200TDI Fuel Injector Removal - It's being a pig!

I know of a no. 4 injector in a 200tdi that would not come up. Guy drove about for weeks with no clamp and he drove it like he stole all the time...

In the end after various attempts and stripping the threads from the injector then welding a bigger bolt to the injector to attach a giant sllde hammer. still no.....in the end...head off heated the injector red hot and punched it out. Obviously the injector couldn't be used again.

Ive had problems with merc ones in a sprinter....even with the rocker cover broken off and the front of the van lifted off the ground hanging by the injector...
ended up heating it red hot and hammering a socket over the top of it to be able to turn it ...came out in the end.

EeEk said:

I know of a no. 4 injector in a 200tdi that would not come up. Guy drove about for weeks with no clamp and he drove it like he stole all the time...

In the end after various attempts and stripping the threads from the injector then welding a bigger bolt to the injector to attach a giant sllde hammer. still no.....in the end...head off heated the injector red hot and punched it out. Obviously the injector couldn't be used again.

Ive had problems with merc ones in a sprinter....even with the rocker cover broken off and the front of the van lifted off the ground hanging by the injector...
ended up heating it red hot and hammering a socket over the top of it to be able to turn it ...came out in the end.

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Damn, I fear this may be yet to come! I hope not. Will see what the heat and pressure from running does tomorrow and keep my fingers crossed! Cheers

NightShadow91 said:

Thanks for the info. Going to try this tomorrow. I've out all injectors back, connected clamps to torque and fuel leak off pipes. I slightly loosened the clamp in the stuck injector, not so it's loose, just a few turns undone. I will fire up for a few mins and see what happens. I guess if it still doesn't budge, try again, but loosen but some more? Thanks

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I had to drive my 200 for weeks with the clamp loose defore the thing would free up enough to be removed, that was number 4 as well.
Years ago guy had one seized in a corsa, I told him loosen clamp and drive, again it took weeks before it moved.

lynall said:

I had to drive my 200 for weeks with the clamp loose defore the thing would free up enough to be removed, that was number 4 as well.
Years ago guy had one seized in a corsa, I told him loosen clamp and drive, again it took weeks before it moved.

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Not sounding good! I guess I'll be doing the same. ****e. How loose was the clamp whilst driving? Just a bit of wiggle up and down? I might just cut it off, heat it hot and remove. Seems like it will be the quicker and easier job.

NightShadow91 said:

Not sounding good! I guess I'll be doing the same. ****e. How loose was the clamp whilst driving? Just a bit of wiggle up and down? I might just cut it off, heat it hot and remove. Seems like it will be the quicker and easier job.

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TBH I cant remmber as it was ages ago! but I would say so long as you can wiggle the clamp then go for it, if you can then no longer wiggle clamp you know injecotr has moved.
Have also read full fat coke is good for dissolving the carbon from around injectors?

lynall said:

TBH I cant remmber as it was ages ago! but I would say so long as you can wiggle the clamp then go for it, if you can then no longer wiggle clamp you know injecotr has moved.
Have also read full fat coke is good for dissolving the carbon from around injectors?

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I've seen that on a few MB sites, that & Mr Muscle oven cleaner although I haven't tried either.

Once the injectors were out I used cheap thinners which dissolved it. Old toothbrush to scrub where it would reach & a nylon bristle bore brush to clean out the threaded hole.

Don't forget to remove the copper sealing washer from the end of the injector. IME with the Sprinter they don't always come out with the injector.

Push a bit of cloth down the injector hole to stop crap falling into the cylinder.
Hoover with a thin tube taped in to suck it up - don't get caught by the other half!!

Ratae said:

I've seen that on a few MB sites, that & Mr Muscle oven cleaner although I haven't tried either.

Once the injectors were out I used cheap thinners which dissolved it. Old toothbrush to scrub where it would reach & a nylon bristle bore brush to clean out the threaded hole.

Don't forget to remove the copper sealing washer from the end of the injector. IME with the Sprinter they don't always come out with the injector.

Push a bit of cloth down the injector hole to stop crap falling into the cylinder.
Hoover with a thin tube taped in to suck it up - don't get caught by the other half!!

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Got to say them cheapo seat cutters off ebay are very good, and to my surprise cleaned up one of the injector seats on my d3 nicely.

I had a stuck compression cap in my Perkins, googled it and got the same advice - back the nuts off a turn and start it up. It worked a treat, what no one said was "don't be a d**k and put your head under the bonnet when you rev it". Damn it went with a bang!
Can you borrow a vibro-impact tool?

rob1miles said:

I had a stuck compression cap in my Perkins, googled it and got the same advice - back the nuts off a turn and start it up. It worked a treat, what no one said was "don't be a d**k and put your head under the bonnet when you rev it". Damn it went with a bang!
Can you borrow a vibro-impact tool?

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To be fair I said it’s was totally against elf and safety! And common sense dictates that high pressure and heat could involve a fast moving projectile, hence the suggestion of using a piece of tarp to contain it under the bonnet,

Ha!
That reminds me of an incident in my youth. Going down a steep hill in the dark flat out on a casal st50 sports moped, bout 50mph.
Loud bang like a hammer blow on a tin roof and the engine died with a chuffing sound.
Sparkplug had blown out the alloy head and put a nice dent in the underside of the fuel tank.
Sparkplug still stuck in the spark plug cap with a nice alloy 'spring' around the thread.

Hi all. Late reply as I've been busy. I put the injectors back in and checked all clamps for torque, slightly loosened the stuck injector. Engine was running for about 10 seconds then it made a chuffing sound, like under compression. I was in the cab at the time but a bystander said they could see a fine mist coming from somewhere on top of the engine. It's was 2 seconds at best so can't be sure. Almost sounded like something was loose or not holding in place. The only thing that's loose is the clamp with stuck injector, but that's just slightly loosened. I don't want to fire up again as I have no idea what that was, not well versed in engines. Knowing my luck I've probably buggered it! Please say I haven't ! It didn't cut out I turned it off. Can anyone advise. Losing the will slightly here ha, thanks all

It was as if something had blown as it was two or three pumps a second and a fine spray of I guess diesel. I checked the leak off pipes and they are in place and not loose.

No that is exactly what you want, it means the injectors have moved, unbolt clamp and pipe and see if the injector
Can be turned, if it can then the slide hammer should be enough to pull it out

If number 4 has moved up slightly then you will hear a puffing noise and possibly a fine mist of diesel coming up the side of the injector,

I know what it was. It's the front injector. Tiny amount of black crap around the base of the injector. So that one seems to be loose. Though they were cleaned out and popped in and done up to torque.

Europa486 said:

If number 4 has moved up slightly then you will hear a puffing noise and possibly a fine mist of diesel coming up the side of the injector,

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Excellent. I thought that was it. Just the wrong injector. Shall I re position the first injector and re tighten and repeat? As the fourth hasn't budged

Or should I fire up and run again?

Yes but don’t forget you have refitted them with there old copper seals, these should be replaced with new ones when you sort out the injectors,
Just tighten up that one and run for more time for the rear injector,

Europa486 said:

Yes but don’t forget you have refitted them with there old copper seals, these should be replaced with new ones when you sort out the injectors,
Just tighten up that one and run for more time for the rear injector,

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Yeh, didn't fancy using old washers, but haven't got new ones yet. I'll release and reposition and try again. Question, are the engines ok with running with a lose injector like that? I guess for short bursts probably ok, obviously wouldn't want to be driving around like it for sure. Thanks

Yes it won’t do any harm in the short term, just tighten up the one that’s leaking, then making sure the seized one is loose
Give her a run upto temperature and see if number 4 moves, then switch off and while hot see if you can rotate number four, you only have to crack of the injector pipe a smidgen then use an open ended spanner on the injector to see if it moves,