Howell TBI

[CJ]

A couple weeks ago, I installed the Howell TBI system on my CJ7. I have the 258 inline 6, and was running that crappy Carter BBD.

The kit cost $1400 delivered with a K&N Air box and filter. Installation took about 5 hours. Very straight forward kit.

BEFORE:
[img]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b134/kg6dfh/PDR_2738.jpg[/img]



AFTER:
[img]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b134/kg6dfh/PDR_2750.jpg[/img]



Shit I threw away:
[img]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b134/kg6dfh/PDR_2747.jpg[/img]

[Special Ed]

Wow, that's a pile of stuff. What year is your cj ? I bet it runs a lot better.

[CJ]

It's an 83. I have only a small handful of vacuum hoses left. So far, it runs A HELL OF A LOT BETTER.

I demonstrated to a friend of mine how easy it starts. Reach in the window, crank, fire. No pumping the gas pedal, etc. Last Thanksgiving we were camped out in Red Rock, and it took nearly 30 minutes each morning for him to get his Jeep started and running smooth in the cold weather. After my demonstration, he's ordering one for himself!

[CJ]

In October, six of us ran Miller Jeep Trail, and I had issues with my TBI. On the downhills, it was flooding out.

Spoke with a rep from Howell, and he said my return fuel line might be too small (1/4"). My return fuel pressure was between 5 and 6 psi. He said acceptable, but marginal. He also had me open the air/idle adjustment screw a full crank.

The following weekend I went to Red Rock Cyn SP. The freeway drive there was perfect...no issues. When we got on the dirt road, I started having issues. I disconnnected my Fuel Evap Cannister. It was slightly better. Playing in Dove Springs, on steep decents, I was no longer flooding. The following few days of off-roading, I had minor issues with it...it would load up on me. It seemed to be happening when I was very light on the accelerator, then accelerating out of it. It did the same on the freeway going home.

Before my next outing, I'll be upgrading my fuel lines to 5/16". I'll update if that corrected my issue.

[Special Ed]

Will you be able to smog with the new set up?

[Dirty LJ]

That looks awesome!!! Let us know how it works out with the bigger lines.

Also if you have pictures feel free to post them on the pictures page! It is set up so anyone can make there own gallery. The trick is you have to make another login...it is not connected to the forum.

[CJ]

yes, the Howell kit is smog legal. It has a CARB EO#, stickers, etc.

[CJ]

wow, little over a year I've had that TBI in!

As an update:
In Feb., I failed smog because I was running WAY too rich, like 9 X !!! So I called Howell, told of my earlier flooding problems. He burned me a new chip for the computer, snapped it in, and all was great. Passed smog with flying colors.

Now, I hardly give it a thought. The performance has been great. My MPG with 35" tires and 3.73 gears is about 16 MPG on the highway. In October we did Goler Wash, over to Death Valley. I refueled in Stovepipe Wells, and my MPG for highway and trails was 14. Not bad.

Best performance feature is the ability to re-start at funny angles. I no longer have to back down hills to restart.

One year later, Howell still has two thumbs up from me!