Good morning Guys, need some moral support here. The other day my 02 dually threw a CEL and the truck began running rough. I dont own a scanner but had plenty of time on my hands so pulled the valve covers to check the connections and see if anything "looked" burned etc. Both sides looked fine so I decided to take to my local diesel shop. They called my back later and said they determined #1 and #8 were not working proper. I have no reason to doubt these guys as they have done work for me i the past and seem pretty smart in what they do. Being the injectors are on opposite sides they quoted me $500 in labor to replace the two injectors. I was going to get some rebuilts they offer as Ive used them before on other 7.3's I have owned and they are OK injectors. Now my question is how hard are injectors to install? I have watched several youtube videos and it didn't scare me too awful. I have never replaced an injector on a 7.3 but was seriously considering it to save a little on that labor fee? One of the questions I have is "if" I do manage to get these installed and put back together on the initial startup will I need a scanner? Never had forked the bucks out for one of these but if one is needed I will let the shop do the injector replacement. I have more time than money and was leaning toward doing this myself but got to admit a little apprehensive. I'm fairly knowlegable with the 7.3 and feel I could do this but dont want to screw my motor up while attempting it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again in advance...Maxx

 

a scanner is not necessary to swap out a stick.
biggest thing to worry about would be hydrolock if you dont get all the oil out of the cylinders after you pull the sticks. what tests did they run that determined 8&1 are dead?
i hear from a lot of guys that some cps units can throw values off during cct causing failure result in 3&8. dunno if its normal for 8 to show a fail because of the long lead ae code in there most of the time.

 

Find out what the shop did to determine that #1 and #8 are bad. Then let us know before you buy injectors.

 

"Not working proper" is not very reassuring. Injectors are a real bugger to troubleshoot on these rigs, and that phrase translates to a hinky reading on a test, but not a dead hole. A bad wiring harness connection (50-cent fix) can cause that same symptom, as can a number of other scenarios. While you're searching YouTube, look into the "Fifty cent mod" on the 7.3L diesel and you can see how easy that is, and it's good practice for popping the VCs if it comes down to an injector replace. Start the engine after the mod with the VCs off to see if that fixed it (protect the turbo inlet and other moving parts from fingers and loose screws/paper towels). If not, you can pull an injector wire and start the engine to see if the engine runs differently. Kill the engine and repeat the process until you confirm the culprit(s). This is a poor-man's breakout box, but it works well enough.

 

I wouldn't start buying sticks and pulling injector cups on the word of a shop...nearly any shop. How did they determine that these injectors were bad? I want to know their diagnosis procedure. I'm not saying that your shop is a bunch of slicksters...I am saying that many shops change things in these trucks because they really believe that the part will fix the truck. We have seen it here too many times when someone drops their truck at a shop due a CEL and they hear "injector 1 and injector x are bad" and the problem turns out to be actually a harness or a sensor. I'd spend the money on an AE and start the diagnosis myself (getting help from people here) before I did anything. Finally, if I find that I have two bad injectors, I would replace them all...$1700 new Alliants from RiffRaff and I would replace them myself. The price of two sticks at the shop will be over $1000 (based on $500 labor + parts) and even if they are right in the diagnosis, you still end up with two injectors changed and six that are in unknown condition.

 

I agree with the above statements. Injectors are a breezer to do though, Dont waste your time trying to drain the oil rail though, just my .02.

I have not done this, but it was suggested that one of the ways you could get oil out of the cylinder is to pull the glow plugs and crank the motor after the injectors swap.

I used a small tube and vacuum pump to get my oil out.

 

Wow guys thanks for all the replys. As far as them determineing which injectors were bad I was told they were going to use a scanner to pull the codes. Thye also peformed a contribution test. The hydrolock is the issue IM most concerned with if I opt to do this myself. I have not heard or seen anyone NOT pull the oil plugs first? I thought the idea was those drain the oil to help keep oil from getting into the cylinders? I'm calling on you guys here but if I pull the valve cover and inspect #1 and it does not spit oil while running wouldn't that verify #1. Guess I could do the same for #8. Is this visual spitting 100% proof of bad injectors. One tidbit I forgot to mention was that the harnesses I did inspect and the connections were not pulled apart. I ohm'd the center pin and the 2 pins on each side (injectors) and they all ohm'd 3.5 which I understand shows there is probably no issues with the harnesses. The harnesses were relpaced 2 years also something I didn't mention...Maxx

 

Here is some diagnostic info...