Building an Electronic Fuel Injector Tester | HACK A WEEK

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Posted on May 5, 2013 Previous Next

Building an Electronic Fuel Injector Tester

This is a project I did several years ago on the dinofab website. Its been so popular there and on my old
YouTube channel that I decided to post it here on hack A Week.

http://hackaweek.com/hacks/?p=1156[19/06/2016 04:50:36 p.m.]

Building an Electronic Fuel Injector Tester | HACK A WEEK

I work as an automotive technician at my day job. Nearly all of the cars I work on have fuel injection
systems. They all have several things in common: a control unit, a fuel pump, sensors and fuel
injectors. Fuel injectors are made up of a coil of wire which opens a valve when energized. Its a
basically an electronic solenoid valve.

As time goes by these valves can wear out and become sluggish, leaky or just quit working. Theyre
pretty easy to test by simply applying 12 volts to the leads and listening for a click sound. But, that
doesnt tell the whole story. A better way to test them is to send a series of electrical pulses to them and
see how much fuel they deliver. First a fuel pressure gauge is connected in line on the fuel rail, then the
fuel pump is turned on momentarily to build pressure then turned off. The fuel injector gets a pulsed
signal for a given duration and the pressure drop is noted. The process is repeated with the remaining
injectors for comparison. Sometimes a few may have a different delivery rate which can be a great aid
in troubleshooting a poor running engine.

These devices are available for $140 $400 depending on their capabilities.

http://hackaweek.com/hacks/?p=1156[19/06/2016 04:50:36 p.m.]

Building an Electronic Fuel Injector Tester | HACK A WEEK

I decided that I could build one myself for very little money using the classic 555 timer chip and a few
external components.

Below youll find a list of parts and some links to a few web pages that will help you understand the
workings of the 555.

Theres also a build video which will show you how I put this together. This circuit will output a series of
square wave pulses that are 8 mS on and 7 mS off for a duration of one second.

A word of caution about the N-channel MOSFET. Be very careful of the pin outs! These tend to vary
depending on the manufacturer. Make sure you know the exact location of the gate, drain and source!
Connecting one wrong will fry the 555 chip AND the transistor!

Be sure to add a protection diode between the source and drain even though most MOSFETs have
them internally.

Notes on the schematic. Ive been revising the schematic as I receive suggestions from people. Here
and there Ive added a few resistors and diodes that were not on the original design. Feel free to send
any suggestions my way and Ill include them. If you cant find LEDs that are rated at 12 volts, be sure
to add the proper resistor in series with your LED.

UPDATE: Ive had a few emails asking if this will drive a Diesel injector. The answer is, NO. The
MOSFET in this circuit is rated at 4 amps and Diesel injectors need 15 25 amps. Attempting to drive
this kind of load will damage the MOSFET and possibly other components.

However, you CAN replace part # IRF510 MOSFET with a part # MTP75N03HDL Motorla MOSFET.
The Motorola has a 75 amp rating.

Here is the datasheet: http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/motorola/MTP75N03HDL.pdf

Here is where to buy one: http://www.allelectronics.com/index.php?
page=search&search_query=MTP75N03HDL&x=0&y=0

UPDATE ON NEW ALTERNATE SCHEMATIC:

Ive designed another schematic below with two more switches and a 4.7 mF capacitor added.

SW1 is used to choose between a timed or continuous ouput.

SW2 is used to choose between a 1 second or 5 second ouput.

The only extra parts needed to build the circuit this way are:

1 4.7 mF capacitor and 2 spdt switches.

Ive updated the parts list to include these extra parts.

I encourage you to try building other circuits with the 555. Its a very versatile chip with many
applications.

Have fun and keep on making stuff! ( that was before I said keep on hackin )

Questions? Email me at: makerdino@gmail.com

http://hackaweek.com/hacks/?p=1156[19/06/2016 04:50:36 p.m.]

Building an Electronic Fuel Injector Tester | HACK A WEEK

Final draft of schematic as built:

Parts list:

1 Radio Shack proto type circuit board

2 555 timer 8 pin DIP chips

3 100 ohm resistors R1, R5, R9

1 470 ohm resistor R6

3 100 K ohm resistors R2, R3, R7

1 10 ohm resistors R8

1 Meg ohm resistor R4

1 47 mF capacitor C1

1 22 mF capacitor C7

3 0.1 mF ceramic disc capacitor C2, C3, C6

1 1 mF Tantalum capacitor C4

1 4.7 mF capacitor C5

http://hackaweek.com/hacks/?p=1156[19/06/2016 04:50:36 p.m.]

Building an Electronic Fuel Injector Tester | HACK A WEEK

1 1N4002 diode D1

1 1N4742 12v Zener diode D2

1 Red LED 12v rated

1 Green LED 12v rated

1 N-Channel MOSFET transistor Q1

Radio shack part #276-2072

1 Momentary contact switch SW3

2 spdt switches SW1, SW2

2 Aligator clips

A few feet of double strand wire

1 Project enclosure box

USEFUL LINKS:

Heres the Express PCB layout file in zip format: fuel injector tester

ExpressPCB: This site offers a free download of a schematic and PCB design tool thats easy to use.
See screenshot above. They also offer fabrication of PCBs. Download the free software
here:ExpressPCB

Rob Paisleys 555 timer circuit page: This has a TON of great info on the 555 including a few timing
calculators to aid in component selection. http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/LM555.html

Doctronics: Another great website with a lot of cool info and circuits for the 555.
http://www.doctronics.co.uk/555.htm

Octopart: This site offers up a search engine similar to Google but its especially for electronic
component part numbers. http://octopart.com/

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