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Airboat fuel Injection

E

EFI Jay

Well-known member
I am pleased to announce that I (Panther Airboat Corp.) has put electronic throttle- by-wire into production for all of our fuel injected engines. This system will incorporate MEFI-5B fuel injection and no more throttle cables. I have had this electronic throttle in place for 3yrs running continuously at Lone Cabbage Fish Camp with NO FAILURES. The response of ETC is outstanding! South Florida Water Management will be the first to run this as a production vessel on their four new boats which have been completed. Some of the other projects that I will continue to fine tune for the airboat industry will be the presence of a Cam Phaser for the LS family. This will allow a much smoother idle and more consistent power throughout the power curve. Closed loop fueling will also allow the engine to be more economical and we will have better control for emissions etc. Stay tuned as more is to come!

Jay
 
No doubt fuel injection is the way. The big problem with it, is getting airboaters to try something new plus fuel injection costs more money!. I have 3 fuel injected 500HP LS2's out there right now and everybody loves them, better throttle response, better fuel economy, smoother idle and coolest of all the instant you turn that key off the motor immediately shuts off! IT PAINS ME TO SAY THIS BUT I WILL NEVER BUILD ANOTHER CARBERATORED AIRBOAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been enlightened! I have finally found a fuel management system that is tuned and as adjustable as a carb and this old dog has learned a new trick!
 
The idea behind the design is always to keep pushing the envelope. WaterThunder has done a great job introducing the airboating industry with the LS family. These engines are the wave of the future and we invest countless hours in designing the perfect airboat engine.
The perfect airboat engine will eventually be found only to be replaced by something better. Airboaters, stick with technology and it will open unseen doors of opportunity. All we can ask is to trust the leading airboat manufactures and do your homework, the web was designed by physicist! Research every aspect before you by any component. In the mean time we will be here to share whatever knowledge that we come acrooss. Until then keep riding and have a great time doing it!
 
Josh,

The term "The oceans are our proving grounds" should answer your question. As we all know saline rich environments take there toll on anything. Panther as well as other companies have vessels that run strictly in these environments. One thing for sure is the most destructive force of nature is water! And water with salt is a hell of a thing! For now we can only do the best we can!
 
The LS2 is a project that has been put to the side only to focus on what the customer wants. Most customers aren't looking to spend that kind of money. Remember it is much easier to build a functional engine as opposed to a hot rod thats like a women.
"High horsepower=high maintenance" build something that lives. The LS2 project is exactly that a prototype project that sounds GREAT!
 
Thunder you wrote--I have been enlightened! I have finally found a fuel management system that is tuned and as adjustable as a carb and this old dog has learned a new trick!
_________________

Is this fuel mamagement system for sale? Will this system perform as well as a properly tuned carb at governned RPM?

How much is the cost of your new system?
 
The drivability of my own test boat has impressed me I will be doing a back to back dyno test of a stroker 430 CUI LS motor I'm building with fuel injection for a customer vs a carb! I have the perfect carb combo and have been dialing it in on airboats for almost ten years! I believe this time I can have the fuel injection make more power and torque at every RPM accept at wide open throttle even then I believe it will be within 10HP!
 
jay,

That's cool, it's good to see manufactures continue to evolve with airboating.

Doesn't the fuel injection typically have better "response" time/less lag over carbureted engines to start with?

Basketcase
 
Typically EFI does have much better response over carbureted applications. Being able to change parameters via calibration software allows us to pin point specific areas of interest. By doing so we can "dial" an engine in exactly like we want to with greater precision. To give you an example our spark table alone consist of approxiamtely 2300+ values that can be fine tuned. This excludes ALL other parameters that are used to fine tune the engine.
 
Thanks Thunder-
I run a bigs 950 on top a 434 cid solid roller motor. Ported T1 heads and ported SE-100 intake. 9.4 to 1 static compression. 247/247 duration @.050 tappet lift. 110LSA 106 ICA. .4153 lobe lift. Running 1.6's on the intakes & 1.5's on the exhaust. Idles @ 375 to 400 RPM. Shuts off immediately.

If I had a fuel injection system, I would surely think about bumping my static compression to 10.5 to 1. ----- :-)
 
To be honest the carburetor is an awesome deal, it has taken a hundred years for someone to come up with something that performs as good as a carb! In many applications the carb is still the better way to go! However there are now many applications that the fuel injection is the way to go! In my opinion after all the tweaking and testing I have done. I believe the only two area's a fuel injection is noticeably better is throttle response below 3,000RPM and shutting off! On the dyno there is usually a ten HP difference! The injection makes more power and torque below 4,000RPM and the carb makes more at wide open throttle! I have ran the exact same motor on a dyno with fuel injection and then a carb! The person who programed and built my FI system spent three day's and at least 15 pulls tuning the FI sytem! The first pull with my carb set up made more peak power on the first pull! Anyway it truly comes down to what you want and what your budget is!
 
I know this may come as a shock to all the airboaters who know Mr. Dave Johnson as strictly an AIRCRAFT guy but he has worked with us for a very long time and b/c of this we are building him the most advanced fuel injection boat to date! This is correct Dave Johnson will be driving a car motor boat! Dave will display this boat throughout the state of Florida and mainly in the central Florida area. It will entail everything an airboater needs and then some. Please contact Dave Johnson if you would like to see the new fuel injection systems as well as the counter rotator drive unit! DAVE HASN'T GIVEN UP ANY OF HIS AIRCRAFT BOATS TRUST ME! :)
 
Jay, I think you have Dave Johnson and Dave Hartz MIXED UP. Dave Johnson driving a CAR MOTOR would be like the Red Sea parting.
The only reason Dave Johnson would drive a carmotor is because someone has CONSISTANTLY been PREACHING carmotors to him trying to get him to the other side! If you and or Dave Hartz have influenced him that much then you guys have missed your true calling.
Maybe we should call you Chaplain Jay and Preacher Dave
No not maybe thats what were gonna call you he he he
Whens the Car Motor baptismal in the St Johns!



ps Dave Johnson, Preacher Dave almost had me too, he gave up a little to early!
 
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