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Point of No Return: Returnless Fuel Injection Systems

PointofNoReturn:ReturnlessFuelInjection
Systems
Ifyouvetriedtofindthefuelpressureregulatoronmanylatemodelenginesbylookingintheengine
compartment,youwontfindittherebecausetheregulatorhasbeenrelocatedtothefueltank.
Engineswithreturnlesselectronicfuelinjection(EFI)systemshavetheregulatorinsidethefuel
tank.Theregulatorispartofthefuelpumpassemblyandisusuallylocateddownstreamoftheintank
fuelfilter.
Whyhavethevehiclemanufacturersgonetothistypeofsetup?Toreduceevaporative(EVAP)
emissionsfromthefuelsystem.In2004,federalemissionregulationsrequiredlowerEVAP
emissions.This,inturn,requiredachangetoreturnlessfuelinjectionsystemsonmanyvehicles.
Onaconventionalportfuelinjectionsystem,fuelisroutedtoafuel
railontheenginetosupplytheinjectors.Fuelpressureiscontrolled
byavacuumoperatedmechanicalregulatormountedonthefuel
rail.Intakevacuumisroutedtotheregulatorthroughavacuum
hoseandpullsagainstaspringloadeddiaphragmtomaintaina
presetpressuredifferentialinthefuelsystem.Whenintake
manifoldvacuumishigh,excessfuelpressureisventedthroughthe
regulatorbypassvalveandroutedbacktothefueltankviaafuel
returnline.Unfortunately,thiscarriesalotofengineheatbackto
thefueltankandincreasesevaporativefuelvaporemissions.
Relocatingtheregulatortothefueltankeliminatesthecirculation
offuelbetweentheengineandtanksothefuelstayscooler.Italso
simplifiesthefuelsystemplumbingbyeliminatingthereturnline.
Anotheradvantageisthatputtingtheregulatorinthefueltank
keepsitawayfromengineheatandextendsitslife.TheonlydownsidewiththereturnlessEFIsetup
isservicingtheregulator.Iftheregulatorneedstobereplacedforanyreason,youhavetodropthe
fueltanktoextracttheintankfuelpumpmodule.Thesamegoesforthefuelfilter,whichisalso
locatedinsidethefueltankwiththepumpmoduleonmostapplications.
WhereYoullFindReturnlessEFI
Returnlesssystemsarenowusedonmanylatemodelcarsandtrucks.Thefirstonesappearedbackin
1993oncertainChryslerV6andV8truckengines.By1998,allChryslercarsandlighttruckshad
them.In1996,Toyotaintroduceditsfirstreturnlesssystem,andHondawentreturnlessin2001.
GeneralMotorsandFordstarteddownthereturnlessroutein1999,andin2004,GMwentreturnless
onmostofitsfullsizepickuptrucksandSUVswiththeVortec6000(LQ4andLQ9)engines,
includingtheCadillacEscaladeChevySilverado,SuburbanandTahoetheGMCSierraandYukon
andHummerH2.
Actually,therearetwodifferenttypesofreturnlessEFIsystemsinuse:mechanicalandelectronic.In
themechanicalsystems,amechanicalregulatorismountedonthefuelpumpmoduletoprovidea
moreorlessconstantfuelpressuretotheengine.Thistypeofsetupworkswellwithaspeeddensity
EFIsystemthatusesthrottleposition,intakemanifoldpressureandenginerpmtodetermineengine
loadratherthananairflowsensor.
On1996ChryslerandDodgeminivanswithreturnlessEFI,theregulatorcanbeservicedbyremoving
thefuelpumpmodulefromthefueltank,thenpryingbackthelockingtabsthatholdtheregulatorin
itshousing.Theregulatorcanthenbepriedoutandreplacedwithanewone.TherearealsotwoO
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Point of No Return: Returnless Fuel Injection Systems

ringsinsidethehousingthatalsoshouldbereplaced.Forgetthese,andthesystemmaynothold
normalpressure.
ElectronicreturnlessEFIsystemsalsomaybereferredtoasOn
DemandreturnlessEFIsystemsbecausetheyuseafueltank
pressuresensortomonitorfuelpressure.ThePCMvariesthespeed
ofthefuelpumptoincreaseordecreasefuelflowusingpulsewidth
modulation(PWM)ofthepumpssupplyvoltage.ThePCM
determineshowmuchfuelisrequiredbasedonengineloadand
inputsfromitsothersensors.Thistypeofsystemistypicallyused
onanenginethathasanairflowsensortomonitorengineload.
2005ChevySilverado
Ona2005ChevySilverado,forexample,theondemandreturnless
EFIsystemhasaturbinestylefuelpumpinsidethefueltankthat
routesfuelthroughanintankfiltertotheintankregulator.The
regulatormaintainsapresetpressuretothefuelinjectionsystem,
whichis55to62psi(or48to54psionengineVINcodeZ).Afuelpressuresensorismountedontop
ofthefuelpumpmodulesopressureandflowcanbemodifiedasneeded.Thesystemhasanumberof
differentoperatingmodes:

StartingMode:Whentheignitionisfirstturnedon,thePCMenergizesthefuelpumprelayfor
twoseconds.Thisallowsthefuelpumptobuildpressureinthefuelsystem.ThePCM
calculatestheair/fuelratiobasedoninputsfromtheenginecoolanttemperature(ECT),massair
flow(MAF),manifoldabsolutepressure(MAP)andthrottleposition(TPS)sensors.Thesystem
staysinstartingmodeuntiltheenginespeedreachesapredeterminedrpm.

ClearFloodMode:Iftheenginefloods,theenginecanbeclearedbypressingtheaccelerator
pedaldowntothefloorandthencrankingtheengine.Whenthethrottlepositionsensorisat
wideopenthrottle,thePCMreducesthefuelinjectorpulsewidthinordertoincreasethe
air/fuelratio.ThePCMmaintainsthisinjectorrateaslongasthethrottlestayswideopenand
enginespeedisbelowapredeterminedrpm.Ifthethrottleisnotheldwideopen,thePCM
returnstothenormalstartingmode.

RunMode:ThisincludesOpenLoopandClosedLoop.Whenacoldengineisfirststartedand
isidling,thesystembeginsOpenLoopoperation.ThePCMignoresthesignalfromtheoxygen
sensorsandcalculatestheair/fuelratiobasedoninputsfromtheECT,MAF,MAPandTPS
sensors.ThesystemstaysinOpenLoopfuelcontroluntilbothfrontoxygensensorsarehotand
producingavaryingvoltagesignal,enginecoolanttemperatureisaboveaspecified
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temperature,andacertainamountoftimehaselapsedafterstartingtheengine.

SpecificcalibrationvaluesfortheseconditionsarestoredinthePCMselectricallyerasable
programmablereadonlymemory(EEPROM).Oncetheconditionsaremet,thesystemgoes
intoClosedLoopandthePCMstartstocalculatetheair/fuelratioandmodifytheinjectoron
timeusinginputsfromtheoxygensensorsandothersensors.

AccelerationMode:Whenthedriverpushesontheacceleratorpedal,theenginesucksinalot
ofair.Tokeeptheenginefromhesitating,thePCMincreasesthepulsewidthtotheinjectorsto
provideextrafuelenrichment.

DecelerationMode:Whenthedriverreleasesthe
acceleratorpedal,airflowintotheengineisreduced.
ThePCMmonitorsthecorrespondingchangesinthe
TPS,MAPandMAFsensors.ThePCMshutsofffuel
completelywhendeceleratingrapidly,andwhenthe
vehicleiscoastingdownwiththethrottleclosed.This
savesfuelandpreventsdamagetothecatalyticconverters.

BatteryVoltageCorrectionMode:Ifbatteryvoltageislow,thePCMcompensatesfortheweak
sparkdeliveredbytheignitionsystembyincreasingfueldelivery(enrichingtheair/fuel
mixture),increasingengineidlespeedandignitiondwelltime.

FuelCutoffMode:ThePCMcutsofffuelfromthefuelinjectorswhenthefollowingconditions
aremetinordertoprotectthepowertrainfromdamageandimprovedriveability:Itdoesthis
whentheignitionisoff(preventsenginerunonwhentheengineishot)whentheignitionison
butthereisnoignitionreferencesignal(preventsfloodingorbackfiring)whentheengine
speedistoohigh(revlimiter)whenthevehiclespeedistoohigh(speedlimiter)andduringan
extended,highspeed,closedthrottlecoastdown(reducesdecelemissionsandincreasesengine
braking).
Diagnosis
ReturnlessEFIsystemsaresubjecttothesameproblemsasanyothertypeoffuelinjectionsystem:
pumpandrelayproblems,pluggedfuelfilters,dirtyinjectors,evenbadgas.Consequently,diagnosis
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issimilar.

ReturnlessEFIsystemstypicallyoperateatahigherpressurethanreturntypesystems.Thisis
necessarytoreducetheriskoffuelboilingandvaporlockintheinjectorsupplyrailduringhot
weather(sincethereisnorecirculationoffuelfromtheenginebacktothetanktokeepthefuelsupply
railcool).Becauseofthis,areturnlessEFIsystemmaynotperformwelliffuelpressureorflowis
lessthanspecifications.
Fuelpressurechecksonreturnlesssystemscanbedoneintheusualwaybyattachingagaugetothe
servicevalvefittingonthefuelsupplyrail,oryoucanhookupascantoolandlookatthefuel
pressurePIDtomeasurefuelpressure.Youcanalsouseafuelpressuregaugetocrosscheckthe
accuracyofthescantoolfuelpressurereading(whichwilltellyouifthefuelpressuresensorisoutof
calibration).
Onreturnlesssystemsthatusepulsewidthmodulationtovarythespeedofthefuelpump,youshould
beabletoreadthevalueofthecontrolsignalonyourscantool.Lookforachangeinthenumber
whenenginespeed/loadchanges.Nochangewouldtellyoutheresaproblemwiththefuelpressure
sensor,orpossiblythefuelpumpdrivercircuitinthePCM.
Fuelvolumeshouldalsobemeasuredifyoususpectaweakpumpisstarvingtheengineforfuelat
higherspeedsandloads.Aweakpumpcanoftengenerateenoughpressureatidletomeet
specifications,butrunsshortwhenthedemandforfuelgoesup.Asarule,agoodpumpwilldeliver
atleast750ml(3/4quart)offuelin30seconds.
Service
Lowfuelpressureand/orflowcanalsobecausedbyapluggedfilter,byrestrictionsinthefuelline,or
lowvoltagetothepumpitself.ThefiltersonmostreturnlessEFIapplicationsarelifetimefilters
withnoscheduledreplacementinterval.Undernormalconditions,mostshouldlastupwardsof
100,000miles,buttheywontlastthatlongifthevehiclehasrustordirtinthegastank.Replacingthe
filterrequiresdroppingthetank,removingthemoduleand,inmostcases,replacingtheentirefuel
pumpmodulebecausethefiltercannotbereplacedseparately.Imaginetellingyourcustomerheneeds
anewfuelfilteranditwillcost$600tochangeit!
Ifanintankfilterhasbecomeclogged,orthefuelpumphasquit,besuretoinspecttheinsideofthe
fueltankafteryoupulloutthefuelpumpmodule.Dirtandsedimentcanberemovedbysteam
cleaningthetank.Butifametaltankisrusty,replacethetanktopreventarepeatfailureofthenew
pumpmodule.
SomethingelsetowatchoutforonreturnlessEFIsystemsiscontaminantsinthefuelrailonthe
engine.Therailisadeadendasfarasfuelcirculationisconcerned.Fuelflowsonewayintotherail
anddoesnotreturntothetank,soanyjunkthatgetspastthefuelfilterwillendupintherailor
injectors.Theinjector(s)attheendofthefuelrail(s)furthestfromtheinletaretheonesmostlikelyto
becomecloggedwithgunk.
Injectorscanbecleanedwithfueltankadditivesoroncarflushingequipment.Buttherailshouldbe
removedandcleanedseparatelyifoneormoreinjectorsarefoundtobeclogged,ortheinjectorsare
beingcleanedoffcarorarebeingreplaced.
Gasolinethatdoesnotcontainadequatelevelsofdetergentcanallowfuelvarnishdepositstobuildup
intheinjectors,restrictingfueldeliveryandcausingleanmisfireproblems.Depositscanalsoformon
theintakevalves,pistontopsandcombustionchamberthatadverselyaffectperformanceand
compression.MostvehiclemanufacturersnowrecommendusingTopTiergasolinesthatcontain
higherlevelsoffuelsystemcleaningadditivestokeeptheinjectorscleanandtopreventengine
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depositbuildup.Thealternativeistousesometypeoffuelsystemcleaneradditiveinthefueltank
periodically(sayevery3,000to5,000miles),ortorecommendaperiodicfuelinjectorandengine
cleaning.Thelattercanoftenrestorenormalperformanceandmakeanoticeableimprovementinfuel
economywhetheranenginehasreturnlessEFIsystemornot.

DidYouKnowIntheolderreturntypesystems,thefuelpumpdeliversmorefueltotheengine
thanitactuallyneeds.Theexcessfuelisthenroutedbacktothefueltankthroughapressureregulator
andreturnline.Butinareturnlesssystem,thereisnopressureregulatoronthefuelsupplyrailandno
returnlinebacktothetank.Theregulatorismountedinthefueltankandisusuallypartofthefuel
pumpmodule.

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