How To: Clean your fuel Injectors
akiraboy
HondaCivicWagon.com Founder
So you have some sticking, dirty injectors? Scored some 450cc blue tops from the junk yard? Got some questionable ones from ebay or some board and you're not sure of their condition? Well here ya go! Now you can clean them & inspect em yourself.
In your car your injectors see hell, recirculated oil, dirt, crap, bad gas whatever. Over time this builds up on the injector and ruins your performance, furthermore it may cause you other engine related problems.
enough said
Sorry for the goofy pics but I took these years ago when I had a 1.0 megapixel camera :roll:
Supplies:
Carb cleaner
fuel injector cleaner: in-tank type
Ultrasonic cleaner: like the kind you clean jewelery with.
and some compressed air: (air compressor not pictured)
______________________________
Fill the ultrasonic cleaner tank with the gumout.
Take out the tiny mesh filter that is located in the top of the injector, set it to the side and clean it later/separately. In fact replace with new ones if you can, they get pretty flimsy over time & may fail or break. Not a good thing.
Take the injector and immerse the injector point into the solution, only for short periods. While in the cleaner apply voltage to the injector to open it and close it, only do this in quick spurts, like quickly tapping the 12v- wire on and off to simulate cycling.
Take the injector out of the solution, spray some aerosol
injector cleaner/carb cleaner into the injector top using the small red straw that comes with it(hopefully)
let it set for a bit:
Get an injector pigtail/plug, apply 12volts approx to it to open the injector pintle. Do this for short periods(you should hear a small 'click' when you apply voltage)
While it is open, use a blow gun attachment and -SPRAY- out the cleaner:
Repeat until the injector sprays clear
What you should see: After repeating these steps a few times you should notice a fine mist pattern develop as you use your blow gun
It should look like those gasoline commercials that you see on T.V. where the injector sprays a in a /\ pattern- like a very fine mist.
This is when you know the carb cleaner is going thru the injector properly and so should your gasoline after you re-install them in your car.
You will also notice that the gumout cleaner will start to get dark. Empty the ultrasonic cleaner and replace with clean fluid.
Warning: do not leave the injector on 12v DC for too long, do not leave in the ultrasonic cleaner for too long and DO NOT DROP OR DAMAGE THE END OF THE INJECTOR. Be careful not to expose the cleaner or other items to an open flame and so on. Well ventilated areas ect, use your head. Do not invert voltage.
Oh and in case you were wondering what I used to actuate the injector? It was a small cordless drill battery.
And for goodness sake DO NOT USE GASOLINE or SOME OTHER SOLVENT as a substitute for gumout. Use whatever brand injector cleaner you want but gas and solvents may cause a fire, cause breating problems when aerated ect. The injector cleaner is a detergent and is designed to clean the injectors.
Additionally, you may be asking where do I get one of these ultrasonic cleaners?
They're at local pharmacy/drug stores. Harbor freight tools online, or just search google for ultrasonic Jewelery cleaner( I just did thats where I got the picture!)
Heck, mom may already have one
I saw one at harbor freight for like 29.00
Its a small price to pay for clean injectors I assure you, especially when you go turbo or higher in performance.
Justification:
Now is this a substitute for a professional injector balance and cleaning business done by RC injectors or whomever? NO
Reason, because they use more professional means to clean, balance, and adjust the injectors. Give you computerized printouts of their performance ect.
More times than not you'd be better off buyin new injectors if you wanted 100% peace of mind but most older injectors could always use a good cleaning.
Now what would a local garage do with your injectors? Same exact thing I just illustrated here.
How much would that local garage charge? Like $200
In fact I showed these pics & explained the process I used to a garage mech. before & he liked how I did it!
HMMMM
References:
http://injectorcleaning.com/html/injector_technical_information.html
http://www.atlasauto.ca/injection.htm
In your car your injectors see hell, recirculated oil, dirt, crap, bad gas whatever. Over time this builds up on the injector and ruins your performance, furthermore it may cause you other engine related problems.
enough said
Sorry for the goofy pics but I took these years ago when I had a 1.0 megapixel camera :roll:
Supplies:
Carb cleaner
fuel injector cleaner: in-tank type
Ultrasonic cleaner: like the kind you clean jewelery with.
and some compressed air: (air compressor not pictured)
______________________________
Fill the ultrasonic cleaner tank with the gumout.
Take out the tiny mesh filter that is located in the top of the injector, set it to the side and clean it later/separately. In fact replace with new ones if you can, they get pretty flimsy over time & may fail or break. Not a good thing.
Take the injector and immerse the injector point into the solution, only for short periods. While in the cleaner apply voltage to the injector to open it and close it, only do this in quick spurts, like quickly tapping the 12v- wire on and off to simulate cycling.
Take the injector out of the solution, spray some aerosol
injector cleaner/carb cleaner into the injector top using the small red straw that comes with it(hopefully)
let it set for a bit:
Get an injector pigtail/plug, apply 12volts approx to it to open the injector pintle. Do this for short periods(you should hear a small 'click' when you apply voltage)
While it is open, use a blow gun attachment and -SPRAY- out the cleaner:
Repeat until the injector sprays clear
What you should see: After repeating these steps a few times you should notice a fine mist pattern develop as you use your blow gun
It should look like those gasoline commercials that you see on T.V. where the injector sprays a in a /\ pattern- like a very fine mist.
This is when you know the carb cleaner is going thru the injector properly and so should your gasoline after you re-install them in your car.
You will also notice that the gumout cleaner will start to get dark. Empty the ultrasonic cleaner and replace with clean fluid.
Warning: do not leave the injector on 12v DC for too long, do not leave in the ultrasonic cleaner for too long and DO NOT DROP OR DAMAGE THE END OF THE INJECTOR. Be careful not to expose the cleaner or other items to an open flame and so on. Well ventilated areas ect, use your head. Do not invert voltage.
Oh and in case you were wondering what I used to actuate the injector? It was a small cordless drill battery.
And for goodness sake DO NOT USE GASOLINE or SOME OTHER SOLVENT as a substitute for gumout. Use whatever brand injector cleaner you want but gas and solvents may cause a fire, cause breating problems when aerated ect. The injector cleaner is a detergent and is designed to clean the injectors.
Additionally, you may be asking where do I get one of these ultrasonic cleaners?
They're at local pharmacy/drug stores. Harbor freight tools online, or just search google for ultrasonic Jewelery cleaner( I just did thats where I got the picture!)
Heck, mom may already have one
I saw one at harbor freight for like 29.00
Its a small price to pay for clean injectors I assure you, especially when you go turbo or higher in performance.
Justification:
Now is this a substitute for a professional injector balance and cleaning business done by RC injectors or whomever? NO
Reason, because they use more professional means to clean, balance, and adjust the injectors. Give you computerized printouts of their performance ect.
More times than not you'd be better off buyin new injectors if you wanted 100% peace of mind but most older injectors could always use a good cleaning.
Now what would a local garage do with your injectors? Same exact thing I just illustrated here.
How much would that local garage charge? Like $200
In fact I showed these pics & explained the process I used to a garage mech. before & he liked how I did it!
HMMMM
References:
http://injectorcleaning.com/html/injector_technical_information.html
http://www.atlasauto.ca/injection.htm
Comments
Check these guys out:
http://cruzinperformance.com/fuelinj.html
why don't you just buy brand new injectors from the dealer?
speaking of which..how do you remove/change the old ones and install new ones?
thanks.
:?: