Fuel injectors

[nobleswood]

Scratching my head & having a think here. Then decided I should ask more knowledgable mechanics.

 

Recently on my diesel Sprinter it was running a bit rougher than I remembered so I added some Lucas fuel injector cleaner which seemed to help after a couple of tanks.

 

Last year at the SSR Tech session, Docc recommended cleaning out the throttle bodies, which I dutifully did.

Now I'm wondering about the fuel injectors on the V11, as I imagine they have similar amounts of gunk on them. The bike doesn't get run as much as the Sprinter, but the injectors never been worked on.

 

What's the general opinion about putting injector cleaner in the tank periodically ?

[gstallons]

IF you can get a cleaner with Techron , do it .

[docc]

+1 on the Techron!

[LowRyter]

most bike riders I know use Seafoam to clean out carburetors..... injectors?    I've always used Seafoam.   Can't tell it's hurt anything.  

[nobleswood]

Most tank fulls of fuel for my V11, are Shell V power premium, which they advertise has fuel cleaners in it.

 

But does anyone pull the injectors at a regular mileage interval ?

[MartyNZ]

I removed and cleaned my injectors when I did some work on my fuel system at 80,000km.
When I fitted a new fuel filter and fuel hoses, I noticed some brown fuzz matted in the fuel pump intake screen. I found lots more on the tank shutoff inlet screen, and a little of the same stuff in the screen of the pressure regulator. Where did it come from? My guess was an old fuel filter deteriorating.

I decided that there must be some of this fuzz in the injector inlets too, so I took them out and backflushed them, and washed out the fuel tank with hot water & detergent.

Afterwards the bike ran just the same as it did before :  awesome!
So do you need to remove your injectors and back-flush? Probably not, but if you are like me, you want to.

 

Scud posted a picture of the tools he and I used to flush throttle body cleaner through our injectors. Let one of us know if you want a loan.

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18805&page=18&do=findComment&comment=215324

[nobleswood]

Thanks Marty,

 

You've convinced me....to put Seafoam in the tank & call it a day.

 

I'll still enjoy reading about you & Scud opening up, repairing & rebuilding engines & stuff

[Scud]

Noble... That sounds like a good decision.

 

For future reference, the injectors can be very difficult to remove. I destroyed 3 of 4 screws taking them out of my Scura. The injectors can be cleaned while still in the throttle bodies. If you pull the tank, you can disconnect the fuel lines from the injectors and pull the TBs off the head. Then you can attach the cleaner spray to the inlet and stuff a towel in the TB to absorb the spray-through.

 

On the seafoam - in addition to running some in the tank, I also let the engine suck some seafoam through the vacuum ports (where you connect to check the balance). You do this when the engine is hot. It supposed to clean out the valves and combustion chamber. There are lots of videos on YouTube about it. I made a T out of plastic hose and added a little valve so I could control how much was getting sucked into the ports.

[not-fishing]

Well I did the injector clean only Dremel & Vicegrip took over an hour to destroyed one of those stupid flat head injector screws.  I sent them off to Russ Collins.

 

Precleaning report was:   Injector #1 261.0 cc/min with good pattern,  Injector #2  237.0 cc/min with dripping pattern.

 

After cleaning report:  Injector #1 270.0 cc/min with excellent pattern,  Injector #2 269.0 cc/min with excellent pattern.

 

I did have to clean about a 1/2 cup of oil blowby in the airbox and the bottom third of the throttle bodies were black with carbon/oil.

 

On a short ride the Rosso Corsa ran amazingly better.  This weekend I'll take it on a couple hour windy ride in the Gold Country to confirm the fix.

 

I'm thinking the Injectors should be cleaned every 25-30,000 miles.  Now that I've put regular allens in they'll be easy to take off.

[swooshdave]

Taking them off and sending them for a proper cleaning and testing is the only way to go. A specialist can insure they are properly set up and function as per spec. Cleaning stuff in the fuel is just a bandaid for a really dirty injector.