Engine: 2.3 F/Inj B23E/B230F: Injector Seals

[leftfootleashed]

Thanks for the photos Scott. I'd taken a couple of injectors out, couldn't figure out where the seals went and given up, but when I read this I gave it another crack.

The hardest part is getting the shroud of the injector. I was pulling as hard as I dared, and then a bit harder, with my hand, but I couldn't get it off and really didn't want to break one. This is the method I used in the end:



I used a 15mm open spanner to get leverage round as much of the shroud as possible, and then put my ratchet in between in and my mole-grips as a fulcrum. Squeeze the ends together and the shroud pops off no problem.

Definitely recommend spraying with WD40 first as otherwise the fat seal sticks to the inside and they're more difficult to pull off together.

Now I'm inside as I would have finished before it started raining, but I stupidly tried to push the fat seal on the fourth injector on with one finger and dropped it down into the mass of nooks and crannies next to the air intake. I last saw it sat on a "shelf" on the side of the block, put I couldn't push it out and now I can't see it. GRRRRRR

[leftfootleashed]

Couldn't find the blasted thing - just put an old one back in because they seemed fine, probably didn't need replacing in the first place. Thin seals were much worse.

Anyway I started up but it was very difficult to start, idles very low and stalls. I'm not sure whether I've got them seated back in correctly. The shrouds went over the fat seals with a nice click but the whole assembly doesn't seem to fit back in the head very nicely with the new seals. I pushed it down as hard as I could but it seems to sit on the top. The shroud bolt holds it in but I don't want to over-torque them. Might try taking the injectors back out, fitting the shrouds to the head, tapping them in with a hammer as someone said, and then pushing the injectors into them.

Any other ideas? I vaguely recall reading that the idle needs adjusting after the seals are replaced - is that possible and how do I do it?

[Beetledrive]

Not sure what engine you have but on mine the idle is adjusted using the large screw/knob that sits under the main injector unit, above the bollows and quite near the circular bit where the accelerator cable goes through. It's on page 105 of the Haynes manual (I'm afraid I can't remember which way to turn it). However, I seem to remember that when I changed my seals I had to reduce the idle speed as the engine was running faster with more power, which doesn't seem like what is happening for you

[leftfootleashed]

Originally Posted by Beetledrive

Not sure what engine you have but on mine the idle is adjusted using the large screw/knob that sits under the main injector unit, above the bollows and quite near the circular bit where the accelerator cable goes through. It's on page 105 of the Haynes manual (I'm afraid I can't remember which way to turn it). However, I seem to remember that when I changed my seals I had to reduce the idle speed as the engine was running faster with more power, which doesn't seem like what is happening for you

So I pulled all the injectors out again, prised the shroud of each, tapped each shroud into the block with a block of wood and a hammer and replaced the injectors. I was much happier with how the injectors were seated, but no improvement on the idle front.

Then I played with the idle screw - it's in the same place as yours. According to the Haynes manual clockwise decreases the speed, but that's not too clear given that the screw is upside down. I figured it's like a tap, so screwing in decreases the amount of air going through and therefore the speed, and indeed turning it anticlockwise (clockwise looking from above) increased the idle speed.

I seem to have got it sitting a comfortable idle speed so all is well. I'm not really sure whether I've improved the situation or not. The old thin seals were very hard and brittle, but it doesn't seem to run noticeably smoother (not that it runs too badly to start with). I didn't want to clean the area around the holes for fear of dropping crap into the block - maybe I haven't got such a good seal there.

[Paul240480]

You can check for leaks with a spray of carb' cleaner or similar. Spray it on each injector in turn whilst motor is idling. If the idle becomes 'smoother' for a while then the spray is doing a temp' seal on the leak.

Try around the intake gasket too.

When I replaced mine, the thin ones fell to 'dust' they were that perished. On replacing mine luckily didn't require any adjustment of idle.