DIY fuel injector cleaning

I want to clean my fuel injectors as preventive maintenance. There's
no sign of anything wrong but I assume the injectors won't suffer from
being cleaned. Adding an expensive snake oil treatment to the gas tank
sounds too uncertain to me.

I propose removing the injectors to dip them in carb cleaner or
suchlike.

Question: If I feed 12v through an injector, will it open as it does
when a 'pulse' of some sort is sent during normal operation? Is the
pulse anything like 12v? If so, will a continous 12v supply risk
burning out the injector? Indeed, will the injector stay open, in
order to allow the cleaning fluid to get inside?

Does anyone know please?

Regards
George

Roughly 3/21/04 15:07, George Bray's monkeys randomly typed:
> I want to clean my fuel injectors as preventive maintenance. There's
> no sign of anything wrong but I assume the injectors won't suffer from
> being cleaned.

On the contrary, cleaning by unqualified service personnel is
extremely likely to harm the injector.

> Adding an expensive snake oil treatment to the gas tank
> sounds too uncertain to me.

Better than attempting to remove and clean them manually without
knowing exactly what you are doing. Some of those snake oils
actually help get rid of reasonably polite snakes.

Some injector systems have a feed where you can attach cleaner
right to the fuel rail for cleaning. Some shops claim this works,
others place it in the same herpetological lubricant category
as additives or advertising claims by oil companies.
>
> I propose removing the injectors to dip them in carb cleaner or
> suchlike.

Probably a good idea not to attempt to clean the injectors with
anything that would damage their internal seals.
>
> Question: If I feed 12v through an injector, will it open as it does
> when a 'pulse' of some sort is sent during normal operation? Is the
> pulse anything like 12v? If so, will a continous 12v supply risk
> burning out the injector? Indeed, will the injector stay open, in
> order to allow the cleaning fluid to get inside?

On my injectors, the Factory Service Manual notes that the injector
resistance is a mere 14.5 ohms. It also explicitly warns not to
feed activation to the injector for more than 5 seconds to avoid
internal damage. Same manual has no scheduled maintenance to the
injectors whatever.

If you see any signs of damage whatever, replace the injector.
Also make sure your fuel filter is changed aggressively.
And clean the PCV valve.
And some folks report benefit from cleaning the throttle body
mechanicals...probably more than fuel injectors.

"L0nD0t.$t0we11" > wrote in message:
> ...cleaning (injectors) by unqualified service personnel is
> extremely likely to harm the injector.

Thank you for your help. I will be very careful. Junior garage staff
are likely to be less careful, I feel. If a garage mechanic can learn
how to clean injectors, then so can I!

> Better than attempting to remove and clean them manually without
> knowing exactly what you are doing. Some of those snake oils
> actually help get rid of reasonably polite snakes.

It sounds as though you know what you are talking about. Any advice on
how to remove and clean the injectors without harming them would be
most appreciated by me, and perhaps others searching this list now and
in future years.

> Probably a good idea not to attempt to clean the injectors with
> anything that would damage their internal seals.

I'd need to use an appropriate cleaner and concentration by the sound
of it. Again, any specific pointers would be most appreciated. I would
have thought an overnight soak - even agitation in a vibrating bath -
would clean the injectors quite well.

> On my injectors, the Factory Service Manual notes that the injector
> resistance is a mere 14.5 ohms. It also explicitly warns not to
> feed activation to the injector for more than 5 seconds to avoid
> internal damage. Same manual has no scheduled maintenance to the
> injectors whatever.

Point taken. Thank you for the warning. I simply don't know if they
are dirty or not. I wonder if you can tell by looking with the naked
eye, or with a magnifying glass or simple microscope.

> Also make sure your fuel filter is changed aggressively.
> And clean the PCV valve.
> And some folks report benefit from cleaning the throttle body
> mechanicals...probably more than fuel injectors.

Good advice again. I'll aim to do all these things too.

Regards
George