Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Worn injectors

[samsonite01]

Hey everybody

So started losing milage and seemed like she was runnin little raspy. Took out injectors cleaned them up (thanks for the video links). Decided to take them to the fuel shop and pop test. All Fail!! Some of the even dribbling. Fuel shop said dont put them back in they can and will cause mech problems. Understood!! Got a new set coming. Question is what type of mech problems will this cause on a 24v. I know common rail can melt pistons due to injector fail. No raise in oil level and normal amount of blow by on crank breather.

While im waiting for new injectors what other things can i look for?

Im wondering if i shoud get one of them inspection cameras and stick it down in the injector ports to have a look at the top of pistons.

I also need to fool with the OBD port. The dang thing loses connection to the edge when i hit big bumps! Think i could just zip tie it ha!?

 

[samsonite01]

Forgot to mention truck is now at 181k miles.

 

[samsonite01]

Well........thank you for all the input! You guys are great.

So i got my hands on a inspection camera. Didnt work as well as i thought it would. Waste of time. For a real inspection i guess you would have to pull the head. Not going there unless needed.

Got some Bocsh RV275s and wow. She runs much smoother!! I was always chasing tuneability issues with this truck. MAP sensor, APPS, IAT, speed sensor, etc...to no avail. The truck would buck when cold and always seemed to shift hard. The trans shop that built the trans says thats normal, just put 10k behind it and it will shift just fine. Well after the injectors, no more buck and she shifts much different.

The overdrive is electronic controled to my knowlage. When driving the OD would lockup at funny times, almost at the same time the gears switch and feel harsh. Harsh the point where i would anticipate the shift and lift off the throttle to aid in a smoother shift. Now there is a slight delay mabey 1/2 second to 1 second delay in the lockup. Its almost like the bad injectors were creating a bad shifting problem. Wierd but understandable.

Anyways. Thought i would post the out come. New injectors worth it!

 

[klcammie]

Thanks. It is nice to hear the out come. Love my RV 275,s.

 

[rotohead]

I'm glad you posted this thread as I'm about to install the same injectors replacing some four year old Mach 2's. Started having increased soot and black smoke and my oil sample last change showed the pressence of fuel in my oil. I've never been real happy with the Mach 2s and am looking forward to a smoother running engine. Thanks again for the thread. Please add to it if you come across any additional info from your change.

 

[samsonite01]

Fuel mileage is what i will be watching closely. I was averaging around 14, witch is low i know, but i live in the mountians and drive aggressively.

Will post results after first tank.

 

[samsonite01]

Ok. Fuel milage up 1mpg so far

 

[SAndreasen]

Do you run a fuel additive

 

[samsonite01]

Yes. Stanadyne Lubricity Formula.

One bottle dose 125gal. I split the bottle in 3rds. Little more dosent hurt.

The guys at my local fuel shop (an authorized bocsh shop) recomended either the lubricity (purple bottle) or performance (red bottle).

 

[KATOOM]

180k miles seems excessively low for injectors to be that worn out. You might want to investigate this more..... I know you run Stanadyne because your shop advised this, but I understand Stanadyne is not rated so well on the HFRR fuel lubricity test list. Actually, some fuel "conditioners" on the shelves claiming to add lubricity will lower the overall lubricity due to what chemicals are used. Thats unfortunate for sure and I believe Stanadyne to be one of those listed. #@$%!

Maybe you should think about running some Walmart 2-stroke oil instead or do some more research on what fuel lubrication products will satisfy your needs. 2-stroke run at about 1 oz per gallon will offer considerable lubrication value.....and its cheap. There's so many forum members doing this too (like me) that you should do some reading up on it as an option. Dont just run what some injection shop says they run because not everyone knows what the heck they're talking about and/or will run whatever their buddy ran or use what they get from their vendor because its cheap or many other various reasons besides what actually works best..... Why people stick to their brands like a cult following...I'll never know.

Nonetheless, less that 200k miles for all six injectors to basically fall apart is reason for concern in my book.

 

[samsonite01]

When we tested them one of the techs pointed out that three of the injectors were indeed different from the other three. The part numbers were all the same but something about the milling styles of the tips. The consensus was that these were not the original injectors and in fact not a matched set of injectors. I purchased the truck in late 2013 with 136k miles on it. The edge, trans, and 4in exhaust were on already. The turbo mounting flange (which is a stock turbo) had scratch marks on the housing and the nuts were mared up a bit. The down pipe was noticably newer than the rest of the exhast behind it. My conclusion was that the previous owner had a different turbo and injectors in it at some point. I did buy the truck from a used dealership. The sales person new nothing about the mods and niether did the lot supervisor/boss/what ever he was. They dealt with cars mainly so who knows where or how they got the truck. The edge cts screen wouldnt come on when key was on. The edge plug was tucked under the dash. I didnt find it untill a few days after i had bought the truck, that was a nice surprise!! I assume whom ever the previous owner/owners were took off the goodies before they dumped the truck.

Needless to say, the truck runs smoother, quiter than ever with the new injectors. I had to relearn how to drive the truck. I was a diesel novice when buying the truck. I have learned alot in the past few years. I thought she always ran rough and loud! Its a 24v!

Valley Fuel Injection the shop i dealt with is a bosch certified shop with a bosch flow bench. They deal mostly with fleet vehicles and agricultural equipment. They seemed to be very knowledgeable and professional. In fact when Cummins Sales & Service Sacramento CA needs injecton pumps and turbos rebuilt for all the various vehicles they work on they send it to VFI.

Now on to the Stanadyne. I have researched thoroughly all the different additives when first buying the truck. While there were mixed opinions on Stanadyne, I went with it because of accessibility. After dealing with VFI and seeing its what they recommend I assumed it was good..... Mabey I think about the two stroke oil a little more though. I thought there was some reason the two stroke was bad....Can it be any old two stroke oil be used?

Im going to research it but an answer from KATOOM to what he uses and why would be cool.

Cool profile picture by the way!!!!

And one more thing..... THANK YOU TDR and everyone on here. Lotts of good info and people here.

 

[KATOOM]

I use Walmart 2-stroke oil because its cheap and effective and available everywhere. There's no science behind the ratio either other than I add about one quart per fill up (which equates to about $4), and I never let it get below 1/4 tank. The fuel lubricity tests have 2-stroke rated midway on the list of lubricity products, but use a very low ratio in that test too.

Some people dont follow the concerns for running 2-stroke in the VP trucks, but the logic is that any truck manufactured pre 2007 was not built to withstand the lack of lubricity in ULSD. Running a bio mix like B5 or B10 will offer some additional lubricity, but bio is caustic and can cause a whole new set of issues if the bio ratio is too high.

I understand that 2-stroke also helps reduce gelling as well as lessening the combustion spike noise. Whether or not you notice any difference in engine noise or fuel mileage gains is seemingly from person to person.

 

[SAndreasen]

That is awful low miles stanadyne won't raise the wear score but it is one of the least improvement before they actually do start to raise the wear score I run Schaffer and it's still not the Best . Just ran a quart of xtreme diesel through the 6.5 seemed to help the mpg about a 1 mpg won't know till I fill up again for sure