Stuck #4 fuel injector

Tree Catcher · **Posted:** Tue Apr 13, 2021 4:09 pm

I have been trying like crazy to get the #4 injector out and having no luck. I have had it soaking in PB Blaster for a week and its not moving. I have tried using a 13 mm crows foot to the injector to rotate it and no luck. I have the tool but it has only the tall legs so it wont go under the firewall. Any ideas on how to get it out. It looks like it had a small leak that has now encrusted the area and its just gunked up. I saw a post earlier that someone put the block heater on, so I will try that and get back to it in about an hour and see if that helps. Any suggestions on how to get this thing out? Im all out of C4.
Sean

03black · **Posted:** Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:09 pm

Try using the crows foot/extension and put a small socket as a fulcrum and see if you can pry it straight up with the crows foot. Once you get it broken free it should just come right out.

Before you reinstall the injector, be sure to coat it with anti-seize, per the FSM.

krb · **Posted:** Wed Apr 14, 2021 5:29 am

Can the PB Blaster get through that soot? Maybe some type of cleaner (carb, intake, ??) would help eat through so the Blaster can soak in and also help break the carbon grip?

layback40 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:28 am

krb wrote:

Can the PB Blaster get through that soot? Maybe some type of cleaner (carb, intake, ??) would help eat through so the Blaster can soak in and also help break the carbon grip?

Acetone is good for soaking through the soot. Auto trans fluid is a good lube. A 50/50 mix of the 2 is better than PB blaster.
Just give the acetone a try. If you dont have any, just use your other halfs nail polish remover!

Tree Catcher · **Posted:** Wed Apr 14, 2021 3:08 pm

Thanks guys, I have it soaking in acetone and will resupply it every so often, its also on the block heater to hopefully help break the crud up. Im hoping that I will have it out by tomorrow

geordi · **Posted:** Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:45 am

If you have the factory tool, you already have what you need. No the short legs wouldn't fit under the firewall lip either.

But go to Home Depot (take the thing with you) and get some long bolts (around 4 inches IIRC) that fit the end holes and some nuts. Put the bolts through, and use nuts above and below to stabilize. Now you can change the length of the "legs" and still use the center pull to extract the injector.

Tree Catcher · **Posted:** Sat Apr 24, 2021 10:35 pm

still working on it, I can now get it to turn. I guess my biggest obstacle is that the valve cover is still on it and its hard to get in there to pry on it. So I now have the block heater on it and I have sprayed carb cleaner. It is coming out soon LOL. I am just trying to replace the seals on the fuel injectors without pulling the valve cover. Geordi, I tried using bolts that are 4.5 inches long and it still doesnt fit. What am I doing wrong or is it because I still have the valve cover on?

Thanks for everyone's suggestions
Sean

layback40 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 25, 2021 8:35 am

Now that you have it moving you have broken the gunk deal and the cleaner of your choice can get right in. You should have it out in no time! Every time you turn it a little it loosens a little

krb · **Posted:** Sun Apr 25, 2021 8:40 am

Don't you have to have the injectors out before you can even remove the valve cover?

geordi · **Posted:** Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:31 pm

Tree Catcher wrote:

still working on it, I can now get it to turn. I guess my biggest obstacle is that the valve cover is still on it and its hard to get in there to pry on it. So I now have the block heater on it and I have sprayed carb cleaner. It is coming out soon LOL. I am just trying to replace the seals on the fuel injectors without pulling the valve cover. Geordi, I tried using bolts that are 4.5 inches long and it still doesnt fit. What am I doing wrong or is it because I still have the valve cover on?

Thanks for everyone's suggestions
Sean

I'm not sure what you are describing - The crossbar can be lowered by "shortening" the legs, it needs to be adjusted to fit under the firewall but still give you at least a 1/4" or so of vertical pull room on the injector.

There is really no way to describe this, you just need to adjust the length of the bolts to allow it to fit. It will fit.

Tree Catcher · **Posted:** Tue May 18, 2021 10:30 pm

I was able to finally get the injector out , I have cleaned up the bore, no gasket down there and now I have what sounds like a leak from somewhere. phish phish phish in tune with the engine. Now I get to fix that. Bad part is that I am running out of time and I am in the process of selling my house and moving. Really bad part is that we don't know where just yet.

krb · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2021 5:41 am

Tree Catcher wrote:

I was able to finally get the injector out , I have cleaned up the bore, no gasket down there and now I have what sounds like a leak from somewhere. phish phish phish in tune with the engine. Now I get to fix that. Bad part is that I am running out of time and I am in the process of selling my house and moving. Really bad part is that we don't know where just yet.

Umm, you did use a new copper washer though right? Even if there wasn't one (hence the sooty gunk). And maybe a new rubber o-ring seal? If still no washer then that's probably the sound you're hearing.

03black · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2021 11:44 am

krb wrote:

Umm, you did use a new copper washer though right? Even if there wasn't one (hence the sooty gunk). And maybe a new rubber o-ring seal? If still no washer then that's probably the sound you're hearing.

2nd this...sounds like a new copper crush washer is needed if your hearing the engine blow by puff puff

Don't necessarily need the rubber O-ring as that only keeps trash from falling down the bore but its good to have. Also a good coat of anti-seize on the body of the injector is your friend for future removals.

Tree Catcher · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2021 12:23 pm

I installed a new crush washer and o-ring. I also cleaned up the seat area until I saw clean aluminum. Maybe a piece of debris went down there while I was installing it. I almost think that I have a glow plug that came unscrewed? I will dig into it this weekend.

rankom · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2021 9:00 pm

in order to seal the injector copper washer into the injector cup, you really need the specific tool and its relatively cheap. its called 'injector cup cutting tool.' we've mentioned it before and even wwdiesel had some nice picture of the tool sending it to everyone.

krb · **Posted:** Thu May 20, 2021 1:06 am

You can use a "stethoscope" like a piece of tubing to your ear to isolate the chuff chuff chuff noise. To see where it's coming from. That's how I found my leaky #4 injector. If it's your glow plugs it would be way over on the right and low - no way to confuse with an injector.

TKB4 · **Posted:** Thu May 20, 2021 5:46 pm

If its an injector seal and you hear that sound I would think you would also have some fuel around that injector. You didn't use the chines made copper washers did you. I tried them and they definitely dont seal very well so went back to OEM from ID Parts.

Tree Catcher · **Posted:** Sat May 22, 2021 3:17 pm

good news, we think we found the problem. Cracked fuel injector.. Now to order one. How do you reprogram the brain for the new injector? Ok we think its the fuel injector, When we start it up with a NEW gasket and o-ring from ID parts, we still get blow by on the fuel injector. When we start it up we can feel and air pulse from the injector bore. We also noticed that the injector gets warm quickly compared to the other injectors. I have a refurbished injector coming from ID parts soon. Has anyone ever had a cracked fuel injector?

Tree Catcher · **Posted:** Sat May 22, 2021 4:04 pm

quick update and we just pulled the fuel injector and its blow-by. As in the new o-ring and copper crush washer were black in most of the area. We cleaned up the bore spotless. Has anyone had the head crack where the fuel injector sits? Its driving me nuts.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Sat May 22, 2021 9:20 pm

Get a set of fuel injector seat reamers and clean everything up.
Available on Amazon and eBay for cheap.

Stuck #4 fuel injector

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