fuel injector removal

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ptmassa

fuel injector removal

Post by ptmassa »

I am looking for a service manual to show proceeduree for removal/installation of fuel injectors on my 1981 fiat. Anyone know of any websites?
zachmac
Posts: 1278
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:20 am
Your car is a: 1978 Spider [1979 2 ltr engine]
Location: Aiken, SC

Re: fuel injector removal

Post by zachmac »

No, but it's pretty straight forward. BTW, what are you trying to do? If you are going to actually remove an injector you will be disconnecting more than if you are just trying to get the fule rail / injectors out of the way. Assuming the former:

1. Disonnect battery (you want no power to injector leads / ECU while doing this).

2. Relieve fuel pressure by disconnecting the vacuum hose to the top of the fuel pressure regulator (in the middle of the fuel rail) and attaching a vacuum pump to the FPR port and pump it to about 27 -28 psi vacuum. This opens the port back to the fuel tank and relieves most (but not all) of the system pressure. This will decrease (but in no way stop) the amount of gas that squirts out when you disonnect the fuel lines. If you don't have a vacuum pump you can skip this step but be prepared for a lot of gas spraying everywhere when you take that first fuel line off!

3. Disconnect the electrical leads to each injector. There is a little metal clip inserted from above on each one that you have to pry up with something like a tiny flat blade screwdriver before they release. Go slow here as it is real easy to break the plastic tabs on the connectors.

4. No you have five bolts / nuts left holding it on as well as the two fuel line connectins (supply and return) and the hose off the end of the rail to the cold start injector (CSI). I HIGHLY recommend you DO NOT try to remove the hose from the CSI. Instead disconnect its electircal connector (most likely blue) and then remove the two screws (allen head I think) securing the injector to the intake plenum and let the whole thing (hose and cold start injector) stay attached to the fule rail. (I had to borrow a really short allen wrench to get the lower bolt out as the CSI itself blocks clear access to it)

5. Next you need to unscrew the four nuts securing the injectors to the intake plenum. I use a 1/4 inch drive set as you don't want to bust anything here! They are studs with nuts )10mm) but you may well find that the studs back out with the nut if they are very corroded. Then there is also a bolt (allen head I think) securing the fuel pressure regulator to the intake. Remove it as well.

6. Everything should now be loose. Gently work each injector out of its seat, preferrably by grasping the injectors at the base, not the hose. They have a seal at the intake as well as a big rubber ring where they pass through the intake. Be careful to not bang the tips on things as you work them out. You should now be able to pull the entire rail with the 4 injectors and cold start injector back from the engine so that it is hanging free by the two fuel lines. Depending on why you are doing this you can decide if you want to remove the clamps on the fuel lines, pull them and carry the whole rail / injector assembly over to the bench. AGAIN, expect a LOT of fuel when you do this and have something ready to plug up the fuel lines once you remove them. On my car the supply line will fill a small gas can before pressure / gravity stops flow unless I sitck a plug of some sort in the open line and clamp it.
Jeff Klein, Aiken, SC
1980 FI Spider, Veridian with Tan (sold about a year ago), in the market for another project
1989 Spider, sold
2008 Mercedes SL65
2008 S600 Mercedes V12
ptmassa

Re: fuel injector removal

Post by ptmassa »

zachmac wrote:No, but it's pretty straight forward. BTW, what are you trying to do? If you are going to actually remove an injector you will be disconnecting more than if you are just trying to get the fule rail / injectors out of the way. Assuming the former:

1. Disonnect battery (you want no power to injector leads / ECU while doing this).

2. Reei fuel pressure by disconnecting the vacuum hose to the top of the fuel pressure regulator (in the middle of the fuel rail) and attaching a vacuum pump to the FPR port and pump it to about 27 -28 psi vacuum. This open the port back to the fuel tank and relieves most (but not all) of the system pressure. This will decrease (but in no way stop) the amount of gas that squirts out when you disonnect the fule lines. If you don't have a vacuum pump you can skip this step but be prepared for a lot of gas spraying everywhere when you take that first fuel line off.

3. Discnnect the electrical leads to each injector. There is a little metal clip inserted from above on each one that you have to pry up with something like a tiny flat balde screwdriver before they release. Go slow here as it is real easy to break the plastic tabs on the connectors.

4. No you have five bolts / nuts left holding it on as well as the two fuel line connectins (supply and return) and the hose off the end of the rail to the cold start injector. I HIGHLY recommend you DO NOT try to remove the hose from the cold start valve. Instead disconnect its electircal connector (most likely blue) and then remove the two screws (allen head I think) securing the injector to the intake plenum and let the whole thing (hose and cold start injector) stay attached to the fule rail. (I had to borrow a really short allen wrench to get the lower bolt out as the CSI itself blocks clear access to it)

5. Next you need to unscrew the four nuts securing the injectors to the intake plenum. I use a 1/4 inch drive set as you don't want to bust anything hewe! The are studs with nuts but you may well find that the studs back out with the nut if they are very corroded. Then there is also a bolt (allen head I think) securing the fuel pressure regulator to the intake. Remove it as well.

6. Everything should now be loose. Gently work each injector out of its seat, preferrably by grasping the injectors at the base, not the hose. They have a seal at the intake as well as a big rubber ring where they pass through the intake. Be careful to not bang the tips on things as you work them out. You should now be able to pull the entire rail with the 4 injectors and cold start injector back from the engine so that it is hanging free by the two fuel lines. Depending on why you are doing this you can decide if you want to remove the clamps on the fuel lines, pull them and carry the whole rail / injector assembly over to the bench. AGAIN, expect a LOT of fuel when you do this and have something ready to plug up the fuel lines once you remove them. On my car the supply line will fill a small gas can before pressure / gravity stops flow unless I sitck a plug of some sort in the open line and clamp it.
I am attempting to remove the injectors to clean them, he car does not start and I do not believe the injectors are fueling the cylinders. I had removed the 4 nuts securing the injectors. I was unsure as to how and get the injectors out. I did not want to force anything. The injector fits through 4 holes in the intake hosing. Will they just slide out of that? The have a rubber/hard plastic lip just where they go through the housing, and it does not seem like that will slide through.
narfire
Posts: 3959
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:14 am
Your car is a: 1980 124 spider
Location: Naramata B.C.

Re: fuel injector removal

Post by narfire »

I took my rail off last week. In addition one will be disconecting the electrical connections to the various sensors as they are on/in the same bundle as the injector connections. The injector grounds as well, they all pull out of the way to make room to remove the rail.
As he mentioned ,fuel is under pressure and if it is not released then the fuel comes out at a good clip, but I loosen the lower conection(on the rail) of the cold start valve with a rag around it. The top conection has a plastic spur that can break while trying to pull the hose off. A 17 and a 12 mm for the main fuel line conection.
Are you changing out the injector hoses? Good idea if they are old,one of mine developed a very small crack and started to leak,so Changed them all. Recomended to use the proper fuel line clamps, here they are expensive, before discount about $2.50 each. I believe the vendors sell the kits that will have you covered. Change the seals,rubber rings as well. If there is a place in your area that deals with injectors, think about having them cleaned and serviced,again here they were $25.00 each, there was a thred somewhere about a place in Everett Wa I think doing this. The tips of the injectors are plastic of some sort and can deform/scratch while putting them back in,if the discharge hole of the injector is compromised, the spray pattern of the injector is'nt right.
Overall a not too difficult task, just make sure everything is tight and check several times there is no leaks.
Have fun, a 3 installation fluid unit job in my opinion.
80 FI spider
72 work in progress
2017 Golf R ( APR Stg. 1)
2018 F350 crew long box
Tango

Re: fuel injector removal

Post by Tango »

zachmac wrote: 3. Disconnect the electrical leads to each injector. There is a little metal clip inserted from above on each one that you have to pry up with something like a tiny flat blade screwdriver before they release. Go slow here as it is real easy to break the plastic tabs on the connectors.
I have been trying to pursue this "miss" in my engine today. Using a stethoscope, it def seemed to me that no. 2 injector does not have the same clear clicking sound as 1, 3 and 4. I tried pressing the connector on, just moving it around, and now the injector has a much more definite click as with the other three, and I believe the engine note has changed with less rythmic burbling. If I wiggle it more, the sound goes back to as before (via stethoscope).

So, I want to get the connector off to check the situation and maybe clean the connection. It looks just like the connector on my coolant temp sensor on the coolant tee, which I can pull off with some back and forth and firm pulling. To get at no. 2 injector connector, though, I might need to put pliers on it. I dont want to break it. I see from your note above that there is a "metal clip", but I can't see it. just a plastic tab on the left side as you look at it (facing front of the car). These connectors seem delicate.

Is there a picture or diagram somewhere of this clip that gets pried up? I only see plastic bits.

Tim
Luddite

Re: fuel injector removal

Post by Luddite »

In the for what it's worth department, I had an intermittent miss in two cylinders and thought it might be the injectors. Before pulling them, I put on a new ground lug and felt a slight improvement. Next I cleaned and tightened the chassis ground cable connections. Voilà. Car runs smooth as silk. No removal required!
majicwrench

Re: fuel injector removal

Post by majicwrench »

Tango,
If you can wiggle the connector and get the injector to sound diff, just change the connector. Carquest S-697. Take a look at the new connector and you will see the metal clip that you need to remove.
Over the decades i have fixed a lot of misses by replacing injector connectors.
Again, if you can wiggle injector connector and get inj to sound diff, or engine to miss, change connector.
Keith
Tango

Re: fuel injector removal

Post by Tango »

I will change it out. I have no doubt that is running better / different.

No more blub-blub-blub from the exhaust, although it sounds uneven in a dfferent way. The gear shift is not gently shaking anymore and most importantly the car has more power and quicker response.

Bit of a tricky place to get at to change the wire, but it definitely needs doing.

Luddite, are you talking about a ground cable between the engine and the chassis? Ive been looking for such a strap, but havent spotted it yet. Otherwise, where is this ground connection located and i will check it out, because I am definitely on the right track here |I think
ptmassa

Re: fuel injector removal

Post by ptmassa »

fuel injector grounds are drivers side engine top rear of cyliner head, last bolt for drivers side valve cover. 2 wires
Luddite

Re: fuel injector removal

Post by Luddite »

I worked on two. One bolted to the bloc on the drivers side. The other is a heavy wire (looks like 0 gauge) bonded to the body on one side and bolted to the flywheel inspection cover on the other side. It looked "connected" but closer inspection showed a poor contact. From work in pro audio, I learned to respect grounding gremlins, and that did the trick for me here.
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