Ford Grid Heater Test for Single Carb

It has been suggested to try the grid heater that Ford designed to cure drivability issues with the Escort using the 740 carb. Part # E3FZ-9F732-A. As far as I can tell, nobody actually tried it, even though a very logical argument was presented supporting it.

I bought one on EBay today. I will be the test subject. I owe it to all of you that pioneered this swap and made going to the 32 dft a reality. If it isn't the magic bullet, I'm only out $50 or so. But if it cures the off- idle stumble, improves mileage, or decreases emissions ( claims made by Ford) I will be stoked. Once I have it on the bike, I will let you all know of my results, including amp draw, as I know that might be an issue.

Mike

[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=145874#p145874:l3hfarp9 said:

tronerdog » Sun Apr 12, 2015 9:30 am[/url]":l3hfarp9]
Earlier in this string, it was suggested to try the grid heater that Ford designed to cure drivability issues with the Escort using the 740 carb. Part # E3FZ-9F732-A. As far as I can tell, nobody actually tried it, even though a very logical argument was presented supporting it.
I bought one on EBay today. I will be the test subject. I owe it to all of you that pioneered this swap and made going to the 32 dft a reality. If it isn't the magic bullet, I'm only out $50 or so. But if it cures the off- idle stumble, improves mileage, or decreases emissions ( claims made by Ford) I will be stoked. Once I have it on the bike, I will let you all know of my results, including amp draw, as I know that might be an issue.

Mike

Click to expand...

Excellant. I will be following

me too ... i never discounted this just had no access to one ... that stops my poor ass cold ...biggest stick in my wheel :BigGrin:

I too will be following how that grid heater works out.

I finished installing the grid heater today. It appears to help even without power applied. Not sure if it's because it spaces the carb up 3/8", the waffle grid, or both.

Good thing, as it draws over 12 amps! The electrical system was not happy about it at all. I tied it into the acc. terminals and measured 10.2 volts with it on. 12+ with it off.

I will try a relay straight off the battery. As soon as I disconnected it, my idle became rougher. I think it will do what I was hoping when I'm able to feed it. I may need to do the alternator conversion to have enough power.

Anyone know how many watts I could get away with if I derate it?

Mike

At 12 amps you are using almost half of your 25amp out put. I would switch manually both the heater and your thermo fan so that they both can't operate at the same time. I would reduce all other electrical loads with LEDs and or Hid headlight as much as practical. I reduced my headlight to 35w with an Hid conversion but I then added 2 18w LED running lights so I am now running 71w instead of 55/65w. I am happier how visible the Rats Nest now is though, hopefully my LED taillight conversions make up for the extra wattage :yes:

Ride report....
Magic Bullet. That's what I was hoping for, that's what the grid heater is.

My GL1200 now carburetes perfectly. No hesitation. No flat spot. I can role the throttle from 1500 rpm and it just pulls. It's actually a little jumpy!

I have to imagine that my mileage will improve as I'm not twisting as much for the same speeds. I was following my wife around today and was keeping it between 1500-2000. I don't think a fuel injected bike would be any better. I can just let the clutch out from a stop with the tiniest bit of throttle. Before the heater I had to slip it a bit or I would get the bog.

The ONLY downside is the 12 amp power consumption, but it's worth it!

If I had properly heated my manifold, maybe I would have had similar results, but I doubt it. The car this carb came from had a heated manifold but still needed the grid heater. The weirdest thing is how smooth the bike is now. Just like a sowing machine from idle up. No more "lope", no more fuel smell, just perfect throttle response. I can't imagine how it could get any better.

Anyone who is fighting hesitation should try this. I wouldn't do another one without it.

Mike

Sounds great Mike!
With all the singles going on I've lost track what you're running carb, plenum, and runner wise?
This grid heater, do you have any pictures of it and installed?

I have experienced the difference from no heat to plenum to heat added.
Does make a difference and it's one reason I'm going back to the type 4 manifold I added some heat to.

Yes, empi type 4 manifold. Langdon's 32 dft. Some heat from exhaust cross- overs. No jetting changes. The grid heater is from an 83-85 escort, same as the carb. With it on, you would swear the bike is fuel injected. Simply perfect carburetion.
Problem is, it draws 12 amps. Actually had to bump start my bike today. My charging system can't handle it. I think I will need to do the alternator conversion soon.

The previous owner did the stator, but it seems really weak. I had to disconnect the heater to get home, and I could definitely tell the difference. I will try more heat on the plenum with water, as now that I know the difference, I feel I have to. I am going to put a voltmeter on soon so I can manage my loads until I can improve the charging system.

My runners are 1-1/8" I'd. I used 1" copper slip couplings for the connection to the manifold and sleeved them inside 1-1/4" I'd hose (Napa) to still make the bends but not collapse.

My transition to the stock manifolds was made from a 1-1/4" copper long radius 90.

Mike

hmmmmm sounds great ......going to look for one....how do you lessen the draw some I wonder...

Today I tried using resistors to lessen the draw of the grid heater. I used (2) 6 ohm 25 watt resistors in parallel. They did reduce the total load, but not like I expected, and they got really hot. Too hot.

I'm going to try a pwm controller next. I found one on eBay for around $10 that looks like it will handle the load. I'll report back once I've got it.

Mike

The grid heater is a big resistor and if the pwm controller is switch mode you would reduce the load by the amount of duty cycle but you would also reduce the amount of heat

I know I will lose heat. I'm trying to get what I can until I decrease other loads and/or do the alternator conversion. The 150 watts the grid heater draws is just too much for my charging system.

I tried to email Don Piggot but it kicked back.

The part you mentioned is Ford Part # E3FZ-9F732-A.

Is this the part and is it the one you used?

So maybe an all LED lighting system may give you enough power to run?, short of that an external alternator is needed and preferred..these car electrical parts kinda need a car alternator.

The part you mentioned is Ford Part # E3FZ-9F732-A. Is this the part and is it the one you used?

Click to expand...

Yes. That is the one I used. It grounds to the manifold, so I had to run a ground wire to one of the carb. studs. I used RTV on the bottom and a gasket between the heater and the carb.

Mike

12 amps at 12 volts means it has about 1 ohm resistance. If you put the 6 ohm resistors in parallel, you are only effectively adding 3 ohms to the circuit so your total resistance then is 4 ohms. Figuring a system voltage at 14 volts, I calculate your total current flow at 3.5 amp, or 1.75 per resistor. This yields a 10.5 voltage drop across the resistors, or a little over 18 watts. So you are getting close to the 25 watt capacity.

If you put just one 6 ohm resistor in the circuit, current drops to 2 ohms, but it is all going through the one resistor. So wattage the resistor sees is going to go up.

If you add a third resistor to your parallel circuit you'll drop the individual resistor load to about 14 watts. Current draw will be almost 5 amps, still less than half of your initial 12.

I can't imagine Ford intended for that thing to be on full time with a continual 12 amp drain on the system. That's pretty huge.

What you didn't say was if the heater still worked adequately with the addition of the resistors.

I didn't get a chance to. The resistors got too hot and one of them failed. It seemed that all of the current was being converted to heat at the resistors. We had worked out ohms law and my target was 3 ohms total, but 4 was doable with the resistors available. The pwm seems like it will be a better solution. I'm able to use my Fluke 336 to check DC amps, so once I have controllability I will log results at different settings.
I measured around 5 volts after the resistors and 2.2 amps on the 12 volt side before the one resistor gave up. But at that level, the charging system could keep up.

Any resistors you add in parallel will reduce overall resistance and increases current. If you want to increase overall resistance and reduce current through the manifold heater you will have to add resistor in series that is rated for the wattage that it will have to dissipate. :nea:

For example, if the manifold heater is 1 ohm and you add a 1 ohm resistor, in series, you have a total resistance of 2 ohms so at 12 volts you will have a current of 12V/2ohm=6 amps and voltage across the resistor and the manifold heater will be 6 volts each. Wattage dissipated across the resistor will be 6V x 6A= 36 watts. Not sure if you can find a power resistor rated at 40+ watts. Might be easier to find 4 x 4 ohm resistors rated at 10 watts and connect them in parallel and then in series with the manifold.

Brian

My apologies to deanmay and tronerdog. I should have read post #11 to see that you are putting 2 x 6 ohm resistors in parallel and then in series with the manifold heater.

Brian