The angle of the nipples are not critical.

Udo

_________________
www.granata.blogger.de

Nice work Chris. You'll have it in and running in no time!

_________________
1978 Mustang II King Cobra
89 5.0HO, Stock Short Block, Edelbrock 4bbl aluminum intake, Holley 650 double pumper, MSD 6AL, Ford F303 cam, 1.7:1 Crane Roller Rockers, Pocket Ported stock heads, Hedman Long Tube Headers
5 spd Manual
Full roll cage, 9" full floater w/Currie trac lock/373 gears, RCI Fuel Cell
Project Page: http://www.brandttuning.com/projects.htm

Earlier this week, I got the taps ground down and the lower siliconed up and mounted down to the heads. Here's what the taps looked like before:



And after:



I was amazed by how easily the brass ground down. A Dremel abrasive drum (course grit) is all it took. All 8 were knocked down smooth is a matter of about 10 minutes.

Now I can start working on the bar I'll use to hold the CNG injectors, the hoses from the injectors to the taps, and the CNG Injector harness.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

I think the turbulences ot nippels that goes in the chanel will help distribution,
but it is only feeling not testet

Udo

_________________
www.granata.blogger.de

I got the plate cut & drilled:




Next is making up the custom CNG injector harness.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

were you not going to be able to link the 2 injector packs directly together? even with just a T in the middle, so the inlet feed was center and not on the end? Just looked like kinda strange angling

_________________
1978 Mustang II King Cobra
89 5.0HO, Stock Short Block, Edelbrock 4bbl aluminum intake, Holley 650 double pumper, MSD 6AL, Ford F303 cam, 1.7:1 Crane Roller Rockers, Pocket Ported stock heads, Hedman Long Tube Headers
5 spd Manual
Full roll cage, 9" full floater w/Currie trac lock/373 gears, RCI Fuel Cell
Project Page: http://www.brandttuning.com/projects.htm

The angling was necessary to get the hoses to not pinch. As for the Tee, I still plan to Tee them together but only to guarantee the pressure between the two regulators is equal.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

yeah I couldn't remember if you were running 2 regulators or 1. Should work good though!

_________________
1978 Mustang II King Cobra
89 5.0HO, Stock Short Block, Edelbrock 4bbl aluminum intake, Holley 650 double pumper, MSD 6AL, Ford F303 cam, 1.7:1 Crane Roller Rockers, Pocket Ported stock heads, Hedman Long Tube Headers
5 spd Manual
Full roll cage, 9" full floater w/Currie trac lock/373 gears, RCI Fuel Cell
Project Page: http://www.brandttuning.com/projects.htm

Well, I got to looking closer at what I would need to do to get the CNG injector harness done. I identified that the one I need is the black connector and then I identified all the wires on that harness and everything was looking good until I studied the wiring diagrams a little closer. There's an annoying snag. The ISC and CANP solenoids use the same power supply as the injectors. The plan was to put a relay in between the main harness and the injectors and via the relay, select whether power goes to the CNG injectors or the gas injectors. The problem is that while in CNG mode, I'd be cutting voltage to the ISC and CANP at the same time. So it's not just as simple as making up a harness to go in between the main and gas injectors. I'll have to sever the ISC from the injector harness and power it prior to the relay. I could care less about the CANP valve. After all, if I'm not burning gasoline why should I care?

Other than that, I got the CNG injector connectors clipped off of the CNG harness that was originally meant to plug to a CNG computer. Next I have to get a perf board to solder my current-limiting resistors down to. I don't trust the soft wires coming out of those ceramic resistors to not break if they aren't soldered down to something solid. And having a board to solder them down to will give me something to line them all up side-by-side on. I should be able to mount such a plate of resistors on the backside of that steel plate bolted to the intake to keep them out of the way.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

i still vote for a turbo, figure a 76mm @ 20lbs should make her fun

_________________
http://www.efidynotuning.com/ford/

Turbos have been used in Rangers, but it takes significant modification. In many cases, the installer sacrificed AC and relocated the battery to the bed to make room for the snail shells. Then there's all the added tubing everywhere. Maybe some day, but that's beyond the scope of this project.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

turbos typically increase fuel economy by at least 20%


something to think about

_________________
http://www.efidynotuning.com/ford/

I haven't had much movement on this in a while and unfortunately don't for probably the next 2-3 weeks. But it's not a dead project...not by a long shot. But for those that were following this effort, there's some encouraging news in the mainstream media that promises to make CNG conversions much more affordable:
GE Researchers Developing At-Home Refueling Station for NG Vehicles

The Cliffs Notes version of the article is they want to develop a CNG refueling station that:

• Virtually maintenance free
• Compresses NatGas to CNG via cooling instead of brute-force compression
• Refuels in an hour instead of 5-8hrs
• Sells for ~$500 vs today's CNG refueling stations that are ~$5000

If they can pull this off, I expect CNG conversions will be MUCH more popular. The catch obviously is, can they do it? I'm thinking they'll come up with something, but it won't be for $500...at least not initially.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

GE's research dept is pretty top notch. If they put some resources towards it, i see it as doable.

_________________
1978 Mustang II King Cobra
89 5.0HO, Stock Short Block, Edelbrock 4bbl aluminum intake, Holley 650 double pumper, MSD 6AL, Ford F303 cam, 1.7:1 Crane Roller Rockers, Pocket Ported stock heads, Hedman Long Tube Headers
5 spd Manual
Full roll cage, 9" full floater w/Currie trac lock/373 gears, RCI Fuel Cell
Project Page: http://www.brandttuning.com/projects.htm

And yet another article about "affordable" CNG refueling stations on the horizon...and another player mentiond in this article. Eaton.
Home Refueling for Natural Gas Cars

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

how goes the progress, any new updates?

_________________
1978 Mustang II King Cobra
89 5.0HO, Stock Short Block, Edelbrock 4bbl aluminum intake, Holley 650 double pumper, MSD 6AL, Ford F303 cam, 1.7:1 Crane Roller Rockers, Pocket Ported stock heads, Hedman Long Tube Headers
5 spd Manual
Full roll cage, 9" full floater w/Currie trac lock/373 gears, RCI Fuel Cell
Project Page: http://www.brandttuning.com/projects.htm

The only update I have right now is it appears this engine will be going in over the Thanksgiving Holiday. I've always traveled for that holiday to family. This year, I think I'll stay home and take advantage of the long weekend...and take a few additional days if needed the next week after to get the engine installed and running. There's just not much else I can do to the engine until then. As I get closer, I might see how much I can do with getting the CNG tank supported installed in the bed even if the tank isn't in them. And I might be able to drill some holes in the frame where I expect the CNG regulators to go. But I wouldn't want to install them until the rest of the system is able to also be installed.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

cool, just curious. Looking forward to seeing it in and running!

_________________
1978 Mustang II King Cobra
89 5.0HO, Stock Short Block, Edelbrock 4bbl aluminum intake, Holley 650 double pumper, MSD 6AL, Ford F303 cam, 1.7:1 Crane Roller Rockers, Pocket Ported stock heads, Hedman Long Tube Headers
5 spd Manual
Full roll cage, 9" full floater w/Currie trac lock/373 gears, RCI Fuel Cell
Project Page: http://www.brandttuning.com/projects.htm

This weekend, I got the bed drilled and the CNG tank mounted. And I also got the power wiring in my house relocated over to where the compressor is and setup on a 50A plug.

I haven't gotten the hard line, regulators, or wiring installed in the truck yet. But those are things that don't require help from others. I think I can get those done by myself. But it's like anything. Having an extra hand sure helps make some things easier. I don't expect getting the regulators mounted to the frame being that difficult. I have no clue how difficult routing the hard line will be. Point is, there is still some forward progress.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

I got the regulators, isolation valve, hardline, and much of the rubber line installed. The major things left now are wiring. I've got a wiring harness already made up, but there are relays to be mounted, cab switch to be installed, injector start-power line to be connected up to the starter power, and route the wire to the isolation valve. It's not a lot of work left, but it's more than I had time to deal with today. Here's what I was able to get done:
The black duct tape on the tank is to protect the tank from my mountain bike. When I put it in the bed, that's where the handlebar grip ring and brake handle contact the tank. It was starting to make little scuffs in the tank and being the tank is fiberglass, I didn't want it tearing into the fiberglass. So I put the tape in those areas and now there's no tank damage from the bike. You can almost see the CNG refueling fitting mounted directly to the tank valve. It's got a SnapTite rubber cover on it which has a green cord tether.

If CNG refueling stations become more popular in my area, I have room to install a coalescent filter, but only just barely. Although for the time being, my CNG compressor has a coalescent filter inside it so I don't need a high pressure coalescent filter on the truck too. Although if CNG refueling stations become more popular in my area, I may need to install one. I'll have to move the isolation valve up closer to the bed and then install the coalescent filter between the iso valve and first regulator.

I wanted to get the regulators closer to the engine bay, but I just couldn't find a feasible place to mount them. There was either obstructions to get a drill on the frame, obstructions to get the hoses on the regulators, or a location the wheel would potentially scrub the regulators or hoses on a tight turn. So for my own safety, I decided to locate them on the mid-section of the passenger side frame.

The rubber hose connected to the front of each regulator is the low pressure (~30PSI) NatGas supply line. There's also vacuum line going to the top of each regulator that regulates the supply line pressure in the same way the vacuum line on FPRs regulates the fuel line pressure in fuel rails. The rubber hose that's going between the two regulators is a coolant line. I didn't complete coolant connections to the regulators because I didn't have enough hose to get coolant plumbed in. The CNG kit came with Tee fittings that will go in-line with the heater core hoses to give me a coolant supply & return tap basically putting the CNG regulators in parallel with the heater core. Each tap goes to each regulator. It was just simpler to plumb the regulators in series. I'm not yet convinced the regulators will get so cold that they'll need coolant to keep them from frosting up like Propane regulators most definitely would. Anybody that has ever recharged an AC system with a refrigerant can knows liquid-to-gas conversions will frost very quickly.

I wanted the filters further down so one isn't sitting right on top of the radiator like that but the lengths of line I had just didn't make that possible. I still have an opportunity to get them lower in the engine bay. I have 3 Tee fittings I bought in the event I find I need to equalize the pressure between the two lines. If one regulator runs slightly higher pressure than the other, I can setup the Tees to make an H-pipe that will ensure the pressure both CNG fuel injector rails receive is the same. But for now, I'm going to see if I can forgo that complication AND all those hose clamps.

Nothing really new here from previous pics. I do need to get some more hose clamps for the rails. I thought I had enough. I'll pick them up when I get more rubber hose to plumb in the coolant lines.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

Well, I ran into a snag with my CNG wiring harness. I originally set it up to look like this:


Viewing only 1 injector as the diagram shows, all looks just fine. However what I didn't think about or anticipate is that when the setup is not in "start" mode, the drive and start resistor on each injector that is OFF will backflow 12v current to any injector that is ON via the start resistor on each ON injector. When only 1 injector is ON, the combined resistance of the other 7 cylinders drops the ON injector's resistance from the intended 11 ohms to something closer to 7 ohms. If anybody's actually interested in me going through the math, I'll be glad to detail it out. Although it's difficult to follow, dry, and rather boring.

Bottom line is the low end of safe for high impedance injectors is 11 ohms. After it occurred to me that this might happen, I tested it with a meter, and sure enough, my calculations were dead-on. I was getting an overall resistance closer to 7.8 ohms. That's too low for safety. As more injectors turn ON simultaneously, the effective resistance would reduce. But I just didn't want to chance the resistance being too great for my A9L's 20+ year old injector drivers.

So I abandoned the start circuit on each injector makes the wiring look more like this:


If for some reason, cranking voltage isn't strong enough to open the injectors, then I'll just get used to cranking on gasoline and flipping to CNG once the engine has started.

I need to get a 1/4" NPT to R12 flare connector so I can vacuum the CNG tank before filling it with Natural Gas for the 1st time. I haven't heard that this is required, but I don't see a reason not to if I can.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

ALWAYS SOMETHIN'!!!!!

I get everything installed in the truck, get all the wiring buttoned up and ready to start checking things out. I turn the key and instead of the gasoline pump, I hear the CNG isolation valve pulse ON then back OFF for 1 second. No biggie, I must've flipped the switch to CNG. So I flip it to the other position and cycle the key expecting to now hear the gasoline pump cycle. CNG isolation valve still cycles instead. I immediately start thinking I've got a wiring problem or a bad relay. I start checking everything out. All looks good. WTF?

Then I start testing the relay, testing the wiring, checking continuity of wires, and verifying nothing is accidentally grounded somewhere. Nothing's amiss. The injector relay IS honoring the switch position. But somehow voltage is getting over to the gas pump/CNG relay regardless of whether the injector relay is commanding the gas or CNG injectors. How can that be? The power for the pump relay is fed only when the injector relay is powering the CNG injectors. Then it occurs to me. Just as above, I'm getting feedback voltage. All the CNG injector positives are tied together. All the Gasoline injector positives are tied together. So when I have power on the gasoline injectors, there's no ground on the other side of those injectors. The voltage goes down through each gas injector and back up each CNG injector electrifying the CNG common rail. And because the pump relay is such a low current draw, the backfeed voltage is enough to energize the relay and thus ALWAYS route power to the CNG isolation valve.

So fine, I think OK wire the damn pump relay just like the injector relay to get its ground via the switch mounted in the cab. That'll solve that problem. But it doesn't solve the whole back-feed problem. If the EEC sinks current to a gasoline injector with the switch in gas mode, I get the target gasoline injector firing AND it's counterpart CNG injector firing at the same time. The backfeed voltage will flow down the other 7 gasoline injectors the EEC isn't grounding, up each of the 7 counterpart CNG injectors, to the CNG common positive, and down the CNG injector the EEC is sinking to ground. While there won't be enough current to fire the 14 gas & CNG injectors that are back-feeding, there might be enough current to fire the CNG injector that is paralleled with the gas injector being fired. From a fueling standpoint, that's no big deal since only the gasoline or CNG injector will be supplied fuel thanks to the pump relay correctly routing power. The problem is the current load on the EEC's injector drivers will be double what was intended. As it turns out, it was a good thing the pump relay misbehaved to clue me in on the voltage backfeed problem before I turned the ignition to attempt cranking the engine.

So how the hell do I solve this problem? One way is isolate each CNG/gas injector pair with its own relay. Another option that's probably less bulky and costly is to add high current diodes in-line with all the CNG and gasoline injectors. At first I considered just putting them on the CNG injectors. That would solve the backfeed problem while I'm in gasoline mode, but it wouldn't solve the problem while I'm in CNG mode as the gasoline injectors would backfeed voltage. Diode controlling voltage flow on each injector should allow me to keep the fuel/CNG valve relay wired up the way it is. Hopefully the diodes won't add too much resistance to the circuit. I already have in-line 8 ohm current limiting resistors on the CNG injectors. I don't really need more resistance on them I don't believe.

What irritates me the most is I didn't think about this before now. All the thinking I did on this, why the hell didn't I consider this possibility? It just never occurred to me that there'd be a problem with backfeed and nobody else that I've shown this to caught that possibility either.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

One piece of good news is I got the compressor hoses connected and running. After connecting the Robinair vacuum pump to the tank to vac-out as much of the oxygen as I could, I connected the compressor to begin filling it with NatGas. The compressor itself is quieter than I expected. However the pulsing it produces on the intake line can be felt in anything that connects to the gas line. When I turn on the stove with the compressor running, you can see and hear the pulsing in the flame coming off the burners. It doesn't reduce the flame size, but it does fluctuate the flame at the frequency of the pulses. It took it about 1.5 hours to produce 300 PSI. Standard recommendation is to compress the tank to 300-500 PSI to check for leaks. Once no leaks are confirmed at that pressure, I'll be able to fill it tight to 3600.

For now, I need to sort out this backfeed issue.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

Can't you wire the pump select relay coil and the injector select relay coil in parallel ?

that would isolate a common between the cng power feed and the isolation valve

That is what I was trying to say I could do to fix the pump relay issue, although I obviously didn't do a good job at saying it.

But that doesn't fix the backfeed of voltage issue that would overload the EEC injector drivers. So since I have to tackle that problem anyway for the sake of the EEC health, I'll probably leave the pump relay the way it is and install 16 diodes at the extension harness where the CNG and gasoline injectors are currently soldered together to go into the main harness back to the EEC. Looking around, I've found that Schottky diodes offer the highest forward voltage (lowest voltage drop across the diode) and can be gotten in 5A and 10A ratings. They sell them on eBay for use in solar panel arrays to bypass shaded/low performing cells or to prevent battery backfeed at night. According to Wikipedia, these type diodes have a significantly higher reverse current leakage as compared to other diode technologies, but the amount is minuscule and hardly of consequence for my purposes.

In other news, the wife did discover another unexpected side-effect of the CNG compressor. The pulsing I was talking about noticing in the stove flame evidently has an even greater affect on the water heater pilot. The compressor is Tee'd in right at the furnace and the water heater so the pulsing would be worse right there. Yeah, she had no hot shower water this morning. So the water heater's now playing catch-up to reheat. Washing clothes last night used up all the hot water that was in there leaving nothing for showers this morning.

So now I have 2 options.

• The water heater is coming up on 13 years old and I'm sure it was the cheapest 6 year contractor grade there is. I can upgrade the water heater with one that has an electronic ignition
• I can run a dedicated line Tee'd in closer to the gas main coming in from outside. It comes in on what I believe is a 1" black iron pipe. The much larger diameter pipe would significantly absorb and muffle the pulses thus isolating them from the other appliances in the house.

One thing's for sure, relighting the pilot just isn't going to be a sustainable solution for the long run.

When I do finally get all the issues ironed out, hopefully others looking to do CNG conversions can read this thread and avoid all my mistakes, pitfalls, and issues.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

6 months after I bought my house my water heater went out, was a conventional 50 gal gas heater

I replaced it with a rheem 18kw tankless electric heater, I have a 3 bath 2 kitchen (wet bar in front room) house and that little 18k I tossed in the attic works exceptionally well, all in all it cost me $800, $550 of which was for the unit itself off amazon, the 220 breaker conduit and 8ga romex made up the rest of the cost
It's supposedly way undersized for my size home but I live alone so I haven't any issues

Under any normal circumstances, that would be a quite viable option. However the builder of my house completely filled the circuit breaker box. There's not a single slot available to install another circuit. I could install those 2-n-1 breakers to make more room. But I've had bad luck with those in the past. The old house I was in had a few of those and I had to replace at least 2 of them over the 5 years I lived there. Granted the 1500w floor heaters and window AC units probably were to blame. But still, I'm not sure I'd want to trust those again. When I pulled the bad ones out, they were visibly charred.

Just looking over the price of water heaters at Lowes, I'm thinking I'll be far cheaper cutting the incoming line and installing a Tee. Fortunately, this is all in the basement so routing and installation shouldn't be a big deal. I will need to price out the cost of the fittings, pipes, hangers, and the tools to install black iron pipe such as a pipe thread cutter.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

Same issue I had, I just tied a couple low draw insignificant things together so I had 2 open slots, my ceiling fan in my front room was on its own breaker, and my external home lights which are no longer used were on a breaker as well, I tied them in with other breakers and had my empty slots

I installed a block valve on the outlet of my heater using pex, I highly recommend pex over copper

My diodes came in and I've got 8 diodes soldered into the CNG wiring and I've almost got all the gasoline injector diodes installed. The wiring harness is laid out across my coffee table right now. I'm hoping to get it completed and taped up this afternoon. These are 55v 10a tolerant diodes with a forward voltage of .165v confirmed with my volt meter that can test diodes. While I should've known they would be bigger, I didn't expect them to be quite as big as they are. 10 amps is a lot of current so you aren't going to pass that through a component the size of a mouse turd. The body of these diodes remind me of the eraser in the end of those fat kindergarten pencils.

Here's the updated wiring diagram of what I have:


For those not familiar with Ford injection systems, the 12v supply going to each injector is common across all injectors. However the wire going from the Gas/CNG injector pair into the EEC is dedicated to each pair.

_________________
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

Member V8-Ranger.com

I got the wiring harness installed in the truck today. The backfeed is now gone in both CNG and Gasoline mode. The dash switch flips between gas and CNG like it is supposed to. Although after driving around on the gas injectors, it seems the in-line diodes have made small PW conditions lean like it is taking a tiny bit of time to begin conducting current which is hardly noticed at loaded conditions but is noticeable at decel and light throttle conditions. It's probably something that can be tuned out but I didn't have time to deal with that.

As for the CNG, it's not running the engine. I checked to see if maybe air in the lines just needed to be purged. So I disconnected the rails from the supply line and let the supply lines vent until I smelled gas. The odd thing is I never smelled gas. EVER. I started getting suspicious that all I'd pumped into the tank was air. But I got my NatGas detector out and put it right in front of the house. Let it vent across it and it started alarming immediately. So evidently the compression and storage of NatGas separates it from the odor agent that is added to the gas. That's interesting and not a desirable thing at all. If there ever is a leak, the gas not having a smell would make it difficult to know about.

And in fact, there were leaks. With the isolation valve turned ON manually, multiple hard line high pressure compression fittings were leaking and not a little. They were leaking HEAVILY. I had to get under there and really cinch them down to get them to hush up. I think one still is pissing a tiny bit, but not like it was. The CNG lines are able to hold pressure now.

But even with that fixed, the CNG system isn't running the engine. I loaded a tune with injector slopes of like 10 and reved the engine up with gasoline, then flipped to that tune & CNG injectors and nothing. The WB didn't even indicate a very lean mix. Just nothing. My gut feeling is the inline current limiting resistors and diodes are just too much to open the injectors. I don't know that for sure, but that's my take. I'll need an O-scope to verify more about what is happening on the injector lines while in CNG mode. The CNG diodes are installed the same direction the gas injectors are, so I'm 90% sure I didn't wire them in backwards (stripe side goes toward the EEC, not the injectors).

Bottom line, there's more to figure out and know. I may have to break down and buy those low impedance injector drivers if I find these injectors aren't firing. This was a fundamental detail that was unknown from the beginning as to whether the current-limiting resistors would work or not. So it won't be completely unexpected if I find that manually firing the injectors gets the engine to blip or obviously sound like it is getting fuel, but the EEC simply can't get them to open with NatGas line pressure on them, then the next step will be to buy those low impedance driver adapters and try that.

For the time being, I disconnected the CNG harness from the pepper connectors to get the diodes out of the mix. I'm hoping that'll get my driving behavior back the way it was so I can get it emission tested for the last time.

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...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331 w/GT40p heads, ported Explorer lower, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, 1.6RRs, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, Slot Style MAF, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, Innovate LC-1, GUFB, Moates QuarterHorse tuned using BE&EA

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