Find solution

When fuel injectors are clean, they can enhance the performance of your vehicles engine. On the other hand, even injectors with minor clogging can have just the opposite effect. Although you can clean a fuel injector while its on the vehicle, you may want to remove it for a more thorough cleaning.

Significance

Sometimes fuel injectors are so clogged that a simple on-car cleaning might not be enough to fix the problem. Also, some injector cleaners are strong enough to damage other parts during on-car cleaning, such as the fuel pump, which consists partly of rubber. The only alternative is to remove the fuel injectors so that you can have them cleaned professionally.

Removal

Removing the injectors from a vehicle requires special equipment that costs as much as $6,000. Some vehicle models require much more work than others to remove the injectors from the car. The average price you can expect to pay per injector is about $30 as of 2011.

Time Frame

Many auto shops have cleaning machines that are equipped with reverse-flush features that work well for flushing out injectors. Once the fuel injectors have successfully been removed from the vehicle, expect the cleaning to take a little over half an hour.

When a mechanical fuel injector operates properly, an engine can perform smoothly and powerfully. Problems with stalling and misfiring are likely a possibility when fuel injectors dont operate correctly. Several factors decide how a fuel injector operates.

Injector Operation

Mechanical fuel injectors are responsible for inserting pressurized fuel into a vehicles engine. The injectors have small nozzles through which the fuel is sprayed. Injectors are known to perform better than carburetors because of their ability to handle different types of fuel, and operate at high temperatures.

PCM Operation

The Powertrain Control Module is a computer within a fuel injection system. Fuel injectors will open only after receiving instructions from the PCM. An injector-driver allows the PCM to communicate directly with the fuel injectors.

Sensor Operation

A fuel injector system utilizes several sensors in order to operate properly; one of these is an airflow sensor. Airflow sensors can read the amount of air thats entering your vehicles engine. A throttle-position sensor is another type of sensor and can be used to determine engine and vehicle speed.

The fuel system on older vehicles is a simple low-pressure system. At the heart of that system is the mechanical fuel pump. The mechanical fuel pump is a spring-loaded diaphragm fuel pump. It mounts to the engine block and pumps when an eccentric lobe on the cam moves the pump lever up and the pump spring forces it back down. Most mechanical fuel pumps attach to the engine block with two bolts, one on each side of the pump lever. These pumps connect to the fuel tank with one line and another line goes to the carburetor.

Instructions

1

Loosen and remove the two fuel lines from the mechanical fuel pump, using a 9/16-inch wrench. Use a screwdriver to remove the hose clamps if the fuel line is clamped on. The fuel line from the tank must be temporarily plugged to prevent leaks.

2

Slide a small piece of fuel line over the line coming from the fuel tank and insert a 3/-8-inch bolt into the open end of the fuel line to prevent any leaking.

3

Loosen and remove the two bolts that hold the fuel pump to the engine block and remove the pump.

4

Scrape the old gasket from the mounting plate and use gasket cement to glue on a new one. Let the gasket cement set before attempting to replace the pump.

5

Slide the chrome push rod back up toward the camshaft on Chevy engines. (For non-Chevy engines, go to Step 6.) The rod is located inside the hole where the fuel pump bolts on. Insert the pump lever of the new fuel pump into the mounting hole before the push rod slides back down and blocks this task. Thread both mounting bolts into the threaded mounting holes before tightening them.

6

Insert the pump arm into the fuel pump mounting hole on non-Chevy engines. Line up and thread both mounting bolts into the threaded mount holes, before tightening them.

7

Reattach both fuel lines. The fuel lines should align with their respective line fittings. Be sure to tighten the lines to avoid any leaks.