The Lost Art Of Mechanical Fuel Inection

[Tyler S]

Nice writeup in Road & Track Magazine

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a26665/mechanical-fuel-injection/

[mdsalemi]

Thanks for that.  I absolutely loved the subheading...

Like clockwork—just weirder and full of flammable liquid.

[Tyler S]

Michael, I got a kick out of “ it looks like Rube Goldberg's toaster.“

[66andBlue]

This is another gem ... or stinger:
Take the plungers. They run in steel barrels with micron-level clearance. No seals separate them from the oil in the pump's sump. Their fit alone holds back the 400 psi of fuel they can produce. All this for a marque where production inconsistencies mean body panels don't always fit when swapped between cars.

[mdsalemi]

Michael, I got a kick out of “ it looks like Rube Goldberg's toaster.“

It dawned on me, Tyler, that not all of our non-USA friends, and even those USA members who might be either late or very late baby boomers, or even Gen X or Millenials, might not have a clue as to the Rube Goldberg reference--either the man (a cartoonist) or the wacky machines he "invented" in his cartoons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine

[Montreal V8]

   Heath Robinson was Britain's equivalent, his cartoons were also amazingly complex.

[smackYYZ]

For fun, here is a great music video inspired by Rube Goldberg .

https://youtu.be/qybUFnY7Y8w

[Jonny B]

OMG! Great vid! I wonder if that is what is going on inside that little case we call a fuel injection pump...>!?

[mdsalemi]

OMG! Great vid! I wonder if that is what is going on inside that little case we call a fuel injection pump...>!?

Well, JonnyB, in a sense a carburetor does a very similar thing and many carburetors have very few moving parts and very few adjustments. So, in very real sense we do have a Rube Goldberg Machine inside our FI pumps.

While I was entertained by that video, I must say that it didn't appear as if every action triggered something else, it sure appeared as if there was a lot added (remember it's a music video!) just for visual effect. But, very well done indeed.

[MikeSimon]

This is another gem ... or stinger:
Take the plungers. They run in steel barrels with micron-level clearance. No seals separate them from the oil in the pump's sump. Their fit alone holds back the 400 psi of fuel they can produce. All this for a marque where production inconsistencies mean body panels don't always fit when swapped between cars.

The FI pump was not manufactured by Daimler Benz.
It was made by Bosch.
During a time when that supplier still made high quality parts and did not have to compete with cheap Chinese imports.

[neelyrc]

DB and Bosch.....? 

[66andBlue]

The FI pump was not manufactured by Daimler Benz.
It was made by Bosch.

Mike,
read the article again, it deals with a SPICA pump for an Alfa Romeo. The ironic remark about the non-fitting panels refers to that marque not DB.