Testing fuel injector

[douglas vincent]

When you hook power up to the fuel injector, is it straight off the battery? Or do you have to run a fuse or something inbetween? Or do what?

Thanks

[vrg3]

What exactly are you trying to do? What kind of fuel injector are you testing? Is it off the car? What do you want to determine?

[douglas vincent]

it is just an extra NA injector that I want to run so i can see/hear it work and see what the spray pattern looks like and such. Just a learning experience but I dont want to fry the injector.

[vrg3]

Ah, okay...

I assume you've got a pigtail harness to connect to the injector?

The injector's coil just needs +12v across it. Polarity doesn't matter, and you don't need to limit the current.

How do you plan to supply it with appropriately pressurized fuel? A passenger side fuel rail with a second dummy injector, a fuel pump, and a bunch of hose?

Be really really ridiculously careful! You should create a long wiring harness for this test. Have the injector's wires extend a long distance away (make sure all connections are solid and insulated) from the testing area, and have an assistant apply power from that distance. The same goes for the fuel pump's power supply. The assistant should keep a fire extinguisher handy, too. Gasoline is dangerous stuff, and the spark from an electrical contact is certainly enough to ignite it. It's not good to get all over your skin either, of course.

[LaureltheQueen]

would it be possible to use water?

[vrg3]

Possibly, but:

Water won't flow the same way fuel does, so the observed spray pattern and flow capacity would be different.

I don't think a fuel pump can handle pumping water, so you'd need to come up with some other way of pressurizing the water supply. I don't know if an FPR would work right, but I guess it should.

Finally, the injector won't survive unless it's pickled afterwards by running fuel through it. All the water has to be flushed out completely. This means you'll have to mess with fuel anyway.