thx everyone for their input, i found a hose that had blown off my manifold. i didn't think i could fit my whole arm behind there (looking for the hose) but i found it. i put the fuel press guage on that i got and it read 20psi. i upped it to 45psi and then someone at a shop told me that you should set the idle fuel pressure w/ the vac line off the fpr. so he pulls the vac line off, the fule pressure pegs past 100, and the fuel line blows off squirting fuell all over the place. luckily nothing caught on fire, we got it all hooked up again but he wouldnt touch it for fear of something blowing up, so i get home and try to get it below 100 w/ the vac line off. it's down to like 5psi w/ the line on and the exhaust started puttering. this is no good. i called armond and he said that w/ the vac line off it's like i'm at 0psi, so instead of lowering my idle press i needed to lower the rising rate press. i put the idle back up to 40ish, and started messing w/ the rising rate knob. no matter which way i turn it (all the way UP or DOWN) i still hit over 100psi on the rail when i pull the vac line off the regulator. i have installed a check valve on the rising rate part of it, and that works well, any ideas about this situation thou? should i take apart the regulator and clean it like i've read on here mite help? i mite do that tomorrow. thx again for the help.

-bryan
'98 rst

I don't think you are supposed to set the static(idle) fuel pressure on the Cartach FPR with the vac line off. On the Vortech SFMU, you should adjust the static with the line off, but this is a different FPR. The one thing i fear that *could* have happened, is that you could have torn one of the diaphrams inside the FPR when taking off the vac line. How likely that is, i don't know, its just a thought. There is a metal reed type valve in the FPR that could have come out of alignment some when the pressure shot up. Taking apart the Cartach is very simple, slightly tricky to get back together,but not that hard.BEFORE you take it apart, make a mark on all three body sections that line up. So just take a perm marker, and run a line down the whole side of the FPR so you know where each piece of the reg line up, IT IS important. Take off the alen bolts holding it toghether, it will be under a little spring pressure, so be careful not to loose any parts as you open it. Once the top half is opened, there will be a spring and a little washer in the top half of the FPR. Then there is a diaphram, then the middle section of the regualator, then another diaprham on the bottom section of the regulator. Check the diaphrams for tears and damage, and be sure the top diaphram moves smoothly(there is a piston in the center of it that moves on the metal body its on). On the bottom diaphram, under it, you will see a really thin metal reed plate. It should be centered on the body, and flat against the body. I found some oily substance on mine, i cleaned the whole regulator off with carborator cleaner, even soaked the diaphrams to spray off any crud or dirt. After its all clean, line up the reed plate, line up the diaphrams, then carefully put the spring back in, and then the washer on top of the spring. You will see how it goes toghether when you take it apart, just make a good mental note of how it goes. I used a bench vise to hold the lower body steady when reassembleing the unit, it really helps. After its all toghether, put it back on the car, and WATCH VERY CLOSELY to your fuel pressure when you go to start it back up. It WILL be off. On the second time i took my FPR apart, it pegged up to 90 psi at idle, so watch out. I hope this helps some.

13.5 @108 MPH-2.2 60ft(stupid FWD!)
S16G @ 18 PSI/FMIC/Running on MegaSquirt II (Now with sequential
fuel injection)
My webpage: http://eclipsed4evr.home.comcast.net
-1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS-T- "Toy"
-1992 Plymouth Laser Turbo AWD(SOLD)
-2000 Honda CR-V(daily)

if it is busted, can i buy a diaphram separately? and the fact that the vortech units work like that would explain why he did that, b/c the shop puts the vortech units on their s2000 kits but i got stuck w/ this one, if it's busted i COULD MAYBE get them to cover it but i doubt it. they're assholes. i'm going to put back on the SS line i had on there because i don't trust the T's and stuff i have on there for the guage after it blowing off before. i'll take it apart tomorrow and make sure to keep in in VAC tonite when i drive around. thanks for all the help w/ this fuel crap. maybe i could just dump it off on ebay and get the vortech unit. i WAS planning on the 8inj setup this summer, but i don't have the $$ to get in on corbin's group buy this time around. so no 1:1 for me just yet. until then (springtime) i'd like something that functions correctly at least and i could probably get the vortech at a very good price. like i said i'll take a look at the insides and post tomorrow.

ps whats your IM, i'd like to talk w/ you. i'm mitseclps
pss taking off the hose would technically, like armond says, put the boost level at 0psi, which shouldn't be enough to blow the diaphram i don't think. it might have already been blown. i'll let you know tomorrow.

-bryan
'98 rst

Yeah, i guess the more i thought about it, taking off the vac line shouldn't hurt it. I bought my kit used, and had pressure probs form the install right away. I called HRC and they will not warrenty the FPR since its "used" kit. That really sucks cause the cartach is only sold by them i believe, and its not like i got it somewhere else and am tring to screw them or anything..Their tech guys aren't that pleasent to talk to either. They try and make it sound like its your fault or its def not the FPR being faulty..Yep thats good tech support So i called again and didn't tell them it was a used kit..ect...and they willl warrenty it, but you must send them your old one, they will test it, and if its bad, replace it. You can buy a new one for 200 plus shipping for no down time, and then they can refund you, but thats a big PITA if you ask me..for 100 bucks more, you can get the Vortech SFMU which is MUCH better quality than the Cartach, regardless of what HRC might say. I'll be on AIM later tonight if you need to get hold of me. SN is eclipsed4evr

13.5 @108 MPH-2.2 60ft(stupid FWD!)
S16G @ 18 PSI/FMIC/Running on MegaSquirt II (Now with sequential
fuel injection)
My webpage: http://eclipsed4evr.home.comcast.net
-1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS-T- "Toy"
-1992 Plymouth Laser Turbo AWD(SOLD)
-2000 Honda CR-V(daily)

dude the cartech regulators are crappy. that's my professional opinion. the piston on mine wasn't moving, it was hard to remove the top part from the middle but w/ a lil bit of prying it came off, but then i had to pick at the diaphram a bunch to remove it from the top piece. it was a tad stuck. the bottom and bottom diaphram poped off easy after i removed the bolts. and it looks like the SHOTTY FLIMSY RUBBER DISK THINGS (the all important diaphrams) are ok. no tears. they're a little "worn" on the edges from me pulling them off, but the insides of them have no holes rips or any sort of damage. the rectangular plate wasn't centered, but was covering the center, and i'm about to start cleaning it. when the top came off there was a spring and a small washer above the top diaphram. i'm guessing the small washer goes between the spring and the allen bolt holding the top diaphram to the cylender? that was the only part i wasn't sure of the order.

ps i recommend everyone w/ the cartech regulator to BE CAREFUL. it's not exactly an engineering marvel.

-bryan
'98 rst

>
>ps i recommend everyone w/ the cartech regulator to BE
>CAREFUL. it's not exactly an engineering marvel.

Haha, you got that right Yeah, the washer sits on top of the spring, and the little "nub" on the top inside cover, is where it sits on, which is your static screw. So in this order: static screw, washer, spring, then diaphram. When i took mine apart, that piston was sticky too. So i got the dremel out and kind of polished it some to smooth it out, where the piston rides into that hole, thats what i smoohted out. AFter that, i regreased it(it should be greased) with some white lithium grease to lubricate it. Mine seemed a little dry of grease when i took it apart..That might be causeing all of your fuel pressure problems too, cause that piston needs to move somewhat freely in its bore..Just be careful when reassembling it, so that the washer stays on top of the spring. Having the lower body of the regulator in a vice, really helps so you have both of your hands to work with..

13.5 @108 MPH-2.2 60ft(stupid FWD!)
S16G @ 18 PSI/FMIC/Running on MegaSquirt II (Now with sequential
fuel injection)
My webpage: http://eclipsed4evr.home.comcast.net
-1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS-T- "Toy"
-1992 Plymouth Laser Turbo AWD(SOLD)
-2000 Honda CR-V(daily)

ok the regulator works much better now but it's still iffy. i put it back on the car and my ghettofied fuel line goes POP. it poped off the rail and the car stalled. ok, so i lower the static pressure a BUNCH. now the car won't start, it's going to below 20psi. i up it a little, finally get the car to hold idle at just above 20psi, i up it to 40 and the car PURrrs. mmm. i know counterclockwise for the static pressure is less pressure, and clockwise is more pressure. is it the same for the rising rate knob? i put it all the way up and blocked pinched the vac line w/ a needlenose plyers and it went up to 90. i decided to pull the vac line, it pegged past 100. put the vac line back on, turn the rising rate knob all the way down, pinch it it goes to 90. and i'm pretty sure if i pull the vac it will go above 100 like before. are we sure that if i pull the vac line it measures 0psi? maybe it's reading the atmospheric pressure? isn't that like 14psi? (or am i completely wrong?) b/c this mite explain why it's busting the guage whenever i pull the vac line off to try and see how much fuel pressure i'm getting under boost. so w/ the knob all the way down i revd it and it went up to 90. WOOHOO. much better than hitting the peg. when i redlined it thou it went up to 90 and spiked to 100 for a brief second. i think the shop said that all the way down on the raising rate knob was richer, but i just want to make sure. thx for the help.

-bryan
'98 rst

I believe the brass screw on the cartech is the boost bleed screw. This will not adjust the rise rate of your fuel pressures, it just sets the max pressure at whatever psi you are at. You MUST have the vac check valve on the brass bleed screw! If not, then you are creating a small vacum leak, thats why you are getting wierd pressures at idle. You dont want vac to come back into the regulator, thats what the check valve does..It closes off the vac to the regulator at vac conditions, then opens to let boosted pressure bleed off while under boost to set the right fuel pressures under boost. So when you take off the vac line at the regulator with the engine running, its acts like its under boost, and the fuel pressure rises, its what the regulator is supposed to do..By undoing the vac line on the reg, the reg is thinking its at 0 psi of boost, and it ups the pressures some..but it also causes a vac leak at the same time, so its all messed up. Just DONT take off the vac line at the reg at ALL. You dont need to! Try and get the idle pressure at 47-55 psi of fuel pressure. What your pressures are supposed to be under boost i dont know, the star turbo is different. Get a check valve on the bleed screw vac line, right at the end of it. You need this.
Now that i think of it, the cartech FPR is MEANT for the s16g turbo. The 16g and the t3/4 turbos put out different cfm's, so will require a different fuel pressure rise rate than the 16g turbo. The cartech is designed for a certain rise rate, FOR the 16g. It prob will not be right for your turbo. You NEED a vortech sfmu for your car. I dont think the cartech will ever get it done properly. This is just a thought, someone else might want to confirm also...

13.5 @108 MPH-2.2 60ft(stupid FWD!)
S16G @ 18 PSI/FMIC/Running on MegaSquirt II (Now with sequential
fuel injection)
My webpage: http://eclipsed4evr.home.comcast.net
-1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS-T- "Toy"
-1992 Plymouth Laser Turbo AWD(SOLD)
-2000 Honda CR-V(daily)

Well, I got the new Cartech billet FPR. How i set the idle pressure was taking the vac line off the FPR, set it to 60 psi, then put the vac line back in. My FP dropped to 40, I then set it to 50. Been there ever since and my idle FP has been a pretty steady 50 psi. Somebody posted sometime ago that spoke to Corky Bell. He said that the idle FP has to be set during atmospheric pressure (0 psi). I'm still getting the SFMU though.

Kris
"Someday............I'll have traction problems!!!!"
Tampa, FL
Pinoy Turbo 2GNT

1999 HRC Turbo RS
Stage 2
Auto with BOOST!!!!!!!!!!!!

i tried but i can't get the FPR low enough. whenever i pull the hose vac hose off (not the check valve hose, but the vac line to the manifold) the pressure spikes past 100psi. at one point i had turned the pressure down to about 5psi on the guage (w/ the vac line attached) and when i pulled it it still went above 100.

but just as an update, my car isn't hitting fuel cuts anymore, i think i'm still running high pressures, not sure why, and i do have a CEL that i'll get checked in a day or two. but other than that it runs better than ever.

-bryan
'98 rst