part of pintel cap fell into injector hole

[big dawg]

removed #5 injector on my Z...won't go into all the issues here just to get to it. I'll save that for anyone who wishes to know. I'll just say that I hope you never have to replace #5.When I finally got the injector to release, I noticed that the very bottom of the pintel cap was broken off the injector (aprox. the bottom 1/8 of it). I looked into the fuel rail and saw it sitting on a small ridge, just below the injector opening... I assume this ridge is between the 2 intake valves......it looked like a miniature cup with a hole it the center.There was no way to get at it. I tried a narrow wood dowel with duck tape on the end, but it fell off the ridge as I was trying to put the dowel down to it.My question is, since it is just plastic, do I have anything to worry about, or will it eventually just burn up once it enters the cylinder?


Modified by big dawg at 6:18 PM 1/24/2009

[Sgt]

Well I would definitely try to get it out. It isn't a cheap plastic so it may not just break away. Look at it this way: the only thing its going to cost you to get it out now is time. If you just leave it in there, it may end up costing you time and money if it breaks something.

[Zwicked]

If it's in the rail, it could end up blocking flow depending where it ends up. Remember the injector never sees combustion chamber temps as it's above the valves so if it fell into the head it will possibly just burn up and/or be chewed up and spit out., but I am not going to tell you it's ok in case it turns out badly. I am sure you are not the only one this has happened to.

[pcproa]

I agree with Zwicked.

I've torn apart a Z32 with an entirely missing pintle cap on 2 different injectors. The engine was never disassembled before me. I don't think the entire cap went at one time, but I believe a bit tore off at the beginning, creating a weakness in the rest of the shell and it broke off in bigger chunks after that.

As high quality and high temp as the cap is, it is still plastic, and has a lower melting temp than the temps seen directly in the combustion chamber.

In my case, I saw no damage to the cylinders when I pulled mine apart, but the only concern is if the plastic melts and falls down the side of the cylinder between the piston and the cylinder wall, forcing the rings not to seat properly.

[big dawg]

I GOT IT!!!After reading another forums post last night about the same problem, this morning I tried some of the suggestions to get it out. I fashioned a slender tube to my shop vac and slid it down the injector hole and moved it around. The only thing I got was liquid being sucked up. This gave me the clue that the valves were still closed so I figured that the plastic piece is still in the fuel rail/valve head. So I took the tube off and put the vacuum hose directly on the injector opening (it was a very tight fit since #5 has a fuel line in the way). I vacuumed it for about a minute, then stopped and removed the canister top and "I'll be d---ed! Not only was the piece I was looking for in the canister but a smaller piece that I had not expected.

By the way, I don't know about you, but I hate leaning over my car, trying to work on it like the injectors...besides killing my back after awhile, you never can use both of your hands at the same time. I also don't like laying against the fender, even it it is protected, so I built a simple platform that allows me to lay directly over the section I want to work on. It allows me to use both my hands and see directly down on the section I need to get to and it doesn't touch the fender. It works great.

[evildky]

if you had pulled the plenum you could have retrieved the cap right throught he intake port, actually you would have pulled the fuel rail and it never would have fallen

[big dawg]

Of course! However, I had no intentions of having to go to that level of disassembly just to replace one bad injector.

[evildky]

takes me 30 minutes to pull the plenum, granted I have a bit of experience with this motor, and if one failed, how long till the next one goes?

[big dawg]

evildky

You are obviously a man of great talent. Mere mortals like me can only hope to one day gain the knowledge and talents that you already possess. Thanks for pointing out my short-comings...I will strive to do better.

[evildky]

lol, I just find that any shortcuts on these cars comes at a price, I hope the rest of your injectors last a long time but I fear you'll be breaking the dremel out again sooner than later, since rebuilding my engine I've replaced the lifters in the LH head, put it back together, took them out and beld them checked all the lifter in the other head replaced the intake manifold 9stripped a bolt hole the second time I ptu the plenum back on) and put it back together again, everything on these cars is a time consuming PITA and when you mess somethign up, or miss somehting you always comes back to get you and you end up doing the same things over and over again, and it takes longer to put it back together than to take it apart, and I just don't want to do it again if I can help it

[big dawg]

Thanks for the warnings...I'll keep it in mind the next time I open the hood.