!!!! Fuel injectors !!!!

IN NEED OF SOME NEW INJECTORS FOR DORA (300TDI). NOISY TAPPING/CLICKING WHICH GOES WHEN THE FRONT 2 ARE CRACKED OPEN. BUT..... TYPICAL PRICE IS LIKE £100 EACH! IS THIS ACCEPTABLE? DON'T FANCY HANDING OVER £400 FOR POXY INJECTORS! BUT DON'T WANT ANY USED/RE-CON ONES EITHER. (bit snobby like that) WHERE CAN I GET SOME NEW ONES THAT WON'T DEPRESS ME FURTHER THIS YEAR? OR AM I JUST GONNA HAVE TO BITE THE BULLET?

I know MM 4x4 do em for about £61 if you buy a set of four.. so if worst came to the worst and you cant see anywhere cheeper near to you. I'd be liable to haggle with em.

Oh and STOP SHOUTING

ye thanks, want to make sure it is the injectors first. engine run's smoothly, no smoke of any kind from the back, mpg is.... typical 300tdi amount. just an annoying ticking/clicking? on tick over and while driving. speeds up with the rev's.

Paddocks £68 ex VAT. Standard Bosch injector, so you shouldn't pay much more than that.

PROJECT_DORA said:

ye thanks, want to make sure it is the injectors first. engine run's smoothly, no smoke of any kind from the back, mpg is.... typical 300tdi amount. just an annoying ticking/clicking? on tick over and while driving. speeds up with the rev's.

Click to expand...

Get yourself a mechanic's stethoscope quick.

Jam the ear ends in your ears, and with the engine running, poke the tip of the probe onto the injectors in turn, one after the other.

If they all sound the same, chances are there's nothing wrong with any of them. You just saved about £300.

Now poke the probe tip on the injection pump, then along the rocker-cover to listen to the tappets, on the four exhaust stubs close to the head, the inlet stubs close to the head, and then on the eight hex heads block for the tappet bolts. and keep poking and listening till you hear THE NOISE.

You should be able to pin it down to a small area.

If you don't find it, take off the drive belt and start her up again. Did the noise stop with the belt off? There's another clue.

Any bets it's a cam-follower or a badly adjusted rocker because of a worn rocker tip?

CharlesY

or a bad seating injector, or leaky manifold gasket.

nrgserv said:

or a bad seating injector, or leaky manifold gasket.

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YEP.

He would be able to pick up both of those with a probe stethoscope, especially the injector. What a racket they make in the stethoscope!

CharlesY

CharlesY said:

YEP.

He would be able to pick up both of those with a probe stethoscope, especially the injector. What a racket they make in the stethoscope!

CharlesY

Click to expand...

whats on the end of one of these scopes?
where do you get them, and how much would i expect to pay?

i've allus used one of them big old plastic handle yellow screwdrivers!

nrgserv said:

whats on the end of one of these scopes?
where do you get them, and how much would i expect to pay?

i've allus used one of them big old plastic handle yellow screwdrivers!

Click to expand...

Yep, a big long rod or screwdriver works fine, but the stethoscope is better, and can be touched very accurately. The probe is a hard solid steel rod about eighth inch diameter and 12 inches long.

SnapOn or any good tools factor should be able to supply.

Excellent tool for diagnosis.

CharlesY

Vacuum pumps can get noisy and give a ticking noise as well

I too have always used the screwdriver to ear method, and have to admit I`m not able to flex my body to get it into position as I once could, the missus will vouch for that too! Gotta be safer using the s-scope than dangling bits of loose clothing around running engines.

P.S. Machine Mart £7-19 or £80 for electric one!

thanks for the hints. never heard of the screwdriver thing? who the hell figured that out? i do have a leaky rocker gasket. that was next to be changed. i assumed the noise was the manifold at first, but i have a new manifold and gasket on and noise is still there, and is exactly the same. so shall change the rocker gasket, and try listening for it again, but think i'll go down the stethascope route, dont want to look silly with a screw driver in my ear!

you only look silly when you forget to take it out!!!!

PROJECT_DORA said:

but think i'll go down the stethascope route, dont want to look silly with a screw driver in my ear!

Click to expand...

try it, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

ok. the noise is getting really annoying and gonna open the man shed today and not leaving until it's found! (or i get hungry) here's the specifics....... the sound is a loud clicking sound. very noticable, much louder than the running sound of the engine(300tdi) it's coming from around the head/injector/very top of the engine. while driving, the clicking speeds up with the speed of the engine through all the gears. if i speed up through the gears and instead of changing up i just ease off the throttle the sound goes completely untill the engine speed returns to an idleing speed relevent to the gear. theres no smoke, of any coulour, theres no hesitation or lack of power. just the loud annoying clicking. i've just changed the manifold, manifold gasket, removed cat, removed EGR. oil level is fine, coolant is fine, rocker cover gasket needs changing as it is leaking lightly. all belts are present and correct (nice and tight). thanks to the very kind people on her i shall be checking the following today...... FUEL INJECTORS(faulty), TAPPETS, CAM FOLLOWER, BADLY ADJUSTED ROCKER, NEW ROCKER GASKET, WORN ROCKER TIP, WATER PUMP, VALVE CLEARANCES, VACUM PUMP.

any other suggestions welcome!

really baffled by this and have a sickening feeling of an expensive bill at the end of it.

Hmmm...... Beginning to sound not so good, if it is a "load dependent" noise.

You say it happens when the engine is pulling the car along, but the noise stops on the "over-run"? Is that right?

Sometimes that is an indication of a slack piston pin (gudgeon pin) but I think that is extremely unusual in a 300tdi. I have never heard of such a thing happening to a 300tdi, but there's always a first time.

Take the drive belt OFF, and examine it very carefully on the inside surface just in case a small stone or something has got embedded in it.
Check each pulley for the same, or a crack.

Run the engine without the belt in place. Does the noise come? If so, put the belt back.

Then do all the things you listed.

Don't use a feeler blade when setting the rockers. Take the adjuster down to ZERO clearance (as in JUST touching) and then back it off one FIFTH of a turn. This sets 8 - 10 thou TAKING ACCOUNT OF PITTED ROCKER faces. This trick alone might solve the problem.

A cracked exhaust manifold, leaking manifold gasket (at the back specially) leaking HEAD gasket (unlikely) can all cause this annoying noise, but let's hope it is not a serious one, and is one that's easily fixed when found.

We all want to know what sorts it!

CharlesY

yes goes on over run but there while pulling and on tick over (stationary) thats's what's confusing me. there while driving and stationary, no other noises. no smoke. no other symptoms to suggest something is wrong other than the clicking. not got the disco into garage yet. battery dead ( been stood for 2months while doing other jobs) i know it's definitly nothing to do with the manifold or gasket, they've been done. i was hoping it would be that.(easy fix) but after putting it back together and checking everything over i know theres no problem's what so ever with them.(100%) would i have any other symptoms to suggest the "SLACK PISTON PIN" theory?

PROJECT_DORA said:

yes goes on over run but there while pulling and on tick over (stationary) thats's what's confusing me. there while driving and stationary, no other noises. no smoke. no other symptoms to suggest something is wrong other than the clicking. not got the disco into garage yet. battery dead ( been stood for 2months while doing other jobs) i know it's definitly nothing to do with the manifold or gasket, they've been done. i was hoping it would be that.(easy fix) but after putting it back together and checking everything over i know theres no problem's what so ever with them.(100%) would i have any other symptoms to suggest the "SLACK PISTON PIN" theory?

Click to expand...

No. Symptomless apart from that noise.
Piston slap is a possibility but that tends to happen the other way round.

The big clue is that it is LOAD dependent.
That means we can NOT rule out INJECTION problem, but the good running and lack of smoke suggests otherwise.

One thing to check is the glow plugs are secure, and well-seated. If you can get them out, take them out, coppergrease them, and refit carefully.

If all else is failing, cam followers can cause bad noises, but would NOT be load dependent.

Take time and care to diagnose before spending money or excess time.

It is always best to know what is wrong BEFORE commencing repairs.

CharlesY

yes, very true. i only went ahead with the new manifold and gasket beacause i was getting rid of the cat and EGR and all the bolts had rusted and rounded. was a bit disapointed when i fired it up and the clicking was still there. it's in garage now. but going to wait until my friend finishes work. he owns a local bus company and spends all day fixing and maintaining buses.

i figure a diesel fitter will know more than a potcher like me?!

plus it's hard to explain to you guys a certain NOISE through a computer screen.

thanks for the hint's though. shall let you all know the verdict tomorrow. (hopefully)

and how much it's gonna cost.....:Cry:

the fact that it buggers off when you loosen 1 & 2 injector, makes me think its injector related, ie not seating correctly. could be loose, squashed copper washer, or like i had one before xmas, the stud was pulling out of the head. this was an aftermarket head and seemed soft. cured it by removing the stud and using threaded bar that i could screw all the way to the bottom of the stud hole.
keep us posted.