I am troubleshooting a gas smell but cannot find any leaking lines. I had replaced all the rubber fuel lines a year or so ago. When checking everything out I noticed the #6 injector was wet looking, I think it is leaking and needs a new set of o-ring's to seal it up.
I figured I could order the kit from Mr. Injector and pull the injectors and replace the rings and pintle caps and call it good. But then I wondered if I should send them in to get 'em professionally cleaned at $16 each while I am at it. What do you guys think on an '86 528e with 113k miles? The car runs fine right now other than occasionally it will stumble and die right after starting it up when it's warmed up.
This car is my DD, but it could be possible to get someone from work to swing by and get me if my car had to be down for a few days while my injectors were sent in. Not an ideal situation but could be done.
So what say you?
Injector servicing
when I had mine out I sent them out to www.cruzinperformance.com\ [ I am not sure of the spelling ] . I had them done on my 86 535 and on the 86 528e , he gives you all the test results and I am glad I did it
Where do you get the gas smell, under the hood or out the tailpipe? If it's not out the tailpipe and its running well, including fairly well at start up, I'd just replace the O-ring(s). From what I've seen dirty injectors manifest themselves most at start up by leaking fuel while the car is shut off and causing a rich or flooded condition. One word of caution though, while I haven't seen it on E28 vintage cars, on E12/23/24 (early) it wasn't uncommon for the injector itself to leak from the body. Meaning new injector, so keep an eye out for that. If you do decide to go the cleaning route it might be worthwhile to just buy a used set to send out for cleaning so you keep the car up during the process. A basic used set should be cheap. I've got a bunch, but for 535s.
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DiLLiGaF - IA
- Posts: 1091
- Joined: Nov 22, 2006
The fuel smell is under the hood and not from the pipe. The car starts just fine, never seems flooded. I am not totally convinced that I am getting that much smell from the one injector, but I cannot find anything else that is showing a leak anywhere. Hopefully if it is the injector the new o-rings will seal it up and it isn't a problem with the actual injector body.
That's the procedure I used. The valuable part about sending them to CruizinP is that you now know what is in the car which in turn adds one more "it's not that..." to your process of elimination. (As opposed to "Maybe it wasn't that...")Mike W. wrote: If you do decide to go the cleaning route it might be worthwhile to just buy a used set to send out for cleaning so you keep the car up during the process. A basic used set should be cheap.
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GregBorric
- Posts: 50
- Joined: May 26, 2009
A common location for an under hood fuel leak that's tough to detect is at the hose connecting to the cold start valve (also called the cold start injector). Check this hose, especially where it attaches at both ends. On the big six engines this leak often goes undetected for a long time because it's so hard to see the hose connection at the cold start valve.
Having the injectors overhauled is a great option, but it's unlikely to solve this specific issue. If the injectors are leaking externally they are junk and should be replaced. That said, I think it's a good idea to have the injectors overhauled. I own an injector shop that does that (we can also overhaul the cold start valve). The injectors in 20 year old cars almost always flow under spec. Just don't expect it to make this fuel smell issue go away.
Greg,
www.hiperformancestore.com
www.okinjectors.com
Having the injectors overhauled is a great option, but it's unlikely to solve this specific issue. If the injectors are leaking externally they are junk and should be replaced. That said, I think it's a good idea to have the injectors overhauled. I own an injector shop that does that (we can also overhaul the cold start valve). The injectors in 20 year old cars almost always flow under spec. Just don't expect it to make this fuel smell issue go away.
Greg,
www.hiperformancestore.com
www.okinjectors.com
When mine began leaking and I was getting fuel smells it was the injector bodies. It was hard to detect at first until it got more and more sever. Cold weather made it much worse and I guess the contraction of the metal and internal seals opened them up a bit more until they looked like they were sweating and eventually I would get a few drips down the side of the block underneath the intake manifold.
But you have an eta motor right? The injectors are a bit harder to look directly at since they are inside the loop of the manifold. And the cold start is right on top and easy to spot. Another problem could be the plastic fuel line tee which should be replaced with a brass one, along with all the underhood fuel lines. It takes very little fuel on a warm to hot surface to make a lot of odor.
But you have an eta motor right? The injectors are a bit harder to look directly at since they are inside the loop of the manifold. And the cold start is right on top and easy to spot. Another problem could be the plastic fuel line tee which should be replaced with a brass one, along with all the underhood fuel lines. It takes very little fuel on a warm to hot surface to make a lot of odor.
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DiLLiGaF - IA
- Posts: 1091
- Joined: Nov 22, 2006
Yeah, that is correct, I have the eta. So the cold start valve and related lines are right out there in the open. Last year I went through and replaced all the fuel lines under there including the T fitting.
It is a little tricky to see the injectors real well on this engine, but with a flashlight I could get a decent look at the one closest to the firewall (#6?) and it seemed wet, not soaked but not dry like the others either. Hard to tell if this is where I am getting the smell from. Really sucks because I don't like to park it in the attached garage with the fuel smell, and it's cold and snowy outside!
It is a little tricky to see the injectors real well on this engine, but with a flashlight I could get a decent look at the one closest to the firewall (#6?) and it seemed wet, not soaked but not dry like the others either. Hard to tell if this is where I am getting the smell from. Really sucks because I don't like to park it in the attached garage with the fuel smell, and it's cold and snowy outside!
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GregBorric
- Posts: 50
- Joined: May 26, 2009
Well, since you have the eta motor, it's probably not the cold start injector hose, as you said, it's easy to see on that engine.
The leak could be from one of the injector's external seals. These are the little o-rings that seal them to the fuel rail. If the top of an injector is wet, this is likely the problem.
If the leak is in the actual injector, it's normally between the plastic and the metal body. If that's the case the injector should be replaced.
Greg,
www.hiperformancestore.com
www.okinjectors.com
The leak could be from one of the injector's external seals. These are the little o-rings that seal them to the fuel rail. If the top of an injector is wet, this is likely the problem.
If the leak is in the actual injector, it's normally between the plastic and the metal body. If that's the case the injector should be replaced.
Greg,
www.hiperformancestore.com
www.okinjectors.com
It's a bit of a pain(not easy like an M30), but I would try replacing the o-rings first since they are only about $10 or get a kit with o-rings, pintle caps and filters for not much more. It just might be the top o-ring letting some fuel leak down onto the injector. When you reinstal put the suspect in front since there's no reason not to swap them around.
If you suspect problems(running poorly) then I would send them out. But if it really is a cold related issue like mine were doing, a full service might not even catch that problem of the bodies leaking in colder weather..
If you suspect problems(running poorly) then I would send them out. But if it really is a cold related issue like mine were doing, a full service might not even catch that problem of the bodies leaking in colder weather..