Cleaning fuel injectors.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Cleaning fuel injectors.
Hello, I hope everyone is doing well.
I am still chasing engine knocking.
It’s when on the highway. It starts to click pretty loud, it gets louder and faster when rpm goes up. It calms down pretty fast when you exit and get to a traffic light. It starts after about 10 minutes on the highway. It’s fine in stop and go traffic.
The spark plugs are new and the coils are good.
The only thing I have done recently is a Mellings performance oil pump and liquimoly engine flush.
Anyway, so fuel injectors… I have read that you can use a mountain bike valve stem and a can of fuel injector cleaner to clean them.
You hook up a battery to the fuel injector to make it spray. You do that while spraying cleaner into the valve stem.
My question is, is there a better way to test and clean at home? And if this is the best way, what kind of battery should I use? I don’t want to destroy my fuel injectors.
thank y’all so much for your time! Y’all have a great day!!
I am still chasing engine knocking.
It’s when on the highway. It starts to click pretty loud, it gets louder and faster when rpm goes up. It calms down pretty fast when you exit and get to a traffic light. It starts after about 10 minutes on the highway. It’s fine in stop and go traffic.
The spark plugs are new and the coils are good.
The only thing I have done recently is a Mellings performance oil pump and liquimoly engine flush.
Anyway, so fuel injectors… I have read that you can use a mountain bike valve stem and a can of fuel injector cleaner to clean them.
You hook up a battery to the fuel injector to make it spray. You do that while spraying cleaner into the valve stem.
My question is, is there a better way to test and clean at home? And if this is the best way, what kind of battery should I use? I don’t want to destroy my fuel injectors.
thank y’all so much for your time! Y’all have a great day!!
Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 3,771
Likes: 940
From: Orlando Florida
I have used fuel line, a rubber stopper, and a clamp to connect my preferred carb cleaner to each injector, then used a generic 12V DC adapter to cycle the pintle open/close. I’ve used CRC cleaner and angled the injectors into a paint mixing cup so I could watch the spray pattern and see how much cleaner I had used. Ran each injector both forwards and backwards and it worked a treat. You can literally see the pattern expand.
All that said, connecting to the injectors was a pain. I ended up borrowing a connector from the harness — which I do not recommend. The aforementioned kit includes connectors and power cables for as little as $9.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 12,864
Likes: 4,667
Hello, I hope everyone is doing well.
I am still chasing engine knocking.
It’s when on the highway. It starts to click pretty loud, it gets louder and faster when rpm goes up. It calms down pretty fast when you exit and get to a traffic light. It starts after about 10 minutes on the highway. It’s fine in stop and go traffic.
The spark plugs are new and the coils are good.
The only thing I have done recently is a Mellings performance oil pump and liquimoly engine flush.
Anyway, so fuel injectors… I have read that you can use a mountain bike valve stem and a can of fuel injector cleaner to clean them.
You hook up a battery to the fuel injector to make it spray. You do that while spraying cleaner into the valve stem.
My question is, is there a better way to test and clean at home? And if this is the best way, what kind of battery should I use? I don’t want to destroy my fuel injectors.
thank y’all so much for your time! Y’all have a great day!!
I am still chasing engine knocking.
It’s when on the highway. It starts to click pretty loud, it gets louder and faster when rpm goes up. It calms down pretty fast when you exit and get to a traffic light. It starts after about 10 minutes on the highway. It’s fine in stop and go traffic.
The spark plugs are new and the coils are good.
The only thing I have done recently is a Mellings performance oil pump and liquimoly engine flush.
Anyway, so fuel injectors… I have read that you can use a mountain bike valve stem and a can of fuel injector cleaner to clean them.
You hook up a battery to the fuel injector to make it spray. You do that while spraying cleaner into the valve stem.
My question is, is there a better way to test and clean at home? And if this is the best way, what kind of battery should I use? I don’t want to destroy my fuel injectors.
thank y’all so much for your time! Y’all have a great day!!
Last edited by grinder11; Nov 7, 2023 at 09:26 AM.
Pro
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 670
Likes: 305
From: Nova Scotia Canada
Do a search for "fuel injector cleaning near me". There are MANY companies that do proper cleaning of injectors which usually includes replacing of degraded components, O-rings, and balancing so you'll know the "health" of your injectors. It's not expensive either... and it's likely to be done properly.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,382
Likes: 250
New o-ring seals too. I just dropped off a set to them $29/FI...yeah it's +$200 bucks/set but I have used RC for decades and always good results. I'm lucky they are a few miles from my office.
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Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 3,771
Likes: 940
From: Orlando Florida
All of the above are, of course, assuming the injectors are off the car. I think I found a reference to the tire valve OP discussed -- quite similar to my kludged together contraption:
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Look on YOU TUBE as there are some excellent home brew methods to clean your own injectors with carb cleaner and a 9 VDC Battery like REDZG recommended.
KNOCK.
It can be caused by a number of issues. One is a clogged exhaust system. How old are your CATS and are they working properly (properly flowing exhaust) ? Use an inferred Temp Meter and see if the CATs are working. It cat body and outlet should be significantly hotter than the gasses going into it.
LS Engines do not have EGR Valves so, that is out of the equation..
What do your long term and Short Term Fuel Trims look like? I would check them out and make sure that they are not excessively lean or rich.
Are your O2 sensors properly cycling from lean 200 millivolts to rich 900 millivolts when the engine is at operating temps and in closed loop???
You need to properly diagnose these system functions to get the BIG PICTURE. If you don't be prepared to fire the PARTS CANON!
BC
KNOCK.
It can be caused by a number of issues. One is a clogged exhaust system. How old are your CATS and are they working properly (properly flowing exhaust) ? Use an inferred Temp Meter and see if the CATs are working. It cat body and outlet should be significantly hotter than the gasses going into it.
LS Engines do not have EGR Valves so, that is out of the equation..
What do your long term and Short Term Fuel Trims look like? I would check them out and make sure that they are not excessively lean or rich.
Are your O2 sensors properly cycling from lean 200 millivolts to rich 900 millivolts when the engine is at operating temps and in closed loop???
You need to properly diagnose these system functions to get the BIG PICTURE. If you don't be prepared to fire the PARTS CANON!
BC