Opinions of engine owners. Least trouble and lower cost. Carburetor or F I ?

[cyclops222]

Can include ANY type of vehicle. Older the better.

 

[Jeff J]

I have become a big fan of EFI over the years. I love being able to bump the key and go any time, any temperature. Not needing to constantly work on it is a plus too.

 

[cyclops222]

Nothing comes close to my Evinrudes carbed 2 strokes. 1986 and 1999.
All the Cars with F I are erratic. The F I with Direct Injection are constant make oil on short trips. In the summer time in N Y . Will be worse this winter in N J.
Carbed older engines never made oil.

 

[Earl Cordova]

Yes EFI is better overall, but if something goes wrong when you are out on the water it is easier to limp home with a carb.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Been playing with EFI for years ..... Then the parts are NLA and you have a dead motor you have to invest in new EFI hardware

I can still buy parts for a 1908 carburetor and ignition system, I can not buy parts for a 2008 EFI fuel or ignition system because the parts are NLA from the OEM or supported by the will-fit aftermarket

EFI is great until the electronics die, or the support goes away

EFI is great if you only keep a vehicle for 3-4 years

Try finding EFI parts for a 20-30 year old boat

 

[Jeff J]

It can be hard to find boat parts for boats 5 years old. I know of one manufacturer that won’t talk to you if the boat is more than 5 years old.

 

[Scott Danforth]

As for least trouble and least cost, hard to beat a fully mechanical fuel pump diesel motor

 

[Jeff J]

I get what is being said about sourcing parts but, as an owner of 2 Willys jeeps, most parts available for the old stuff is crap unless you can score new old stock.

Ignition parts seem to be the worst. There have been a lot of horror stories about gears and bearings not being hardened to spec.

 

[Jeff J]

I was working an early 70’s Mercury O/B last winter. I think the only ignition parts readily available for it was the spark plugs.

 

[Pmt133]

I can repin a holley to work on almost any efi system if I have to. I can also cut gaskets and be on my way with a can of brake clean in most cases.

If I'm being forced to use an efi system... 80s GM TBI is about as stupid reliable and simple as they come. Everything I own with carbs its never the carb giving me an issue.

Adding more electronics equals more points of failure period. The 55 you sneeze at the key and it runs. Stock factory set carbuerators are stupidly drivable. We've just moved so far past that. I have no desire for efi in a boat, prefer points but am stuck with electronic ignition.

Its fine in cars, but you can keep a boat a life time. It's difficult to keep any vehicle inside of 30 years old on the road for a lifetime. I wear it out before I'd sell it.

Mechanical diesel will run through any apocalypse you throw at it on about any fuel that'll burn, I agree.

 

[Lou C]

Depending on if it's a car/truck or boat, carbs give you choices
Quadrajet
Holley
Carter/Weber/Edelbrock
even for the Quadrajet which has not been made in 30+ years you can get just about any part you'd need, as long as you have a good core and the throttle shafts aren't getting sloppy
Holley parts are everywhere and so are Edelbrock
if you have a pre-vortec engine you can use a simple/reliable Carter mechanical fuel pump that often lasts 20-30 years, no contacts to oxidize and cause no starts or stalling like with electric
points vs electronic, well points do require maintenance, but when they fail it's usually not total refusal to start or keep running rather gradual deterioration. With Electonic when the module quits no ignition.
I still have the OEM Prestolite distributor in my 4.3, I have a couple of spare Prestolite V6 marine distributors because the advance springs for these are NLA, but I have numerous sets, so no reason to change as of yet.
But yes I have thought of converting over to the Delco EST, by the time I'm done though with the distributor plus the updated ESA module to work with the OMC Cobra shift system I'm at about $650 for that.

 

[Pmt133]

Depending on if it's a car/truck or boat, carbs give you choices
Quadrajet
Holley
Carter/Weber/Edelbrock
even for the Quadrajet which has not been made in 30+ years you can get just about any part you'd need, as long as you have a good core and the throttle shafts aren't getting sloppy
Holley parts are everywhere and so are Edelbrock
if you have a pre-vortec engine you can use a simple/reliable Carter mechanical fuel pump that often lasts 20-30 years, no contacts to oxidize and cause no starts or stalling like with electric
points vs electronic, well points do require maintenance, but when they fail it's usually not total refusal to start or keep running rather gradual deterioration. With Electonic when the module quits no ignition.
I still have the OEM Prestolite distributor in my 4.3, I have a couple of spare Prestolite V6 marine distributors because the advance springs for these are NLA, but I have numerous sets, so no reason to change as of yet.
But yes I have thought of converting over to the Delco EST, by the time I'm done though with the distributor plus the updated ESA module to work with the OMC Cobra shift system I'm at about $650 for that.

If you ever do the conversion... please make sure the kit is using real GM ignition parts. (They're out there just hard to find) The modules in the sierra kits and the like are the same offshore crap available for the older HEI stuff and just don't last.

 

[Lou C]

If you ever do the conversion... please make sure the kit is using real GM ignition parts. (They're out there just hard to find) The modules in the sierra kits and the like are the same offshore crap available for the older HEI stuff and just don't last.

that was exactly why I hesitated to do it!
I'd only buy genuine GM, nothing else.

 

[flashback]

my 2001 gmc 5.3 has been a great truck, I bought it new and have never had any ignition problems. still has the original sparks in it. It still gets decent mileage and has good get up and go. Probably leave me stranded now that I've been bragging on it.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

I will keep my 1990 Mastercraft that has a carb, and points. Have all the power I need and the simplicity is a bonus.

 

[flashback]

I will keep my 1990 Mastercraft that has a carb, and points. Have all the power I need and the simplicity is a bonus.

And i bet you have a set of points in your toolbox on the boat.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

And i bet you have a set of points in your toolbox on the boat.

And a spare belt too.

 

[Lou C]

I have a spare set of points @ condenser mounted on a spare Prestolite points plate which makes it easier to swap…

 

[Mc Tool]

I bought my 1st efi car in 1988 and have had nothing but efi since then . I have had 5 cars and the ONLY efi issue I ever had was one of the injector plugs had broken the retaining clip and about every now and then I had to get out and push the plug back on ..... even showed the Mrs how to sort it ................ but nah I never fixed it That was 1985 toyota MR2 (aw11 )and we did nearly 400,000kms in that car before the trans flew to bits .
All my outboards have carbs and Im quite happy about that .

 

[cyclops222]

I have 8 1/2' oars as a fail safe in the little boat. Used them 1 month ago when the fuel pump wore out.