megasupermagnum
10-22-2022, 05:13 PM
I wanted to share this info because it seems that so many people are just throwing money away on fuel injectors. I am not, and have never worked as an auto mechanic. I am a type of mechanic, but that's a discussion for another day. I always have, and always will do all of my own work on my cars and other equipment. Sorry for the long post, skip to the red section if you want the meat of the how-to.
Recently I had an issue with my 2012 Ford Focus which has a 2.0L standard gasoline engine. From what I understand these were commonly used in the Focus, both as an NA and turbo version. I can not confirm that the dimensions I will quote will translate to all GDI engines, however, I'm sure the same type of fuel injectors were used in a ton of engines. The problem I had was somewhat unrelated to this post, but long story short I had to pull the fuel rail, and one of the fuel injectors came with. For those who do not know, GDI injectors can not be reinserted without new seals. It's possible you could get away with it, but for what a pain it is to pull the manifold, I wouldn't want to.
So you have a perfectly good fuel injector, however, it probably shouldn't be reused with the old seals. Your only two real options are to replace the fuel injector which comes with new seals, or replace the seals on your old one. I've replaced a few individual fuel injectors, but I was never that happy about it. My opinion is either replace the seals, or replace all four injectors. If you have a bad injector and are short on money, that is the only time I'd try replacing a single injector. Currently at O'Reilly auto the price of a single fuel injector is either $76 or $77. That's over $300 plus tax for a set of 4 injectors. That is not in any way what I could call "cheap insurance" as you often hear. At the same store, a set of seals from Felpro for 4 injectors is $51. That's still highway robbery for what they are, but still far cheaper than even a single injector. Of course everyone knows how to pop on the O-ring. The thing that scares people is that little seal that goes into a bore in the engine. I'm not sure what they are, they feel like some kind of teflon. There's no way they cost even one cent to make, I bet Felpro buys these for 10 cents a dozen from some Chinese factory. They are quite flexible which makes them ideal for this purpose.
I've seen a few different methods to replacing these teflon seals. There are a number of tools made for this purpose, and all of them are beyond ridiculous in price. OTC is the common brand, and I'm not going to look up the part number for that one. It costs more than a set of 4 fuel injectors. I did find a much more reasonable knock off called CTA Tools 3871. I have never tried it, and don't recommend it, but it is made for the job. It is $85 on Amazon. I've seen videos of people using all kinds of things from hose clamps to zip ties. All of those methods seem too butchery too me.
***
Enough with the backstory. Here is the method I came up with to replacing these teflon seals with things you may have or can get for cheap. There's no magic about these seals. The only thing you have to do is get them onto your fuel injector without damaging them, and then size them down so you can push them into your engine without damaging them. They are supposed to be dry, I've seen it stated in a number of sources to not apply any lube to these seals.
First what you will need is to clean up your fuel injector. There is a small snap cap on the inlet side of the injector that holds the O-ring on. Don't loose that, for some reason the seal kit doesn't come with new ones. Then remove your old O-ring and spacer. Next remove your teflon seal without damaging the injector. I see it mentioned to use a razor knife blade, which I think would work fine. Just be extra careful not to nick the injector. I used a set of side cutters. I just pinched the old seal and clipped it off. To clean up the injector I used B12 Chemtool. This is the real deal carb/injector cleaner. Don't get it on your hands, it will burn. Standard carb cleaner in an aerosol can should be fine. All you really need to do is clean the tip of the injector of the carbon, clean the groove the teflon seal sits in, and just clean off the junk from the rest of the injector body.
https://i.ibb.co/WFkwjTR/IMG-20221022-141846781.jpg (https://ibb.co/WFkwjTR)
Once you have a clean injector you only need two tools to install the teflon seals. The first is a tapered punch, and the second is a bullet sizing die. I used a 3/16" punch I had. Clean that up really good. I chucked it in a drill and first sanded it, then followed with steel wool. Whatever you have that is tapered like this will work. The purpose of this tool is to expand the seal so it will slip over the nose of the injector. That is all it needs to do. I used some trial and error for the first seal, then marked that spot on the punch with a sharpie so the next 3 were easier. These seals are stretchy and will shrink if you let them sit, so after expanding, put it on the injector right away. Once on the injector use your fingers to kind of squeeze it into the groove. You will find that the seals shrink down quite a bit on their own with just some manipulation. The second part of this is the trick to this whole operation, and the thing that usually costs hundreds of dollars, the sizer. I have a whole selection of bullet sizers, and it dawned on me that they might be the perfect tool for this job. I used some pin gauges and found that the bore in the engine that the fuel injector goes into is .305". I decided to use a .314" bullet sizer which worked really well. I think a .311" would work just as good. The best sizer is a bushing sizer from Lee Precision. Here is a link the exact one that I used. They make these in all sizes, so if your injector is a different size, you can buy a different size. $9 plus shipping is all these cost. https://www.titanreloading.com/product/bl-314-bullet-sizer-and-punch/ One side of the sizer is tapered, you use that side towards the seal. Run that sizer on until the seal is flush with the end of the sizer as pictured below. That's all there is to it, you just installed your teflon seal!
https://i.ibb.co/7gXssnv/IMG-20221022-143305314.jpg (https://ibb.co/7gXssnv)
Finish up by installing your spacer, O-ring, and cap on the other end, and you now have a cleaned and dressed fuel injector ready to install that cost you a fraction of buying new injectors.
https://i.ibb.co/zb5Hdp3/IMG-20221022-143408024.jpg (https://ibb.co/zb5Hdp3)
Recently I had an issue with my 2012 Ford Focus which has a 2.0L standard gasoline engine. From what I understand these were commonly used in the Focus, both as an NA and turbo version. I can not confirm that the dimensions I will quote will translate to all GDI engines, however, I'm sure the same type of fuel injectors were used in a ton of engines. The problem I had was somewhat unrelated to this post, but long story short I had to pull the fuel rail, and one of the fuel injectors came with. For those who do not know, GDI injectors can not be reinserted without new seals. It's possible you could get away with it, but for what a pain it is to pull the manifold, I wouldn't want to.
So you have a perfectly good fuel injector, however, it probably shouldn't be reused with the old seals. Your only two real options are to replace the fuel injector which comes with new seals, or replace the seals on your old one. I've replaced a few individual fuel injectors, but I was never that happy about it. My opinion is either replace the seals, or replace all four injectors. If you have a bad injector and are short on money, that is the only time I'd try replacing a single injector. Currently at O'Reilly auto the price of a single fuel injector is either $76 or $77. That's over $300 plus tax for a set of 4 injectors. That is not in any way what I could call "cheap insurance" as you often hear. At the same store, a set of seals from Felpro for 4 injectors is $51. That's still highway robbery for what they are, but still far cheaper than even a single injector. Of course everyone knows how to pop on the O-ring. The thing that scares people is that little seal that goes into a bore in the engine. I'm not sure what they are, they feel like some kind of teflon. There's no way they cost even one cent to make, I bet Felpro buys these for 10 cents a dozen from some Chinese factory. They are quite flexible which makes them ideal for this purpose.
I've seen a few different methods to replacing these teflon seals. There are a number of tools made for this purpose, and all of them are beyond ridiculous in price. OTC is the common brand, and I'm not going to look up the part number for that one. It costs more than a set of 4 fuel injectors. I did find a much more reasonable knock off called CTA Tools 3871. I have never tried it, and don't recommend it, but it is made for the job. It is $85 on Amazon. I've seen videos of people using all kinds of things from hose clamps to zip ties. All of those methods seem too butchery too me.
***
Enough with the backstory. Here is the method I came up with to replacing these teflon seals with things you may have or can get for cheap. There's no magic about these seals. The only thing you have to do is get them onto your fuel injector without damaging them, and then size them down so you can push them into your engine without damaging them. They are supposed to be dry, I've seen it stated in a number of sources to not apply any lube to these seals.
First what you will need is to clean up your fuel injector. There is a small snap cap on the inlet side of the injector that holds the O-ring on. Don't loose that, for some reason the seal kit doesn't come with new ones. Then remove your old O-ring and spacer. Next remove your teflon seal without damaging the injector. I see it mentioned to use a razor knife blade, which I think would work fine. Just be extra careful not to nick the injector. I used a set of side cutters. I just pinched the old seal and clipped it off. To clean up the injector I used B12 Chemtool. This is the real deal carb/injector cleaner. Don't get it on your hands, it will burn. Standard carb cleaner in an aerosol can should be fine. All you really need to do is clean the tip of the injector of the carbon, clean the groove the teflon seal sits in, and just clean off the junk from the rest of the injector body.
https://i.ibb.co/WFkwjTR/IMG-20221022-141846781.jpg (https://ibb.co/WFkwjTR)
Once you have a clean injector you only need two tools to install the teflon seals. The first is a tapered punch, and the second is a bullet sizing die. I used a 3/16" punch I had. Clean that up really good. I chucked it in a drill and first sanded it, then followed with steel wool. Whatever you have that is tapered like this will work. The purpose of this tool is to expand the seal so it will slip over the nose of the injector. That is all it needs to do. I used some trial and error for the first seal, then marked that spot on the punch with a sharpie so the next 3 were easier. These seals are stretchy and will shrink if you let them sit, so after expanding, put it on the injector right away. Once on the injector use your fingers to kind of squeeze it into the groove. You will find that the seals shrink down quite a bit on their own with just some manipulation. The second part of this is the trick to this whole operation, and the thing that usually costs hundreds of dollars, the sizer. I have a whole selection of bullet sizers, and it dawned on me that they might be the perfect tool for this job. I used some pin gauges and found that the bore in the engine that the fuel injector goes into is .305". I decided to use a .314" bullet sizer which worked really well. I think a .311" would work just as good. The best sizer is a bushing sizer from Lee Precision. Here is a link the exact one that I used. They make these in all sizes, so if your injector is a different size, you can buy a different size. $9 plus shipping is all these cost. https://www.titanreloading.com/product/bl-314-bullet-sizer-and-punch/ One side of the sizer is tapered, you use that side towards the seal. Run that sizer on until the seal is flush with the end of the sizer as pictured below. That's all there is to it, you just installed your teflon seal!
https://i.ibb.co/7gXssnv/IMG-20221022-143305314.jpg (https://ibb.co/7gXssnv)
Finish up by installing your spacer, O-ring, and cap on the other end, and you now have a cleaned and dressed fuel injector ready to install that cost you a fraction of buying new injectors.
https://i.ibb.co/zb5Hdp3/IMG-20221022-143408024.jpg (https://ibb.co/zb5Hdp3)