That's a GREAT IDEA! Thanks

Yeah, I have a 60 gal air compressor here in the garage. Not the highest end, but should do fine

 

After a (too long) period of convalescing , I was finally able to get back to working on my Excursion yesterday.

I cleaned up #2 injector hole using a long screwdriver to gently scrape old sealant off the bottom of the hole, a 12 gauge copper brush on a cordless drill (had to keep reforming the VERY CHEAP and THIN copper wire ), and brake cleaner.

I was careful to get the bottom flat and edge clean and up higher where the new cup also get sealant.

I did use the shop vac over the hole, plus air in the glowplug port to clear the cylinder of any debris.

I used blue shop towels to soak up any oil and such, then finished off with lint free rag. The final step was to clean again with brake cleaner and lint free rag and then let it air dry for a while.

I was surprised at how many "cycles" of brush, cleaner, rags, blowing out, repeat, etc it took until I was finally happy. I did notice to my chagrin that using a blowgun in the injector hole as an attempt to blow out and dry the hole resulted in oil being conjured up from within the cylinder

Bernoulli's principle and all But nothing another cleaning cycle didn't cure

I cleaned the inside and outside of the new cup with brake cleaner and a soft nylon brush before installing.

I am using the Rosewood Diesel cup tools, which uses push/blows to install, not threaded bolts like the RRD version.

I did notice that my first attempt to install, I thought I had it seated, then when looking down the bottom hole saw a pretty good gap. I reinserted the tool and it took a surprising amount of force to install the cup. A pretty tight fit, but it bottomed out quite nicely and the sound was obvious when it bottomed out.

Yes, of course I gave it another hit or two to be sure

I wiped out all the extra sealant that I had gotten on the cylinder walls. Not too much, but I did use "extra" and was expecting it.

I used a curved dental pick down in the injector hole and couldn't get any insertion or sticking between the cup and cylinder hole, ensuring they were firmly mated.

You'll notice in the pic a little oily sealant (maybe?) in the bottom of the cup. It is very, very minimal and I'm thinking it came from the sealant squishing into the hole a little or the end of the tool- although I thought I had everything clean and dry.

In any case, the lighting angle also makes some of the pics look like the sealant isn't all the way around the top of the cup, which it is. These are the same cup a second or two apart, but slightly different angles.






It was in the 70's yesterday and dropped into the 40's last night. I had the cup installed by 4pm, so I plan to give it until Monday afternoon before pressure testing it and the other cylinder cups via air in the cooling system.

It will be in the 70's again today. How long does it need to "heal"? LOL.

 

Nice work! Glad to see your moving forward with the project.

I still don't understand how you guys are cleaning the bores without getting a bunch of crap into the cylinders. I know you said you used a copper brush, brake cleaner, pick and other things, but aren't the pieces of debris and trash falling into the cylinder?

You said you used compressed air in the glow plug hole and a shop vac in the injector bore, but are you not concerned about left over loctite or a piece of the copper brush being stuck in the cylinder?

Maybe I am being too cautious about debris in the cylinder, but I just can't see how anything other than fuel and a bit of oil in there is a good thing.

Please don't take this the wrong way. I am trying to learn from people like you for when I swap my injectors out for the famed 160/80's, probably in the next year.

 

Well, as I'm sure you you learned from your 22 years, you can't eliminate risks, just mitigate them. While removing the old cups I think it's practically impossible to prevent crap from falling in. While cleaning the cylinder head bores, a trick previously mentioned, if not here but elsewhere, is to drop a penny in the bottom to block the hole.

When I replaced my cups, I used scotchbrite pads wrapped around small brushes to do all the cleaning, saving brass wire brushes for stubborn crap. I avoided using new brushes, or ones that were bigger than the bore, to minimize pieces of the brush from coming out. I didn't know the penny trick then.

 

I can't really answer this question, but maybe offer some ideas.

I don't see how some small debris can be avoided. But maybe putting some oil into the cylinder and rotating it and removing that oil will help flush things out?

I didn't drain my oil rail by pulling the plug, so I'll have oil in the cylinders. After you comments, I might just add a little and turn the engine over by hand and use the mitee vac to suck it out.

The "cleaning" is really only to polish the surfaces and remove the very thin flaky sealant. It is like very thin old varnish, maybe 1mm or so and not a solid piece. It literally comes up in dust form for me.

I have been using an extension with a deep well socket on the end and wrapping the rag around it to clean the inside surfaces. To give you an idea, I've used a rag of some sort in the hole about 30 times.

I did spray off the brush with brake cleaner outside the garage while spinning it in the drill (face shield!) after the initial cleaning to remove the oil and debris.

The brush didn't remove the sealant from the bottom surface, I used a long flat screwdriver, which took only a minimal "rub" (much less than scraping), wiped it out, used brush.

"Polish" with the brush might actually be more accurate to describe what I did.

The air and vacuum combo was to make sure I got the piece of brass filing out of the cylinder from removing the cup so long ago. I saw it drop in

If you have ever turned the motor over by hand with a little oil in the cylinder, you'll realize the pressure and long, wild resulting squirt of oil (face shield!). I imagine one or two of those and all debris stuck by the oil will be out.

That being said, this is my first time with cups, so....

 

I read it, didn't retain it, my google-foo is broken

I am planning to test my new injector cup and all the others by pressurizing the cooling system today, but can't find the procedures again

I remember you remove a (which?) hose, add (how much) air pressure, spray (something- Dawn, Simple Green, silicone?) into the cups and watch for bubbles.

Anyone have a quick link or the info above?

Thanks!

Edit: Found it! Thanks to Rich and Sous for posting the information to the forum some time ago: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post16400283

 

Nice work! Brought back lots of fond memories.

I did the penny trick to keep debris out of the hole (I think I managed to forget it on one or two cylinders though). From what I've read, the little bits like old sealant and even brass shavings are harmless. I probably wouldn't want to leave any bristles from the brush in there if I could avoid it but I'm not convinced it would harm the engine either. The combustion chambers see some pretty harsh conditions as it is, I don't think a few bits of dirt or debris are going to hurt it much.

When I did mine, I bought the stainless steel brush kit from Alliant. It was about $60 which is really expensive for a couple of brushes. However... what do a couple of decent quality, long-handled steel brushes cost? I'd probably expect to pay $20 a piece for them if I saw them in a store. So yeah there's a markup, but an extra $20 in this case to get the best tool available for the job seemed like a bargain to me.

It seems overwhelming and scary if you've never done it before, but it really is simple and straightforward. Just read everything you can, watch every youtube video you can, and plan, plan, plan. I had the order written out that I had to put everything back together in, so I wouldn't forget anything.

If I'm still living around here when you do it, I'd even spend a weekend and come help you do it. Just give me a shout.

 

Don't forget the debris/sealant that gets in the fuel rail.



I used a shop vac in the injector hole every step of the way. Using an air compressor with a blow gun helped to dislodge a lot of junk. Cup out - air blown into and of the other open holes without a cup. Cup in - blow air into GP hole. Even when not blowing air in, the vacuum will draw air through the fuel rail, oil rail, and GP hole.

 

I'll have to get my shop vac adapted down for that and some tubing. I was looking on Saturday for my tubing and couldn't find it. Almost 3 months and I forgot where everything is...but I know I put it somewhere I wouldn't forget LOL

Thanks

 

I entered this process with the same mindset. After awhile and several setbacks "no debris" went to "minimize debris". I'm still not done but here's some of the things I've used along the way to keep the cylinders clean:

- I used the penny trick like andym when removing the cups.

- To remove the old Loctite I used a long flat-bladed screwdriver to chip it loose and vacuum up the shards. To keep the chips from flying everywhere I used a paintbrush handle in the injector hole to plug it during the process. For the coolant channel I used some large rag chunks. I only used the rags for cylinders #1-4. My pucker factor for not being able to use my naked eye only for the last 4 cylinders was the deciding factor to just use the paintbrush handle for the back half of the cylinders.

That's what I'm dreading. Unfortunately life has gotten in the way (family, work, bought a house) since I only planned 2 months for all the work (I'm at 5+ months and counting). I haven't worked on mine for 2 months and I've forgotten where I was in my processes, where my bags of parts are, and how I've set up my tools. I'm almost afraid to get back to it and find out how much I've forgotten.

 

Yeah... Frank is getting transferred to my new shop/trailer this week, after it's been sitting in a plastic bag for several months. I know where I'm at... I just dread diving in again.

 

Tools everywhere, parts everywhere, time to jump in again

I do think it is helpful and healthy to take a break once in a while and just drive them. I'm hoping after this next stretch, I'll be back there again

May you all have the same fortunes

 

Reassembly Saturday!

For real this time As some of you know, I've been in and out of the hospital and am recovering from some quite serious stuff. The earlier problems from this Summer went ballistic and I even contacted a friend here to help my wife sell the Excursion if it didn't work out.

BUT....the Good Lord loves me and gave me another shot

So I have some help coming Saturday am and we're planning to get the injectors, rebuilt and converted to 160/80 single shots by Jim at Rosewood Diesel, reinstalled and a tune by Tony Wildman put to task.

If all goes well, she will be back alive this weekend, then subsequent tweaking and stuff this next week.

Stay "Tuned" (hahaha!) for updates

 

I was wondering where you've been. It's good to hear that you are doing well, good luck with it and looking forward to hearing the results.

 

Thanks. I've been watching your struggles and couldn't offer a hand, or even company while you worked on it. My camper has been sitting and lonely, too. LOL.

But I can't complain. The couple of months of rapid downward spiral has stopped and I'm actually feeling much better.

I have a thin coating of "mildew" throughout the cabin of my Excursion right now

Planning to shop vac, white vinegar, shop vac, and ozone generator. Lather, rinse, repeat until all good, then some interior leather treatment/conditioner. I had the windows down and it drew damp over the past 4 months.

I'm actually planning on heading to the garage shortly to remove EVERYTHING from it first. It isn't everywhere, just annoying...Grrr