Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Injectors clogged at 193K Miles

[scotthouseman]

A couple of weeks ago, my '01 Quad 2500 died just north of Evansville, IN. I managed to limp in to a Dodge dealer in Henderson, KY, where they diagnosed that the injectors had clogged. They replaced the injectors (after a week and $1,150), and knock on wood, everything seems to be doing fine 1000 miles or so later.



Three questions;



Is it fairly typical for the injectors to clog at that kind of mileage, or is this a fluke?



What can be done to prevent this from occuring again?



I'd changed the fuel filter the day before (as I've done a hundred times before). Could that have had something to do with this?

 

[dacook]

Bum deal on the injectors,

I too am curious about clogged injectors seeing I am at 165,000.

what is the average life span of an injector? anyone?

 

[Hohn]

That's why showerheads are a good idea... Bigger holes to resist plugging...

 

[KKunz]

Did the dealer just replace the injectors? $1,150 seems really expensive for new injectors how long did it take them to change them; did the dealer put stock injectors back in? A set of Bosch 275 injectors run about $300-350 should not take more than 2 hours tops to put them in.

 

[WestTN]

"IF" the injectors were actually plugged, then you either had a fuel filter failure or someone prefilled the filter with contaminated fuel.



This is one reason I never prefill. Let the lift pump do it's job.

 

[0013]

ive got 140K on the stock injectors. no probs so far. IF my injectors ever clog im going to put stage III's in it!!!

 

[scotthouseman]

Injectors at 193K (continued)

This episode started when I was a few hundred miles from home, and it was obvious I wasn't going much further than where I got to without a tow. I wound up driving a rental car for a week. I need to plan these problems better! If this had happened at home, I would've done my homework and probably done the Bosch injectors, but under the circumstances, the dealer had me by the short ones. They sent the original injectors out to be blow-tested, and then replaced with stock injectors. I'm on the road right now, so I don't have the receipt with me--I know they did a couple of other things but I can't remember if they replaced the injector pump or not. Knock on wood, it's running well, although it seems to idle less smoothly than before, something I'll watch closely



By the way, I never fill the filter with fuel when I change it.



I think when I get to 300K or so (another 2 years), I'll go ahead and replace these injectors with the Bosch or some such, to be safe. I'd rather do these things on MY terms...