How do I clean the injectors?

[Phoenix]

I searched but didn't find anything. Couldn't find anything in haynes or the tsrm either.

I'm changing the rings, grommets and seals. I've checked the resistancesand I've cleaned them externally. But I can't work out how to clean the fuel passage inside. Is there a way to dismantle them?
They are stuck in the closed position. I tried running carb cleaner through them with a voltage applied but no luck either. I really want to get this thing back together asap so any help would be appreciated. :confused:

Also, the seal kit I got has four pieces for each injector - grommet, seal, small o-ring, I know what these are for. But there is also a large o-ring, I've no idea where it goes. Any ideas?

[Norbie]

You can't clean them effectively yourself. They need to be cleaned in an ultrasonic bath, which is a service offered by most EFI specialists for relatively low cost.

[Phoenix]

Ok, so that's the Rolls Royce of cleanings. How about a regular method?

[RedP85]

Let them soak in "Gunk" for a few hours,
Then, pressurize & operate them by applying 12V on the coil On & OFF
many times to cycle them.

[Phoenix]

Let them soak in "Gunk" for a few hours,
Then, pressurize & operate them by applying 12V on the coil On & OFF
many times to cycle them.

Thanks. What exactly IS gunk? I've seen it written on lots of products. Is it a brand or an ingredient or what? what's the best product or substrance to use?

I'll try applying voltage again while pressurizing? I guessed that might be the problem. I'm thinking of ways to pressurize the solvent. So far all I've got is using a bycycle pump. I could take one of those connectors, cut the tire valve connector off and use some sort of adhesive to join it too a rubber tube. I could put the injector on the other end of the tube and clamp it on. I don't know if pressurising a liquid with gass. Will work though. I don't see why it wouldn't but who knows. Do you know of anything more effective or simpler than this. This isn't so simple. I can already think of some problems (hassles).

How do you pressurize? Is this possible without a compressor? Can I use gravity? How much pressure is necessary?

[RedP85]

Gunk is a trademark (at least in Canada) It is a engine cleaning product.

Yes you can pressurize liquid with air.
In this case, the injector has to be on the lower point.

A compressor is the easiest, but to have it working properly, you
need at least 25 psi. for a couples of seconds.
Something like a CAR tire is a good, if a compressor is not availabe.

As for the hook up, you have to be creative !

[Phoenix]

Gunk is a trademark (at least in Canada) It is a engine cleaning product.

Yes you can pressurize liquid with air.
In this case, the injector has to be on the lower point.

A compressor is the easiest, but to have it working properly, you
need at least 25 psi. for a couples of seconds.
Something like a CAR tire is a good, if a compressor is not availabe.

As for the hook up, you have to be creative !

You mean you hooked the tester tube up to an actual car tire? how did you open the valve? With a matchstick, and then hooking up the tube really fast? Seems like it would be pretty hard to get a good seal before the tire goes below 25.

And which coil do you mean? Can I not sust hook it up to the battery, or would that be an incredibly dumb thing to do? I don't want to burn one of these things up. I appreciate the help. Thanks.

[Norbie]

Last time I checked it cost less than $50 to get injectors ultrasonically cleaned; hardly what I'd call "Rolls Royce". Soaking them in solvents (or "gunk") will probably make them shiny but that's about it.

[phrax]

Damn. I really need to take pictures of the aparattus i've built to clean injectors. It's simple, but effective.

Part one. 12v DC power supply. In this case it's a project PS that has variable voltage and amperage. Then I grabbed a chopped injector clip off of a car that fit our injectors, wired up a normally open switch inline with the power. That takes care of the opening/closing of the injector.

Part two. One can of Brake cleaner. That stuff kicks ass. Comes in a spray can with one of those little red pipes. Find yourself a piece of hose, most likely fuel hose that the top part of the injector fits into. You want it to be snug, not stupid tight and not loose. Cut about 2-3" of hose off to use.

Take the lil red pipe and wrap one end in black tape. Wrap it tight. Don't use shitty tape. Wrap it around until you have a diameter that fits nicely into the fuel hose.

Grab some hose clamps. Use one on the end of the hose where you have now inserted the tape wrapped lil red pipe thing. Clamp it down. Once it's snug, blow through the red pipe to make sure you haven't crushed it. Then insert the end of the injector into the other end of the hose, and clamp it down.

Insert the tape-free end of the red pipe into the head on the can of brake cleaner. Hit the nozzle and see if it pressurizes and doesn't piss brake cleaner everywhere. If successful, you rock. If unsuccessful, figure out where it's leaking, and fix it.

Once it's pressurized, you can connect the injector clip that's connected to the switch/power supply. Fire up the power supply, and hit the switch. The injector should open and either put out a nice mist of brake cleaner. OR shoot a nice straight line clear across your shop.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat until your hair^H^H^H^Hinjector is making nice round patterns on a piece of paper held about 6" away from the bottom of the injector.

hth

[dogstar]

um, last time i called for injector cleaning i was told it was 7 bucks an injector, in canadian dollars.

rather than spending money on brake cleaner or gunk or whatever else, and trying to build a test bench/cleaning station, then making a mess everywhere, why not just pony up a couple bucks and do it properly.
sure, maybe moneys tight, so do a couple at a time.
doing things at home is ok, but in a situation like that, IMO, its just silly to cheap out.

[Phoenix]

um, last time i called for injector cleaning i was told it was 7 bucks an injector, in canadian dollars.

rather than spending money on brake cleaner or gunk or whatever else, and trying to build a test bench/cleaning station, then making a mess everywhere, why not just pony up a couple bucks and do it properly.
sure, maybe moneys tight, so do a couple at a time.
doing things at home is ok, but in a situation like that, IMO, its just silly to cheap out.

Thanks, I might get the full treatment at a later stage. Right now I just want it driving asap. I mainly want to rule out clogged injectors as a cause of not starting.

[williamb82]

theres a much easier way. use the lower intake runners and fuel rail fro ma 5m complete with the fpr and fuel pulsation dampener. hook a stock fuel pump to the pressure line and run the return line and the feed for the fuel pump into a can of mineral spirits and then put 12v to the pump. itll hold a suficient pressure, then use an extra clip to a 12v source to open the injectors.

[Phoenix]

Damn. I really need to take pictures of the aparattus i've built to clean injectors. It's simple, but effective.

Part one. 12v DC power supply. In this case it's a project PS that has variable voltage and amperage. Then I grabbed a chopped injector clip off of a car that fit our injectors, wired up a normally open switch inline with the power. That takes care of the opening/closing of the injector.

Part two. One can of Brake cleaner. That stuff kicks ass. Comes in a spray can with one of those little red pipes. Find yourself a piece of hose, most likely fuel hose that the top part of the injector fits into. You want it to be snug, not stupid tight and not loose. Cut about 2-3" of hose off to use.

Take the lil red pipe and wrap one end in black tape. Wrap it tight. Don't use shitty tape. Wrap it around until you have a diameter that fits nicely into the fuel hose.

Grab some hose clamps. Use one on the end of the hose where you have now inserted the tape wrapped lil red pipe thing. Clamp it down. Once it's snug, blow through the red pipe to make sure you haven't crushed it. Then insert the end of the injector into the other end of the hose, and clamp it down.

Insert the tape-free end of the red pipe into the head on the can of brake cleaner. Hit the nozzle and see if it pressurizes and doesn't piss brake cleaner everywhere. If successful, you rock. If unsuccessful, figure out where it's leaking, and fix it.

Once it's pressurized, you can connect the injector clip that's connected to the switch/power supply. Fire up the power supply, and hit the switch. The injector should open and either put out a nice mist of brake cleaner. OR shoot a nice straight line clear across your shop.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat until your hair^H^H^H^Hinjector is making nice round patterns on a piece of paper held about 6" away from the bottom of the injector.

hth

Thanks. I tried it out and it worked real good. I took a few pics.

This is the setup I used.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/phoenixsupra/setup.jpg

If the tube is cut much shorter - to about 20cm - the pressure would be much more regular and the control better. But that's with my 20/20 hindsight. 8) BTW I used superglue to keep the straw in the spray can nozzle.

I didn't have a power supply. So I used the car battery and ran it through a potentiometer that I got at radio shack for 89 cents so as to limit the current. This of course is not the most thorough way to clean and inspect the injectors but it is cheap and easy and tells you quite a bit about how they're functioning. I already had everything except the potentiometer.

This is a freeloader I found on the supra when I went out to get the battery. It's a stick insect. I'd never seen one before. :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/phoenixsupra/mr.jpg

[drftsupramk2]

haaaaaaaaaaa love the stick bug we used to have them as a class pet back in elementary. The things breed like rabbits! Oh yeah nice pic. now I wish the guy with the jackass avatar(that's you phrax) would post his contraption for injector cleaning.

[phrax]

Thanks. I tried it out and it worked real good. I took a few pics.
...
If the tube is cut much shorter - to about 20cm - the pressure would be much more regular and the control better. But that's with my 20/20 hindsight. 8) BTW I used superglue to keep the straw in the spray can nozzle.
...
I didn't have a power supply. So I used the car battery and ran it through a potentiometer that I got at radio shack for 89 cents so as to limit the current. This of course is not the most thorough way to clean and inspect the injectors but it is cheap and easy and tells you quite a bit about how they're functioning. I already had everything except the potentiometer.

I'm really glad you tried that and got it to work. The crazy glue is a great idea.

For everyone else who thinks this is silly and we should just dish out the money to pay a shop to clean the injectors. Sure you could spend $40-$60 to get your injectors cleaned. But whats the harm in trying to clean them yourself. Total cost is $4 on a bottle of brake cleaner and whatever time you put into the job. One thing it easily helps diagnose is leaky injectors. I thought I had one cos I had noticed a drop in fuel economy and after testing mine, turns out two of them were leaking. Since replacing the leaky ones and cleaning all of them my fuel economy has picked up.

[Angkistrodon]

How did you test them for a leak?

[phrax]

ummm. brake cleaner in an aerosol can is under pressure.

[TOYMAN321]

Has anyone here used the injector cleaners that pepboys or jiffylube will do for you? It's my understanding that they disconnect the fuel pump, hook a can of cleaner to the fuel rail, and run the car on the bottle of cleaner until the bottle is empty... I could be wrong though.

Has anyone here used it? If so how well will it stack up against running over the shelf cleaner through the fuel system and or doing the untrasonic cleaning???

[oper8or]

Great work guys. Hey Phoenix can you mail me a copy of that pic. Just for future reference. I would appreciate it. toyo1983@yahoo.com

[Phoenix]

Great work guys. Hey Phoenix can you mail me a copy of that pic. Just for future reference. I would appreciate it. toyo1983@yahoo.com

Sure, It's on the way.

[oper8or]

Thanks man. May the sun shine on your weekend :)

[Phoenix]

I put the pics back in. Thanks for letting me know. The site that I hosted my first pics at seems to have erased them (sig pic included). :x I quit using them fairly quickly for space restriction reasons. I didn't want to start leaving red x's around the place so I moved to photobucket.com for more room. I'll try and track down the other pics and rehost them. Let me know if you see x's in any of my other posts. 8)


:ttiwwp:


:2gunfire: . damn pic host site