Hey Jim. Are you running with, or without a return line to the fuel tank?
Original set up was without. Our 2nd mechanic talked to FiTech and set up a mechanical fuel pump with a return line to the tank which solved any problems until this extreme heat situation coming home. She ran great going out in the mid morning. They wanted us to have them install an in tank pump ( only $1,500 or more ).
If you are running an original command center without a return line I believe you're probably one of the very few that have successfully run this setup for any length of time. Perhaps time was just up for this iteration.
Has it been running fine all this time? If so, how often have you had it out in heat, or stop-n-go traffic up to that point?
Just wondering if you never ran afoul of the pump overheating.
Before the new motor ( rebuilt ATK 302 ) we had times she would stall out in hot weather, stop and go situations.
The Command Center is a legitimately clever way to simplify plumbing, but was apparently not happy with heat (as any pump system would not be) building up.
What issues were you having prior to this trip with all the stalling?
Not really any for quite some time. The previous weekend we went to a church fundraiser car show without any trouble.
A new more powerful engine might also be developing more heat. In fact, it SHOULD be making more heat, including under the hood.
Did you change anything else when you installed the engine? Adding headers perhaps? A different radiator?
We've always had headers and the radiator was new with the restoration.
Tuning changes? Running a different distributor and timing curve perhaps?
Nothing new here either.
Were you able to check during all the trouble times? Did pressures look normal then?
I was in heavy traffic with a very unhappy passenger and praying she ( the motor ) would turn over one more time.
Yep, pretty much the usual conclusion at least where the Command Center is involved. Are you able to check what the coolant temp is that the computer sees when this is all happening? Just wondering if the EFI tuning is being effected at the same time because it thinks it's too hot and is trying to compensate some other way.
This is what I'm hoping to have the Fitech "guru" determine whenever he can free up space ( Bronco needs to be inside and it's that time of year here with daily downpours and severe storms ).
But the Command Center would be suspect to me, if it's not running with a return line. I know they always gave the customer the option of running with, or without a return to the tank, but it prefers the return line. I'm betting for simplicity's sake, most installers opted to run without a return.
And while some vehicles (passenger cars mostly) seemed to run just fine with the Command Center, it seems like the Broncos with their crappy under-hood airflow did not keep them happy.
Hopefully you can keep the CC but they came out with an updated one that, I believe, is only used with a return line.
I was ready to order the CC 2.0 but this setup was working fine.
Good luck with your isue.
Paul
