Injector Installation ??Question??

[cdrider]

OK, I'm finally ready for the 1st upgrade to this stock CTD. I have a new set of PW injectors and have fabricated a slide hammer type puller tool (thanks to previous posts for the puller idea). Question: Will the engine be hard to start after replacing injectors due to air in all of the lines/injectors? Would I be better off to install 1 or 2 injectors at a time and then bleed them before proceeding to the next 1 or 2 etc. Any info, tips on installation appreciated.

 

[Paychk]

I worked on just 2 of mine and it took about an hour of cranking to get it re-started. I would crank about 20-30 seconds and then wait about 10-15 minutes, the reason for this is a warning in the manual about excess cranking and to let the battery recharge (I had it jumped with another car that was running). I tryed to bleed the injectors but nothing would come out, so I'm not sure If I was doing something wrong or what. Anyhow after a while I could tell it was trying to fire and eventually it did. You might want to swap two, get it to fire and then two more, till you've swapped them all.

 

[KMC]

cdrider, I just did this install recently myself and learned a few things...



My advice would be to do one at a time. Bill Babcock (TDR handle drives mopars) did his this way. When he was done he restarted with out having to bleed the injectors at all. It did run rough for a while before smoothing out and purging some air - but it did fire right up.



Here's what I did... . I started out with the mindset of doing one at a time but once I got started I discovered that Cummins had given me the wrong crush washers. My wife was nice enough to run back to Cummins for me to get the right ones. While she was gone I figured I'd make the most of my time and went ahead and pulled all six. Eventually got the new injectors in just fine but when I went to restart - no go! Lot's of air in the lines. It took me a couple of hours to figure out how to bleed them right and run the battery down twice before she finally started off.



Here's a couple of pointers that I learned in this process:



1. ) Take the extra time to loosen/remove some of the injector line hold down clamps and even a valve cover or two when installing the injectors. It will make the job alot easier and put far less bending stress on the lines. Bending the lines will fatigue and weaken the metal. These lines carry fuel at very high pressure and I for one want to see them remain strong.



2. ) Get all new Banjo clip washers and an extra Banjo bolt or two. If you drop one they are hard to find... .



3. ) If you have to bleed the lines and you live in a cold area plug the truck in for a while first. The combination of the grid heater going on and off and the cranking will kill the battery in nothing flat.



4. ) Bleed several lines at a time. I tried bleeding one at a time, I tried bleeding them all together. It wasn't until I cracked two or three lines at a time and they were all spitting fuel before I got close to starting the truck as I tightened each one down.



5. ) You will find that to get several injectors spitting fuel and purged enough will take you very close to the maximum recommended cranking time or just slightly beyond it. Just give plenty of rest between crankings so things can cool down.



6. ) Lastly don't do this on an asphalt driveway. All that diesel fuel dripping down the motor and on to the asphalt will eat it away. I have a bunch of little craters now in my driveway to prove it. This is incidently why the pads at gas stations are always concrete!



Good luck! The injectors are worth the effort for sure! Oo.



Ken

 

[Dfeland]

Remove all the valve covers that are in the way. Loosen all the nuts on the injectors remove all banjo bolts and seals under them. Remove clamps holding the lines together, don't remove the lines at the pump there is no reason for that. You can CAREFULLY push the lines out of the way enough to get the socket in there to remove the injector. Replace injectors, replace return line. Tighten all injector nuts but one and crank the motor. Tighten that one go to the next and repeat and it will start. Might run rough for awhile until you bring the throttle up and get air out but it should start. Key being don't loosen injector lines at pump otherwise the whole line fills with air. If you just do the injector nut very minimal amount of air will get in. I did it my first time last week and it took me two hours start to smile from ear to ear finish.

 

[paccool]

I've done 2 different sets of injectors and have not had a problem restarting. Trucks ran real rough for about 20 seconds and then started to smooth out. I left the lines attached at the pump like Dfeland said. Removed the second and 5th valve covers(may have been the 6th)for room to move the lines around. Remove the clamps and then pop the injectors out. Clean the bores and put the new ones in and reconnect everything. Then just start it!



This is what worked for me, hope it goes as well for you.

 

[Power Wagon]

Huh.



Loosen the bolts the hold the lines to the intake, remove the return rail, remove all the injectors, put new injectors in after cleaning bores and seats. Make sure all the old c opper gaskets come out of the bottom (rare for them not to). Put new ones in, greased on the nut threads, torque to 44 ft=lbs, put the new square rubber rings on to keep moisture from between the nut and injector.



Put all the clamps back down tight, lines back on until snug, then back off 1/2 turn for all of them.



Pump the primer handle on the supply pump. If it isn't doing anything rotate the engine a 1/2 to 1 turn so it will. pump it until it begins to get resistance to it's return (the spring loaded direction seems to stall), and crank the engine until fuel shoots out of the loose injector line fittings - this should take 3 to 30 seconds.



Cinch down the injector lines to the injectors and start the engine. It may shake or miss for a few moments, but should get to running on all 6 in less than 15 seconds. Once you're sure nothing's loose or leaking, spray it all down with brake clean or carb cleaner and go for a drive.



Wonder at the awesome power it now has. Make sure you get it fully warm.



Go back home, raise the hood with the engine still running. Look for fuel leaks.



Yer done, man. Time = 2 hours. Faster, if you have practice

 

[rubberneck]

YA what powerwagon said. I just did a set of injectors on my dads truck. We actually had the lines all the way off the truck as we timed it while we were at it. Just seemed easier to remove them than fight them both at the pump and the injector end. When we put them back on, we left all 6 loose at the injector end, cranked for about 10-20 seconds, and fuel was leaking out of about 3 of the injectors. tightened those 3 lines and hit starter for about 5 more seconds before fuel shot out of remaining 3. after tightening those 3 truck started almost instantly and was running smoothly about 15 seconds later. I think it is way better to leave them all loose at first.

 

[paccool]

You're right Mark, I left out a few of the steps. Didn't think I needed to say anything about the copper gaskets but to someone that hasn't done it before that would be a major step. Thanks for helping keep me from leading someone off on the wrong path.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Get a 5/16" hollow pushrod from an Olds or something similar. cut off one end so you have about 4-5" of it. chamfer the cut end, and about 1" from the end hit the side with a hammer to flatten it a bit, so a q-tip will fit tight. Use a lot of q-tips to clean the bottom of the injector bores in the heads. That way the copper washers will seal well. Holding the q tip with needle nose pliers works until you drop one into the cylinder--of course luck will have it that the cylinder has the piston at BDC.