Probably found the cause of my lowered and semi-rough idle -- the #2 injector is leaking. I removed the front plastic covers and low and behold #2 has fuel residue down the body, onto the rail and on to the head. I am confounded that my ECU check light has not indicated a FI problem.
Questions: Any thoughts on where they leak? I have not taken the injector out yet as I do not have the replacement parts. But, on the diagrams it looks like there are o-rings on teh top and bottom of the injector and then another at the base of the rail where it goes into the head. Any experience with this? Obvoiusly I would rather replace the o-rings on the injector and not the rail as the rail looks like it will require removing the plenum -- the injector is easily reached from above. At 98K mi. I am inclined to just put in a new injector while I have this one out.
Thanks again for the advice!!!
#2 Injector leak
This may not be the cause of your rough idle, but a fuel leak needs fixing ASAP. Take the metal cover off the top of the injector, wipe it off, then let it pressurize and look for the leak. Hopefully the injector won't fly out of the rail from the pressure ! That would save some work, since they are a MF to remove from the top. You will probably deform the plastic where you grab it with a pliers, be careful and maybe you can re-use the injector. Get new O rings (please), put a light silicone grease on them, and press the injector in without twisting ! If you twist it, the O rings will distort and leak badly ! VERY IMPORTANT: relieve the pressure in the fuel rail before removing the injector. Pull the fuel pump fuse while the car is running, let it die, try to restart, then open the gas cap to relieve any remaining pressure. I found that pressure can develop after this procedure with the car just sitting ! Don't ask how I know this... You might want to drain the fuel rail from the crossover hose in front. The last thing you want is to allow fuel to gush into the cylinder when the injector is removed. This could cause hydrolock & serious damage when you crank it over. Good luck.
So it takes a bit of force to get the injector out of the rail? Its held in by the o-rings and top retaining clip? Thanks for the tip -- Iwould have been reluctant to pull that hard.
Sounds like I better get a new one as a back up. Also, I am going to replace the crossover hose -- it was replaced last year, but the hose was cut short and it not well centered over the fittings.
Time to call Joe . . . .
Sounds like I better get a new one as a back up. Also, I am going to replace the crossover hose -- it was replaced last year, but the hose was cut short and it not well centered over the fittings.
Time to call Joe . . . .
FYI -- I replaced the O-rings on injector #2. Stopped the leak and restored the smoothness at idle (still same RPM). Procedure just as QDog stated. I pulled the fuse and ran her down, relieved the gas cap, but there was still pressure in the crossover hose. It squirted when I cut it to remove the hose. In addition to the injector the cross-over hose was also leaking on the fitting. It has been replaced in the past and some yahoo apparently cut the hose ends off with a blade, scarring the nipple (sounds painful!). I assume that the leak was down the scar on the fitting. I sanded the fittings with wet/dry fine sand paper to smooth them out and installed a new length of hose. Beyond me why they would cut it like that -- why not sever it in half and pull each end to the middle??? Oh well. As QDog mentioned the injector was tough to get out and required a death lock with pliers to pull it up. Cracked some of the plastic edges on the top of the injector -- no way to avoid it -- its old and brittle at 99K. The old o-rings were swollen and deformed. Cut them off the injector and slid the new ones on with a little Mobil 1 to lubricate. Reinstalling the injector was very easy. Cranked right up and runs great. Now I will see how long I go before the injectors under the plenum start to seep . . . . . . they look clean for today!