Fuel Injection Cleaning

FUEL INJECTION CLEANING SERVICE IN UTAH

IMPROVE YOUR GAS MILEAGE, PERFOMANCE & EMISSIONS

SERVICE INCLUDES:

• Injectors are externally cleaned, visually inspected
• Injectors are tested for resistance, inductance, shorts, and current draw
• Leak, spray pattern, and flow rate tests are performed and recorded
• Ultrasonic cleaning process
• A high pressure back-flush is performed to remove any remaining particles
• Leak, spray pattern, and flow rate tests are re-performed and recorded
• New filter baskets, o-rings, and pintle caps are installed if applicable

WHY DO FUEL INJECTORS NEED TO BE SERVICED?

1. PERFORMANCE: It doesn’t take much of a restriction in an injector to lean out the fuel mixture. A restriction of only 8% to 10% in a single fuel injector can be enough to cause a misfire. Injector flow tolerance between individual injectors on the fuel rail should be less than 5% across the board! Injector plugging symptoms may involve a miss, rough idle, surge or high emission output. With the metered orifice in the injector nozzle the diameter of a human hair, and a deposit buildup of even just 1/10th that thickness performance problems are inevitable, even with minor restrictions.
2. FUEL CONTAMINATION: Can come from any number of sources. A tanker ship that brings the fuel from overseas, storage tanks, delivery trucks, the tanks or pumps at the gas station or even the vehicle’s fuel tank itself can deliver small particles of contamination that will clog injector tips. Some fuel contaminants will be stopped by the filter, but some contamination particles will eventually make their way past fuel pump inlet socks, fuel filters and injector inlet screens result in dirty or sticking injectors.
3. HEAT SINK: Once the engine has stopped running injectors themselves effectively become a heat sink area. Heat will bake the oilfins into hard varnish deposits. Over time, these deposits will build and clog the injectors. On four-cylinder engines, the #2 and #3 injectors are in the hottest location and tend to clog up faster than the end injectors on cylinders #1 and #4. The hotter the location, the more vulnerable injectors are to clogging from heat soak.
4. OLEFINS: Fuel injectors become restricted or plugged when olefins (substances found in gasoline), which are heavy, waxy compounds. When the engine is shut off, the injectors undergo heat soak. Fuel residue in the injector nozzles evaporates, leaving the waxy oilfins behind. When the engine is shut off heat from combustion chamber area heat sink components such as pistons, rings, cylinder heads will transfer and travel to colder areas such as fuel injectors.
5. DRIVING HABITS: Heat sink injector plugging is typically more severe on vehicles, which are driven on short trips (15 minutes or less) and the allowed to sit for 45 minutes creating a heat soak environment affecting the injector pintles and nozzles. This scenario is very common for city-driven vehicles.
6. MINUTE TOLERANCES: The metered orifice of a pintle valve fuel injector is approximately .002 inches. Approximately the size of a human hair, it is highly susceptible to plugging, even from minute contaminants. Once plugged or restricted, the injectors must be serviced (cleaned) or replaced.
7. INJECTOR LEAKAGE: Fuel rail residual pressures can result in injector leakage when contaminants are present which may keep a pintle from fully seating to a closed position. A seeping injector, complemented by intense heat (heat soak), will eventually result in a totally restricted injector.

ON-CAR VS OFF-CAR FUEL INJECTION SERVICE

Fuel injector cleaning methods and results vary dramatically whether you choose to perform an on-car cleaning method, or an off-car fuel injector service.

First, let’s cover on-car cleaning methods, of which there are two. One method simply uses a pour-in additive to the fuel tank. These additives can be found just about everywhere. The concentrated cleaner is mixed with fuel in the tank where it slowly makes its way through the fuel system, eventually passing through to the injectors.

The other on-car method uses a pressurized canister of injector cleaner. The canister is connected directly to the fuel rail. During this process, the fuel pump is disabled and the engine actually runs off of the cleaner, not the fuel in the tank. The chemical passes through the injectors, cleaning them in the process. The engine usually operates for about 5-10 minutes on the cleaner. This process is more time consuming than the pour-in method and requires special equipment and training.

There are many disadvantages to using the on- car cleaning method. The chemicals used are not very aggressive. The chemicals used have to be similar in nature to gasoline since the engine must run on the chemical alone. Because the cleaning is done on-the-car, the cleaner must not damage any of the other components on the vehicle that are sensitive to chemical contamination such as the oxygen sensor, catalytic converter, and others. Therefore, the cleaner used is a fairly mild detergent. Also, the technician really never knows what results the on-car cleaning accomplished.

Without being able to perform spray pattern tests, flow-rate test, and leak-down tests, the technician hopes the on-car method will increase vehicle performance.

For preventative maintenance, on-car cleaning usually won’t hurt. However, if an injector is restricted to the point that it is causing a driveability problem, don’t expect on-car cleaning to help. At this point, you’re most likely wasting time and money. Off-car cleaning is a completely different process than either method used for on-car cleaning. Once the injectors are removed from the vehicle they are cleaned ultrasonically. The injectors are cleaned internally and externally while being pulsed at varying pulse widths and frequencies

(RPM). The ultrasonic waves create cavitation bubbles in the cleaning fluid. When the micro- scopic bubbles touch a surface, they implode, creating forces in excess of 10,000 psi. These implosions, combined with the correct cleaning chemistry and the all important back-flush are what guarantee a thoroughly cleaned fuel injector.

Once the injectors are cleaned, their operation is verified using the injector flow bench. The flow bench can be used to examine the injector’s spray pattern, dynamic and static flow rate and to perform a leak test, none of which can be performed with the on-car method. Once the injectors are cleaned and fully tested, critical components are replaced to complete the service. This includes any o-rings, seals, filters and pintle caps.

Although off-car service may take longer, it also is a chargeable service that yields guaranteed results and increases your bottom line while ensuring customer satisfaction.