Avoiding Hydrolock

[burijon]

Is this the correct method to avoid hydrolock when replacing an injector?

"I had a problem with hydrolock once. This is how I took care of it. I pulled the fuse for the fuel pump. Then removed the sparkplugs. Put some rags over the plug holes. Then cranked the engine over to force the liquid out. Make sure you rest the starter so as not burn it out.

This procedure should get most of the stuff out. Then just leave the vehicle alone for a day or two for the remaining fuel to evaporate."

The above is from:zerothread?id=100519

All the posts say to avoid it but don't tell me specifically what to do from the beginning. I'm not quite to the point of pulling off the injector so any response is appreciated.

Thanks

Modified by burijon at 10:02 AM 4/28/2007
Modified by burijon at 12:37 PM 4/28/2007

[maxnix]

The best way to avoid hydrolock is to pull each injector rail as a unit.

Pulling individual injectors while the rail is installed can be very trying, per the posts.

[burijon]

OK so I have the rail out. The plastic tips pretty much fell off the bottom(the four grips at the pintle?)

Question:Can the injectors still be used as is or DO I HAVE TO replace the caps in order for the injectors to still work? I needed/wanted the car to be done by tomorrow but it's iffy now.

Thanks all!

[3Q Jay]

read more posts, especially by Goody about woes when the pintle caps come off.

were you able to retrieve the caps from the lower runner holes? make sure they are not in a cylinder.

[goody90q45]

All the posts say to avoid it but don't tell me specifically what to do from the beginning. I'm not quite to the point of pulling of the injector so any response is appreciated.

It sounds like you've been reading up on injector change out so you know that you 1) Remove the fuse pump fuse and gas cap, and 2) run the engine until it dies. I would add 3) crank the engine for another 5-10 seconds to make sure as much of the fuel is out of the rail as possible. If you do these steps and install the injector correctly you will not hydrolock the engine.

I think the hydrolocking comes up when an injector is not installed properly and the bottom (small) o-ring does not seat, or the o-ring slips off/leaks while you're on the road. (It's happenned to me twice.) Once you turn the engine off the cylinder(s) start filling with 40+psi fuel from the rail and on the next start attempt the engine hydrolocks.

You are correct that the fix is to remove the plugs, crank the engine for a few seconds, and let the cylinders air out overnight. Put it all back together and fire her up. You'll need to change the oil and filter after you verify that all is well.

If you read the injector change out posts (which you've done) and follow the steps there's no reason to think you would have hydrolocking issues. You'll like the improvement in performance. Good luck.


Modified by goody94q45 at 9:27 AM 4/28/2007

[goody90q45]

read more posts, especially by Goody about woes when the pintle caps come off. Were you able to retrieve the caps from the lower runner holes? make sure they are not in a cylinder.

My pintle caps have been missing 3 of the 4 times I've pulled an injector. My opinion is they help hold the o-ring on, but the consensus from the membership is you can live without them. You can buy them from DeatschWerks for about $1.50/ea and pop them on yourself after boiling them in water for a few minutes.

I never did found any of the missing caps which I have to assume were ingested by the beast.

EDIT- I reread your post and if you're asking about the four tiny legs on the face of the plastic pintle cap then no- you'll be fine if one or more of the legs is broken off.

[burijon]

Great! They only fell off when I placed them on my table.

It's a good thing that I didn't need the injector that I "pulled" out. The only way I could get the thing out was to hit the end of it with a screwdriver and hammer! That thing wasn't budging! I see what you guys mean when you try and get the thing out while still in the car. There is no leverage or sweet spot on the injector to use hardly any tool to get it out without breaking it.

Thanks everybody!