Merc 5.6 V8 conversion

Message

willholman · #1 Post by **willholman** » Mon May 12, 2008 2:29 pm

Hello

I have a 1971 Merc 280SE that currently has a Romano injection system on it. I'm about to replace the 2.8-litre straight six with a Merc 5.6 V8 from a 90s car. Obviously I need to retain LPG. The car was originally converted about five years ago and it worked brilliantly for 18 months. I used to get 250 miles from an 80 litre tank of gas. However, the car then came off the road for three years for a rebuild. When I got it back on the road again the gas system still seemed to work fine but the car would only do around 150 miles on a tank. I spoke to Romano and they suggested squirting WD40 through the fuel rail. I did this several times but, apart from lot of white smoke, it had no effect.

Is this likely to be an injector fault or could it be that the lambda's gone haywire? I want to tarnsfer this system to the V8 but if the injectors are unreliable I may think again. Having said that I already have them (and two spares) so can I overhaul them?

The alternative is to fit an Impco gas carb that I also have. I know Impco stuff is very reliable but it's also very bulky and fitting it in would be tricky. Plus, I'm reluctant to go backwards technologically speaking if I can get the injection system to work properly.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Will Holman

willholman · #2 Post by **willholman** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:25 pm

Thanks. I didn't realise spares were so hard to get for Romano stuff. I have another vapouriser so was planning on simply having two.

willholman · #3 Post by **willholman** » Fri May 16, 2008 12:25 pm

Well I'm going to have a go at stripping one of them anyway - what have I got to lose? Hopefully the seal will be a standard O-ring.

willholman · #4 Post by **willholman** » Mon May 19, 2008 9:52 am

Thanks Ross

I'm told they we need recalibrating, which apparently will cost around £60 for eight of them. I've now bought the software to get into the ECU. Still need to get a cheap laptop to run it on (I only use Macs usually) so once I've done that and rigged it up, do you have any idea what I should be looking for in order to diagnose the problem?

Thanks

Will Holman

willholman · #5 Post by **willholman** » Mon May 19, 2008 11:07 am

Thanks Ross. As soon as I manage to find a laptop I'll have a go and post back to let everyone know what I find.

Cheers

Will.