ok so ive been watching you tube videos on injector removal while waiting on my parts and have a few things im not 100% on.

1. What should i do if i can't get the small allen head oil plugs out? ive heard they can seize up and are easy to strip out. also is this going to dump oil all over?

2. worried about hydro lock, is there anything else to do other than start with the injector in the back on each bank, and pull out oil plugs?

3. from what i can see in you tube vids, there is two hold down bolts per injector and they say to pull out both bolts, BUT i noticed on one of diesel tech rons vids that he said you only have to pull out the bottom bolt, slide a mechinism up and then pry the injector out with pry bar. I just want to clear up if you should pull both bolts or not? any advice or tricks on getting the injectors out or back in?

4. I read in a write up on riff raff that i need to fill oil rail , and hpop with fresh oil once everything is back together .where do i fill up the oil rail?? Also is there anything i need to do other than cycle key on and off several times before i turn over the engine for the first time?

thanks for any input on these questions and please feel free to let me know of any problems, pain in the *** parts of this job, or anything that will make this job go smoother. You guys rock!!

 

If you are referring to the oil rail drain, they are ORB plugs. In other words... O-ring sealed. I wouldn't worry too much about a fitting being seized after bathed in hot oil its entire life. Oh... and I have done this many times without draining the oil rail first - I just deal with the oil in the cylinders.



The cylinders are going to get fluid (oil and/or diesel) in them - you need to wrap your head around that. I used a Mity Vac for years to evacuate the cylinders, now I use a Harbor Fright air-powered brake bleeder with a big reservoir. I inserted a 1/4"-diameter plastic tube in the end of the hose and it fits in the glow plug hole.



I just remove the bottom bolt, toggle the hold-down bracket to rest on the head of the upper bolt, and pry away. Make sure the valve cover gasket is out, you don't want to risk prying on that.

Through the opening on top of the HPOP reservoir, but don't count on that working completely.




Sometimes ya just gotta crank it to get oil back in there - like the example below.

 

I haven't done this yet, but like you am thinking about doing it for the F350 I just acquired. One option appears to be taking out the glow plugs after injector fit and hand turning the engine with a ratchet on the fly wheel which forces the any oil and fuel out. Not sure how those that have done this before feel about that?

 

Thanks Rich! You have been very helpful as usual. Im looking forward to getting this done and seeing how much better the truck runs

 

I've done it this way dozens of times. Some will even use the starter to turn the motor over but it tends to expel the fluid with some serious force.

 

That's what I've done many many times.... remove the glow plugs, pop the valve covers on with just a few finger tight bolts, bump the starter for a split second about a dozen times, then crank the starter for 30 seconds another 3 times or so. That evacuates the cylinders nicely and the valve covers keep things from getting messy.

 

The glow plugs should really come out first - this helps with getting the injectors out. In the right piston/valve position and glow plugs in, the O-rings can create a vacuum as you try to pull the injector (think piston over sealed chamber), making some of them really stubborn. The same goes for installing the injectors - they can build a little compression. This a good time to inspect/replace your glow plugs anyway - they're 10 bucks each. NO AUTOLITES!

 

I like to fill both oil rails using one of the ports that a HPOP line would fit in to. The heads are symmetrical, so there are two places on the head a HPOP line can attach. Of course one will have a HPOP line, the other will have an ORB plug. Pull the plug use a small funnel.

 

Yes they can strip out really easily. I very nearly stripped one of mine out and I've since read about others who have had it happen. Use the correct size allen wrench, use a quality tool, and make sure it's seated in the head all the way in and it shouldn't give you any trouble.

Even if you do that, the rear cylinder will fill up with fuel as the oil rails and fuel rails empty. It's unavoidable. You can either bump the starter as others have said, or you can put a big ratchet on the front of the motor. I did the ratchet thing. With the glow plugs out it's pretty easy to turn over. Give it a good 10 revolutions (you can hear the fluids being spit out too) and you're good to go.

Again you have to do this with the plugs out. Remove them before removing the injectors, and install them after the injectors are in and you've turned the engine over.

Honestly I don't even know that it's necessary to evacuate all the cylinders with a vacuum pump unless you plan on changing the injector cups also (and I wouldn't unless you're having a problem with them). The rear cylinder will be full of oil and fuel so I would not use the starter bump method to turn the motor if you leave a lot of fluid in there. Even cranking by hand the fluids shoot out quite violently. I would not want to be near if it someone bumped the starter with the valve covers off.

Obviously the cups need to be reasonably clean when you install the injectors, so you'll have to clean up the mess you just made either way.

You can remove just the lower bolt, and slide the saddle down enough so it slides over the head of the upper bolt. However, I would recommend using loctite 243 on the uppers when you put it back together, so just go ahead and pull them all. It will make getting the injectors out a little easier.

If you're going to replace the HPOP hoses and fittings, then just fill the rails through that opening. Also fill the HPOP reservoir. If not, then use the ICP on the driver's side and the plug about halfway down the head on the passenger's side. I found the forward plug on that side to be just be too hard to get to. Having one rail a little less full than the other didn't seem to bother it. Mine caught within about 20 seconds.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. i already bought the pnuematic vacum so i will go ahead and use that. am i supposed to put the suction tube in the cylinder and glow plug hole to suck out the oil/fuel?

Also ive heard that the copper washer on the bottom of the injector doesn't always stay snug( diesel tech ron). is there a trick to keep the washer from falling off? ron mentioned something but the audio wasn't clear.

 

You can use either the injector nozzle hole or the glow plug hole - they both do the same thing.

I don't put the copper washer on the tip until after I've oiled the tip. The oil helps to keep the washer on there because it forms a mild vacuum with seal around the edges. I've never had a copper washer slide down since I started doing this.