This really sucks.
I just got of the phone with NOS tech support, and I found out that there
is absolutely NOTHING available for the Dakota after 1993-1994. (Or the
Ram)
Here's the deal:
After 1993 or 1994, Dodge changed the fuel system. They moved the
fuel pump inside the tank, and they removed the fuel pressure regulator
in the engine along with the return line to the gas tank. Thank the EPA
for this one; it has something to do with gas evaporating in the line or
the tank or something...
Anyway, a nitrous system has to increase fuel flow when the juice is
flowing, in relation to engine RPM, etc. Basically the way the kits
worked before is that they told the fuel pressure regulator to flow
whatever pressure they needed. Now, they're trying to use the computer;
telling the computer to switch to a different map, which controls the
fuel flow when the nitrous was on. This doesn't work anymore; they
can't get the computer to consistantly switch maps. It sounded to me
like they were actually reprogramming the computer, but I'm not sure
how they'd do this... (Bill, do you know how your NOS system works?
Does it hook into the computer at all?)
I asked him about the possibility of ignoring the computer, and
adjusting the flow AFTER the computer. He said that the flow has to
vary with RPM. I'm not sure if he completely understood what I was
getting at, but here's my thinking:
Ignore the computer, and just send the appropriate signal to the
injectors to achieve the flow you want. You'll need an RPM input to
adjust the flow. This is a fairly simple task for a microcontroller
which can be had for about $2.50 each. The only thing is that I don't
know if there is anything else other than RPM that determines how much
fuel you should flow. Also, do the injectors send a signal back to
the computer? If so, the signal might be wacky and the computer might
start to shut things down. UNLESS... At WOT, the computer is in a
closed loop and ignores inputs anyway, right? If one could figure out
how much fuel to flow throughout the RPM curve (easy for NOS, I should
think), you could just send the proper voltage (or whatever) to the
injectors to control the flow.
According to the NOS guy, there was a guy with a newer Jeep
(Cherokee, I assume) who actually converted his engine to the old
fuel system so he could use nitrous. They never heard back from
him, so they're assuming it worked. He also said there was the
possibility of drilling the manifold, and shooting nitrous diagonally,
into opposite cylinders. He said that would be about 8 inches, which I
think is probably too long. (You'd be shooting gas into the mix, as
opposed to liquid nitrous, which is much better for cooling.) They've
been working on this system for 2 years, on and off. They aren't
working on it at all right now, he said that after the current projects
are finished up, they might come back to this. He actually hinted that
they might just skip to the 97-98's, since the computer is apparently
standardized for those... I get the feeling they aren't all that motivated
to do this, although he said a lot of people have been inquiring about
it. They are having the same problem with the Chevey Vortec engines.
Maybe if enough Chebby guys complain, they'll work out a solution that
will work for us too. (yeah, right!)
He said that they won't come out with anything for at least 6 months.
(if at all...)
This is not good... :-(
-Jon-
.--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu -- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---.
| DoD# 1038, EAA# 518210, NMA# 117376, USUA# A46209, KotWitDoDFAQ, RP-SEL |
| '96 Dodge Dakota v8 SLT Club Cab, '96 Kolb FireFly 447 (#FF019) |
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I do not speak for the SUNY College at Fredonia; any opinions are my own.
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