Day 365 of Build – First Engine Start

It has taken exactly 1 year to get to this point in the build. Step one was to check for fuel leaks, at 20psi of fuel pressure a small leak appeared on the outlet hose of the fuel filter, this was easily fixed with a hose clamp.



Step 2 was to re-check everything, including firing order, engine oil level, all EFI connections, and other engine wiring.

Step 3 remove radiator cap so that the coolant system could be “burped”

Step 4 remember the fire extinguisher!

At this point the excitement is intense, and as you can see from the video the engine actually started on the first attempt and initial gauges checks all looked good.

Once all checks we made for leaks and the coolant system topped up, the engine was slowly brought up to operating temperature. At 140 degrees the FAST adaptive learning kick in, at this point the engine quickly started to settle at 850 RPM with smooth acceleration.

At 190 degrees the thermostat opened, this quickly leveled the engine temperature at 184 degrees for the rest of the initial testing. Note: the water temperature gauge supplied is in degrees Celsius, 184F is approximately 82C.

Oil pressure at 850 RPM was a constant 55psi dropping to 40psi at higher RPM’s, the voltage remained at a steady 14 volts, fuel pressure is set at 43psi.

The engine was run through a heat cycle of approximately 30 minutes. This will be repeated over the next few days to check for leaks created from heat cycles and to continue the EFI adaptive learning process.

Overall a smooth and successful first start, and a great early Christmas present.