Technical information on how to remove the injectors?

[Cosiejoe]

Hi all, just brought a 2009 Qubo and have been told that the injectors need removing and cleaning to fix the smoke on cold start up.
Is there information on how to remove the injectors? I am a competent mechanic and want to see if I can remove them and get them cleaned, instead of paying £700.

Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[bugsymike]

Hi all, just brought a 2009 Qubo and have been told that the injectors need removing and cleaning to fix the smoke on cold start up.
Is there information on how to remove the injectors? I am a competent mechanic and want to see if I can remove them and get them cleaned, instead of paying £700.

Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks

If the smoke is white / smells of diesel and only does it starting from cold, I would test the heater plugs first and if they are working OK, I would be concerned about low compression as by middle of Winter it will be much worse.
Another name for a diesel engine is CI (Compression Ignition) as in low compression , no ignition.
However if smoke from cold is black then possible injectors, but would expect similar smoke in normal driving conditions.
If smoke is "blue" it indicates worn pistons as in burning engine oil.
Is mileage over 100k, if under I would be surprised if injectors faulty?
If you decide it is injectors, once clamps, injector fuel pipes and wiring plugs removed, if they don't come out fairly easily with vigourous wobbling then you may need a slide hammer injector removal tool.
How much of the injector servicing was extraction, as that can be tricky if seized in the cylinder head and may take some time, although I have always won in the end.

 

[Cosiejoe]

If the smoke is white / smells of diesel and only does it starting from cold, I would test the heater plugs first and if they are working OK, I would be concerned about low compression as by middle of Winter it will be much worse.
Another name for a diesel engine is CI (Compression Ignition) as in low compression , no ignition.
However if smoke from cold is black then possible injectors, but would expect similar smoke in normal driving conditions.
If smoke is "blue" it indicates worn pistons as in burning engine oil.
Is mileage over 100k, if under I would be surprised if injectors faulty?
If you decide it is injectors, once clamps, injector fuel pipes and wiring plugs removed, if they don't come out fairly easily with vigourous wobbling then you may need a slide hammer injector removal tool.
How much of the injector servicing was extraction, as that can be tricky if seized in the cylinder head and may take some time, although I have always won in the end.

Thank you for your advice. I have been told the glow plugs have already been done. There is a quite a noticeable misfire at low revs (cold or warm) which is why injectors were diagnosed.

 

[bugsymike]

Thank you for your advice. I have been told the glow plugs have already been done. There is a quite a noticeable misfire at low revs (cold or warm) which is why injectors were diagnosed.

Hopefully it is as you have been advised, personally I would be happier after a compression test.
Maybe if you take the the injectors out a good time to test the compressions if suitable diesel compression tester available.
If injectors, it may be possible to get a diagnostic test with a good tool such as MES to give a confirmation perhaps before strip down.
Is it high mileage?

 

[ZaphodB]

Thank you for your advice. I have been told the glow plugs have already been done. There is a quite a noticeable misfire at low revs (cold or warm) which is why injectors were diagnosed.

You can re-test the glow plugs are in working order before pulling the injectors. - don't rely on being told they are ok.

As mentioned already, it's either a duff glow plug or poor compression ... or an injector or multiple injectors.

 

[Cosiejoe]

Hopefully it is as you have been advised, personally I would be happier after a compression test.
Maybe if you take the the injectors out a good time to test the compressions if suitable diesel compression tester available.
If injectors, it may be possible to get a diagnostic test with a good tool such as MES to give a confirmation perhaps before strip down.
Is it high mileage?

No, it has done 92,000 miles.
Is there a method to remove the injectors on this forum?
What size thread is on the injectors for the slide hammer?

 

[bugsymike]

No, it has done 92,000 miles.
Is there a method to remove the injectors on this forum?
What size thread is on the injectors for the slide hammer?

Ha , ha.! That is where the fun begins, if it is the older Bosch injectors the first time I came across them was on a Ford Focus 1.6TDCi , it had failed Mot on blowing combustion past the injector seat in the head, simply a case of new copper washer???
The injector was stuck in the head as it had been leaking combustion for a long time so carbon build up, tried hard , but in the end bought the slide hammer tool for injectors, it comes with lots of different thread adaptors depending on type of injector.
However to fit it the top solenoid nut has to be removed for the adaptor to screw in, this I did and it worked perfectly, unfortunately no one mentioned with solenoid cap off, a tiny ceramic ball can be dislodged, reassembled after reaming the seats and fitting new copper seals, vehicle wouldn't start! Diagnostic test showed no Common Rail fuel pressure, further testing pointed to the injector I had removed, fitted a new injector and vehicle ran perfectly.
Since then I learnt how to strip and rebuild them and even do a simple test to confirm working before installation, sadly all this was many years ago and my eyes are not up to the job any more.
There are some injector tools that fit differently so may avoid that issue, also if you are having them rebuilt then less of a problem.
There are Bosch diagrams of that type of injector showing all the working parts online, later injectors are Piezo type I believe and even more involved, but not my problem anymore as long retired.

 

[ZaphodB]

Personally I'd rather confirm absolutely the glow plug condition before jumping into the potential pain of injector removal.