FiTech Crank Fuel Settings

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I am trying to dial in a hot [no]start issue I run into on warm days. Cold start is just fine, driving it for hours is great. But if I make a quick stop somewhere, say to fill up for gas or grab something at the store, it won’t start. Acts like it is flooded. Even the handheld controller acts like it is overheated by turning on for a brief moment, then goes blank.

I pop the hood and let it cool for a while. I know it’s ready to fire up when the controller stays on. Starts up no problem and drives great (until another brief stop).

I have only recently learned about the various crank fuel settings at different temps on my FiTech, but having trouble dialing it in. I was curious to hear from any of the other FiTech users on here about the crank fuel (and prime shot) settings. I have a ‘68 300 with a 400 running a Go Street 400 FiTech EFI.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Rapidtrans777]

Following

 

[CBODY67]

I believe that on the OEM EFI systems, if "flood" is detected, no fuel is spritzed until that mode has ended. Then things go back to normal.

Is the controller hooked up for diagnostic purposes only? Why would it overheat, itself? What do the temp and fuel mixture (O2) sensors indicate when this happens?

Just curious,
CBODY67

 

[SPF Required]

I don’t think it is actually flooded, just kind of acts like it... turn the key to on, can hear the prime shot charge, give it a crank. It sounds like it’s going to fire, then just kinda of ‘chugs’. Try again and it just cranks, no indication it is going to fire up. Again, this is only when the engine, and the outside temp is hot.

On the controller, it’s not the device that’s overheating, I think it’s the signal coming from the unit under the hood. The controller will turn on, but then goes blank. I can tell there is power because the screen is dark gray rather than the black it normally is without power.

I adjusted the crank fuel today to -20 at 65F, and -50 at 170F. Cruised for about an hour... temp was about 185 when I turned it off. Stopped for about 20 minutes. Started ok... but outside temp was only about 85, and my stop went longer than I expected. Started up, but did take about 30 seconds to get to a normal idle. Drove her home and all is well.

the current prime shot is at the factory setting of 259. Found some videos indicating that could be a little high. Going to lower that next time and see if that starts to help fix the problem.

I don’t drive in hot weather all that often, but when this problem happens, it’s a real drag.

looking forward to hearing what others may have experienced.

 

[FinFury]

The controller or the hand held should not freeze, in my opinion that is not normal in anyway. I would suspect that there is some thermal problems with the ecu ecu itself, maybe some bad component or bad solder on the circuit board. I would inspect that first and contact fitech

 

[Knebel]

Had Same problem. If the controller goes out or blank, then you need a new battery. Solved my issues. What do you mean by acts like flooded? Does it start, then die? Does it just crank and blubber but wont catch?

My expierience:
Generally the fitech is sensitive to having a good battery. Do that first please. Then lower the Primeshot from 259 to 50. Set all the crank and afterstart fuel to 0. Then just focus on 20 and 65° cold start. Make sure you get that right, rather a tad rich. I have my 20° setting about 10 to 15% richwr than the 65 setting. Once this is all good, move to the 170° and do as I describe:

Tip, when you crank, slightly push on the throttle and see if it starts. If not, not enough crank fuel, if it starts that way, take away crank fuel. 5 to 10 at a time til it will start without pedal. If you have that going and it dies right after, thats afterstart fuel that needs added!

Edit: you say it take a lot to get to normal idle. Were the engine rpm hunting up and down?

 

[billison]

Sorry for bumping an old post. I found this post while troubleshooting the exact same issue as OP. From cold, it’ll fire right up, maybe just a little pedal and I’m off to the races. Once warm , it becomes hard to start. In my case I was trying to set my IAC. I would make my adjustments, shut it down and then it was like trying to start an old carb’d car that’s flooded.

The issue for me what the 12V connection. It was on the starter solenoid and the starting process was pulling the voltage so low the ecu/handheld would crash. I’m guessing the warmer the starter gets the more it pulls. I relocated it to the battery and my problem is gone.

Just wanted to share incase google brings someone else here.


Search terms: FITFECH WHITE SCREEN CRASH HANDHELD STARTING CRANKING

 

[Knebel]

The Fitech is pretty finicky with voltage I noticed. I now have a sniper 2 as my fitech ecu died radomly and wouldnt connect the o2 correctly anymore. Anyhow, if it starts up and just plopps around at low rpm but is running, you might need to up the crank IAC values. Im much happier with the holley, it feels like I went from a toy to an actual TUNEABLE EFI

 

[SPF Required]

Thanks for bumping this back up @billison in now feel kind of bad I never closed this out.

The solution to my problem was replacing the metal spacer between the EFI and the intake manifold with a phenolic one. Someone at a cars and coffee mentioned it. The theory was that the computer in the EFI was ‘heat soaking’ and then telling the car not to start. (You know what I mean).

Swapping out the spacer was a Cheap and easy to at least try it…. And it worked.

I have not had this no start issue ever since.

 

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This is the one I bought: https://a.co/d/hUbrz5R