This thread was going to be about how clean is clean enough for injector cups...then I looked under the hood this morning. 4 cups have fuel pooling in the bottom. The injectors are out and I cleaned the cups a few days ago and put lint free rags in the bores to keep debris out. Looked at them this morning and 4 of them have a small pool going (#2, #4, #6, and #3). I can see fuel seeping through a crack in #3.

Am I correct to assume that all 4 cups are bad?

 

Are you sure it's not just residual in the head rail? Could blow lines out from fuel bowl fitting to clear.

 

I don't see a crack, and am certainly no expert on the matter. Although, I believe if a crack is there, then they have to come out.

I have read that cleaning the bores is much more labor intensive due to the left over loctite and the surface must be very clean.

 

The cups and the Loctite goo (that little bit of green seen at the top edge of the cup) only seal out coolant. Fuel and HP oil flow from their respective galleries in the head through openings above the cups.. So it's probably just more fuel slowly draining over time, heating up in the sun and expanding. That cup looks really clean to me, did you replace them recently?

 

Those are the original cups. I'm fairly excessive (spoken OCD) when it comes to standards. I can see some imperfections/blemishes on the cups. The one that started me down this path was cup #3 (picture below). I can't tell if it's worn or torn.

I'm not sure how long it takes for everything to drain down but the injectors have been out for a week now. Up until today the "seepage" was minimal.

I have a newfound respect for dentists. It is hard enough to see things in a mirror let alone make a diagnosis!

I have also learned that none of the edges under the valve covers are skin friendly.

 

A couple of shots of cup #3 with my 'scope.

 

To me, the dents/marks on the upper right side of that cup look like assembly mistakes. Although, it looks like there are 3 blemishes and fuel is leaking out of the lowest one?

 

Fuel can't leak through a cracked injector sleeve, coolant can. Is your coolant red? Those look like bad sleeves to me.

 

Disregard. Upon further inspection it is not fuel...it's ELC.

Looks like cups after all...

 

This is a one thing leads to another thread. Replacing cups means draining coolant, at least below the level of the heads. If it's time for a flush, and having yanked the injectors already has you at an oil change, then you're all set for an R&R on the oil cooler assembly if you have any concerns about it. It wasn't really that hard to do, IMO the hardest part is the fluid changes.

 

Did the oil cooler last summer. Drain, flush, and fill with fresh Delo ELC. So much for my 750K miles between flushes!

Thanks for the backup. Hopefully me wife and kids haven't gotten me a Father's Day gift yet!

 

That bites. For getting the loctite out you might want to try some Methyl Ethyl Keytone (MEK). I had great luck removing loctite blue with it but it's a nasty solvent so keep your nose away from it and keep ventilation moving.

 

I am not happy to hear about your luck on the cups, although I look forward to your pictures and thoughts while you replace them.

 

The retaining compound is pretty brittle when cured. You should be able to scrape most, if not all of it out. You probably won't need any kind of solvent to remove it.

 

My thoughts are not very positive at the moment. The only silver lining is that as long as I don't get a dud injector i shouldn't have to go back in until I rebuild it. With the engine out (or can lifted) it wouldn't be that bad of a job.