Howell FI problems

Voodoo 6

Voodoo 6

New Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2006
Location
Mooresville, NC
Any good input would be appreciated. I have a howell FI system on my 79 Cj 258 inline 6. Installed it about a 8 months ago. I have had nothing but problems since. mainly driveablity. and i only get about 10- 11 MPG. the only good things are that it does start immediately and has no problems on hills. I have replaced every component except the temp sensor at one time or another. First the fuel pump went out, after about 2 months, then the ECM, I just replaced the engine a couple of weeks ago. Then the TPS went out then the AIC motor went out. I have replace the 02 sensor , the one howell provided blew the wire out he end.
Eveything and I mean everything on the motor is new. Hoses , belts,distributor, wires, coil, igniton module, alternator. I ran seperate grounds and have done voltage drop tests. I am at my wits end.................... the only thing that hasn't changed between the old engine and the new one is the FI system. and yes i have checked and double checked for vaccum leaks , even to the point of removing parts and using silicone on the gaskets.
I am about to remove the FI system and go back to a carb. At least it was reliable. and I got at least 14 MPG.

I have contacted howell on more than once and they give me the to too bad for you treatment.
So anyone with similar problems that has any ideas for me to check would be great.
I just sunk $~2700 into it in the last month so I am looking for the cheapest fix now.:bounce2:
 
After digesting your thread, it appears Howell is a POS supplier. I suggest you write to your local TV news reporter that takes on consumer complaints. I bet you will get a resolution to the problem. I would suggest asking for complete refund and go back to a carb. Why, looks like their parts are junk. I hope you got a 12 mo warranty but that may not matter once the reporter has the boss by his grapes. Until you go this route, I suspect Howell will blame you for all the problems until you go away.

My $0.02 :beer:
 
Do you have any knowledge of Howell?
They are huge. They really dont care if a TV crew in BFE NC calls or not. Sorry.

I am a little conccerned with all you have had to replace. If you are breaking new ECMs, and New O2 sensors, New TPS etc. I would really stop and look.


Do you have good steady voltage regualtion? Despite the fright most have towards FI, its really fairly straight forward.

If you have steady voltage and Vacuum it either works or you have a defective piece. The fact that your defective piece seems to jump around leads me to investigate environment and installation.

I have no history of dealing with Howell, except fixing a system for a friends son. And there are good and bads with everyone. You may just have a bad product, but after 8 months you may have trouble getting much warranty help.

Due to the very nature of our hobby we abuse what we buy, and probably dont use it as intended.
 
There's GOT to be something wrong with the install. I have installed 2 and seen countless Howell installs..

You've got a voltage problem somewhere.. to blow the wire out of the o2 sensor? That's insane, and I really can't even fathom exactly what you mean short of a lightning bolt. What is your voltage, as checked with a multimeter... over 14.5?

Try this- go somewhere DARK. really dark. Start the engine, and look all over. If my hunch is correct, you're gonna see a light show.
 
Howell is still at fault....any EE with a brain would design the FI computer to deal with power surges, HV spikes, EMI and even a poor ground. They are jerking this guy around and they need the bad publicity if they are not going to support him until he is a happy customer. If it was YOU, you'ed be pissed too! I would make one final request from Howell then slam them. There is a lot more going on here than transient spikes possibly coming from a errant voltage regulator and if the install was done according to Howell's instructions, they are liable.

I rest my case.....:beer:
 
SEAIRESCUE said:
Howell is still at fault....any EE with a brain would design the FI computer to deal with power surges, HV spikes, EMI and even a poor ground.
Click to expand...

Howell uses standard GM ECU's.
 
I've also installed 4 Howell systems, 2 on 258s, all stock GM parts; I had a couple of bad sensors on one of them, but for the most part they all ran excellent right off the bat. I agree with the spark show theory. You have a loose/bad wire/ground issue somewhere.

Shannon
 
SEAIRESCUE said:
.any EE with a brain would design the FI computer to deal with power surges, HV spikes, EMI and even a poor ground.
Click to expand...

Sure they would.
Go look at any car you'd like Lets say, Mercedes (lets use a quality item here) hook 100V or so to the battery cables and check the ecm....

A hung regulator slamming 18-20 VDC into an ecm that is looking for milliamp fluctuations....somethings gonna blow.

My point no engineer can design for ALL spikes
 
thanks for the input, but.............

When I said the wire blew out of the o2 sensor, I meant physically not by a electrical spike. No there was no exhaust obstruction. So I think it was a cheap part.I am a certified electronics technician by trade. Give me a little credit guys. I know about electronics and how to troubleshoot. I have even had a GM master tech look at. I have a first rate install of the howell kit.

I just was wondering if anyone else had solutions to off the wall problems they might have had.
 
ok, first you bought a 'kit' with a generic tune (chip) in it. Every aspect of your jeep can affect the drivability. That said how did you determine all those other sensors are bad and needed to be replaced?

Im running a pure junk yard TBI setup on my jeep, all sensors except the O2 are from very used vehicles. The GM TBI setup is one of the most reliable out there, my sensors all work 100% and can be easily verified by my laptop and some free software..

So your still left with a not drivable jeep :) never fear.. The howell I believe uses the 7477 ECM (id have to double check) with a very mild/safe tune (chip) to allow it to fit and work on many different jeeps.. usually this means its rich this at the expense of economy and power..

If you want to kill an afternoon I can show you my setup and what i've done to learn about the TBI setup and how I tune it. With a few 10-20min drives you can probably put a much better tune on it that will help it alot..

wiring in grounds is great, but if they arnt in the right spots it wont matter...
 
winldl and a ptach cord and laptop, can dramatically change a TBI set up, thats for sure.

Im still a little confused on the O2, but any blowing wires off is odd to say the least
 
i installed the Howell TBI setup on my 87 YJ. Two things i had really go wrong with it was if I hit a really bad pothole, two wires would rub and would short out the fuse that ran in line before the computer. The other was the ignition module went bad and we didn't know that it did.That was the worst things about it. I thought Howell's product was great. They forgot to include the MAP sensor so they sent us a new one. Great customer help, at least for me. I know its been said before...but have you gone back over the wires from the kit? We did it a bunch of times making sure nothing was crimped or rubbing together.

Zack
 
I run a howell and luv it, BTW the CTS sensor can kill your mileage and idle quality. You should replace it too. in for penny, in for a pound.

I have nothing to offer about the shorting sensors other than what method did you use to determine they were faulty???????
 
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