in recent years i have noticed quite a few pressure regulators with ripped diaphragms, i just figured i would make a note of this since it is also going to be a major contributor to flooding/hard starting issues. the diaphragm on my TII is starting to leak so i figured now is as good of a time as any to mention this growing problem.

if you have hard starting issues when hot and compression tests fine, warm up the car and let it sit for a few minutes. remove the port hose from the regulator and run your finger under the metal nipple, if you have a leak it should show up by either dripping from the port or minor residue on your finger if it is just beginning to fail.

higher boost pressures and higher fuel pressure from say a walbro tend to cause them to fail quicker.


the problem isn't noted in irregular fuel pressures but in the fact that raw fuel is dumped into the intake runner after shutting the car off. it only takes a few seconds to rule out for your hot start problems.

 

I have a feeling this is contributing to my misfiring issue ...I do have hot start problems..

thanks for posting this...

 

this happened to me! had huge hot start issues and never found the issue, untill i mounted a nuke performance fpr to tame my walbro, and boom problem solved!

 

I have found the issue to be the injectors. I always buy new injectors.

 

i've seen more failed regulators than i've seen leaky injectors.

 

ya this is happening to me as we speak... tomei fpr installed old one is still there... and walboro 255lph haha im deleting the old one asap!!!

 

Mine seems like it could have this problem, not sure.

Guess that's another part to replace , having an rx7 you replace parts constantly , the more you replace the better off, especially if you're upgrading.

 

after thinking about this for a while i think a bad fuel pressure regulator could actually be a possibility.

ive seen a couple catastrophically fail, where the diaphragm fails and it actually leaks, but i have to wonder if they don't get stuck/fail in a different way too.

and of course there is another thing to be aware of. Higgi was showing me some datalogs of his car, and he was logging fuel pressure and you can clearly see the fuel pressure regulator top out @10psi

 

yep, beyond 10psi the pressure is pushing on the diaphragm which is usually what tears them.

i know for a fact it is more than a possibility as i've diagnosed and repaired some cars with this symptom with a faulty regulator that was a little more extreme than a slow drip.

 

so are u saying with fuel pressure 10psi or more higher than stock it can screw up, like having a walbro.

makes me want to replace mine with an aeromotive for when I can afford one.

I have 720cc secondaries walbro 255 and rtek 1.7

 

on the pressure port side not the fuel side.

meaning if you apply 10psi of pressure to the regulator you will get a 10 psi fuel pressure increase, beyond that there is a marginal increase but not linear like it is supposed to be.

basically meaning the regulator is only designed for 10 psi of boost max, beyond that it is stressing the regulator diaphragm and offering no benefit of increased fuel pressure.

a walbro could bandaid this by adding more pressure since statically it adds nearly 10psi of fuel pressure without touching anything but it will not follow the increase in boost beyond 10psi.

 

I was hoping to run 10-11 psi with stock top mount

 

that's fine, most problems don't arise until you start trying to push 13+psi through it.

i ran mine up to 16psi for a while and it is only just now starting to seep a small amount after several years.

 

I thought this may pertain to my issue some, but I think my problem is not enough fuel, not too much. Makes me want to have a look at my FPR and make sure it's all good, since I throw code 71.