked]

Originally Posted by sweetk30

you need to set the iac position with the idle screw and target idle setting . its in the quick reference guide paper work .

glad your happy with the unit . its like reading my posts from hell and back with my efi troubles .

if you want another sticker i just got a few pro flo 4 stickers left .

Yes sir! I think I found the issue (throttle cable adjustment).

And that's a big 10-4 on the sticker. Pm me with details. Thx

[SunSoaked]

Before I forget. I talked to Edelbrock and Dakota Digital today. The PF4 uses a square wave that has less than a 20% duty cycle and thus does not play well with Dakota Digital guages.

The good news is Dakota Digital makes a module specifically for the PF4. By reading the PF4 data from the bussbar, the guages can display all the information on the Dakota guages panel which is mighty awesome!

I got one on the way from Summit.

[53burb]

thx much for the updates & pics!!

[SunSoaked]

Alrighty!!!

Got the throttle cable adjusted properly. Huge difference. Now I can set the target idle at 700 and the IAC drops to where it should be (5-15%).

I'm amazed how smooth this thing idles. One thing I did tonight was upload the latest firmware. Edelbrock gives an excellent step by step how to on their forum. Very simple and easy. The update is version v65 which activates the bus data streams for use with aftermarket digital guages and forced injection.

I also had a side project. Air Horns!!!

I mounted them in the stack location. Easy one wire hookup. These mofo's are loud! 128 fb of dual frequency air horns. I couldn't handle the factory horn. Wimpy by today's standards.

It hope to stop the heart of the next SOB that pulls out in front of me!

[SunSoaked]

Update. Runs like a brand new vehicle.

Found this story that pretty much sounds like mine.

https://www.chevyhardcore.com/tech-s...-4-efi-system/

[jjzepplin]

NICE! Following along for longevity details.

[sweetk30]

hay SUNSOAKED i just got a fresh batch of stickers . . . .

glad your happy with it .. i cant wait to have time to realy test and tune mine in more .

i did save a buddy localy tho from the HXXXXX brand tbi unit of hell . . . . he returned it and got a pro flo 4 unit .

[SunSoaked]

Update-

I haven't put a lot of miles on it but, it generally runs great. Always fires right up.

Two issues I've ran into:

The map (calibration thats pre-loaded) based on the engine specs seems to have to much timing at heavy throttle. I think it's because my very common 350 sbc has Vortec heads and doesn't like as much timing I have read.

So, I will pull a few degrees out at that area if the curve.

The second thing has nothing to do with the PF4 performance. After the swap I gained a lot of static and noise in my stereo. Please note, I have a very high end system with multiple amps and components.

Today I moved the coil from behind the distributor to the passenger side of the firewall, about 14 inches left of center. It completely eliminated the noise. Conclusion, the Blaster 2 coil puts out a lot of RFI that was bleeding into the deck.

Otherwise, all is great so far.

[sweetk30]

had to play with my timming on the all vortec L31 engine also .

[SunSoaked]

I was gonna back the timing off today but couldn't get my phone to make the Bluetooth connection. Uninstalled and downloaded the app several times and was convinced the ECU was the issue. Then I decided to restart my phone and whadda ya know...magic.

I've noticed when the Powers that be push updates on my Android sometimes it affects my settings. In this case, the latest push turned off my permissions for certain apps.. PF4 being one of them.

By then I had to go to work, so I'll go at it again tomorrow.

[MySons68C20]

I appreciate you keeping us up to date on this.
Thank you.