To computer or not to computer

[blk7gxn]

Whatever engine you're planning on using, and if its affordable for you, I would personally buy the fuel injection kit setup (the carb style). I know there will people out there ready to attack, really don't care, we are here to help one another, and this is simply my opinion.

The EFI will keep your engine burning clean, and it's the ONLY way to achieve a precise 14.7:1 air fuel ratio, to optimize power out of your fuel, BEST economy. Even if you kept the factory setup with the CCC, its old outdated and to be quite honest, a mess of wires and vacuum lines, ECSPECIALLY on the Olds engines. The new EFI system will do anything you want it to, and if you decide on more power, you simply program it to do what you want it to do. These systems are fairly easy to hook up and have become quite affordable from when they first released them.

Good luck on your decision, and I hope another opinion can help you decide!

-Will

 

[Built6spdMCSS]

Oh I'm all about an EFI setup, plenty of aftermarket out there that mounts straight up where the Carb junk was and works amazing. This isn't 20 years ago whem some of us were in it and there wasn't no where near what there is now.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

My 86' Regal came with a 307 and nothing on the computer side controls my AC

Perhaps its only an option for H/O 307s? Some of the 307s do not have a WOT cutoff switch as the Olds ECMs handles that function in those setups.

As for aftefmarket EFI kits, keep in mind most have no provision for controlling EVAP, EGR, etc. They all also lack knock sensors which are critical aids in tuning. Moreover, aftermarket systems only have a fraction of R&D invested into their designs compared to OEM systems and often are one size fits all designs that brings its own set of issues. EFI tuning is not as easy or as quick as many overstate it is. You also need to be careful about wire routing to avoid RFI and EMI issues like ghost signals. Lastly, with aftermarket EFI kits there are no factory diagnostic charts, procedures, diagrams, or tests for quick troubleshooting. Nearly all aftermarket EFI kits use wideband O2 sensors which are slower than narrowbands and have shorter lives, not great for self tuning. In short, every choice has its pros and cons and none are perfect or best for everyone.

 

[Bonnewagon]

You didn't mention the year of the car so I don't know what kind of emissions stuff you have. As stated, the heat system is basic. But if the donor 350 came with the original carb and distributor then in my opinion that is the absolute best arrangement. My Bonnewagon is a 1983 but I swapped in a 1979 301 with the factory carb, dizzy, etc, and it works perfect. Even the AC is stock and working. I junked all the CCC sytem stuff.

 

[69hurstolds]

IMO, the only people that truly believe CCC carburetors are junk can't, or won't learn to, tune one properly. When done right, the feedback control strives for 14.7 fuel/air ratio just like every other feedback system. Just know what they were designed for and their limits and everything will be just fine. They're partly adjustable, but hardly a performance part. Like everything else, the engine is only as good as the tune, regardless of how it gets fed.

86/87 V8 ECM's, at least on 307 cars, control the wide-open throttle A/C compressor cut-off. This was done via mechanical slide switch above the gas pedal on 83-85 VIN 9 Oldses. This was similar switch to the passing gear setup on TH400s back in the day, only working backwards.

There's a brown wire coming out of the A/C compressor relay. This goes to the ECM on the 86/87 V8 Olds cars to control the WOT cutoff via grounding/ungrounding by the ECM. If you disconnect the brown wire to the ECM and physically ground it, it won't cut off on WOT anymore, but it should also eliminate the ECM from the circuit if you go without a computer. If it's pre-86 or V6, no worries. But there are inputs to the ECM so it knows when the A/C is on in either case. Not sure why a V6 ECM cares, because it doesn't stop the A/C compressor from working, but there's inputs for a reason.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

IMO, the only people that truly believe CCC carburetors are junk can't, or won't learn to, tune one properly. When done right, the feedback control strives for 14.7 fuel/air ratio just like every other feedback system. Just know what they were designed for and their limits and everything will be just fine. They're partly adjustable, but hardly a performance part. Like everything else, the engine is only as good as the tune, regardless of how it gets fed.

86/87 V8 ECM's, at least on 307 cars, control the wide-open throttle A/C compressor cut-off. This was done via mechanical slide switch above the gas pedal on 83-85 VIN 9 Oldses. This was similar switch to the passing gear setup on TH400s back in the day, only working backwards.

There's a brown wire coming out of the A/C compressor relay. This goes to the ECM on the 86/87 V8 Olds cars to control the WOT cutoff via grounding/ungrounding by the ECM. If you disconnect the brown wire to the ECM and physically ground it, it won't cut off on WOT anymore, but it should also eliminate the ECM from the circuit if you go without a computer. If it's pre-86 or V6, no worries. But there are inputs to the ECM so it knows when the A/C is on in either case. Not sure why a V6 ECM cares, because it doesn't stop the A/C compressor from working, but there's inputs for a reason.

Probably to activate the A/C kicker. On my old Buick V6, the idle kicker solenoid was computer controlled with 4 wires. Olds I think used a computer controlled vacuum motor as a A/C kicker and Chevy used simple non computer 1 wire kicker solenoids. Each division had their own idle speed control arrangement.

 

[abbey castro]

My 87 has been deleted of all CCC stuff. HVAC and all the other stuff runs fine. The CCC does nothing for the AC control. I am running a non CCC Q-Jet.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

My 87 has been deleted of all CCC stuff. HVAC and all the other stuff runs fine. The CCC does nothing for the AC control. I am running a non CCC Q-Jet.

That is because the Chevy version of the CCC version was never setup to control the A/C system. On post 86 Olds version of the CCC system, the H/O sub version controls the WOT compressor cutoff. Apples to Oranges when you compare GM divisions with these cars. Each division also had their own methods with bracing the frames and bodies.

 

[69hurstolds]

The WOT ECM cutoff is for all 86-88 G-body Oldses with the V8 307 regardless if they're VIN Y or 9.

The VIN 9 Olds' throttle solenoid gets its power from the head control unit when you switch it to a mode that requires the compressor to run. It taps off the line going to the ECM. So regardless if the ECM is hooked up or not, the solenoid should still get power when you turn on the A/C or Defrost. I don't know enough about the V6's to say if they have a solenoid or not. But the wiring diagram doesn't depict that. The only solenoid in the 87 CSM electrical section depicting that was "VIN 9 only".

 

[Metzger82]

This is all really helpful information. It's a pretty far from stock 1972 Olds 350 that I've built to a little more aggressive than factory 1970 W31 specs but it's going to my 1982 Cutlass. Though I'm young I've never really learned anything when it came to the emissions computer and all that stuff because I only ever learned on my Grandpa's 1972 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser that he drag raced, he was a hell of a man but up until he passed in September he still couldn't decide if he liked a Quadrajet or Holley better. Sorry if I caused any irritation to anyone, I just needed some guidance on something I didn't understand.