Long story short, I've done the pre-pump, in tank mods and regulated fuel/air bleed and the injector noise seems worse than ever. I even dropped the tank again and ran a rubber fuel line all the way from the tank to the pump. I finally made an appointment at the dealer to do a breakout box test on the injectors. I take it in Tuesday. I don't know if I might have a bad injector or if they are just worn. Would the test only find a bad injector, or will it detect weak/worn injectors? If the breakout box test doesn't find anything, I'm thinking about buying new Alliant injectors. I've heard some of you talking about getting them for around $200 each. Where did you buy them? Any help/tips on injector noise after fuel mods or other injector info would be appreciated. I have too much in this to quit now, just doesn't sound right. Thanks.

 

go to http://www.beansdieselperformance.com/ they are good at rebuilding injectors and can get you any kind of power you need from stock and up. i would go with stage 1s if i were you and at $1450 for the set thats less than $200 and injector

 

I was checking them out a bit today. Are their injectors rebuilt with all new parts? From what I've read, some rebuilds don't replace all the parts. I think Kwik went with Alliants, they are new and oem. My knowledge is limited in this area and need help to make a good decision. Thanks for the tip and anyone who has done injectors chime in with your experiences.

 

Well, I just found a post by Kwik when he did his injectors. I was out of town and didn't see it before. Looks like Bean's with new parts. The only thing that concerns me is delivery time. I'm going to be in a pretty big hurry to get the injectors, will be doing some serious towing soon. Wonder how long it would take if they would ship overnight?

 

Hink it took three weeks from me placing the order to getting the injectors. I ordered stock injectors with all new nozzles and plungers. I didn't want to take a chance that they might miss some wear in one of the injectors.
Cost was $1080.00 plus core and shipping.
The engine sounds MUCH better now, especially on the freeway. Every bit of the rattle is gone.
I was toying with getting stage 1's as well but they told me that the way that is made is they drill three of the holes that the fuel sprays out slightly bigger and leave the rest stock size. There's nothing wrong with that practice, but for me personally, I was wanting a nice even spray pattern. If all of the holes were bumped up in size instead of just three I would have bought stage 1's.
Also one of injectors didn't quite go together right and there is a miss sometimes at idle and always on very slight accelloration. Bean is sending me another injector at this writing. It's most likely #4 as the contribution test shows a good drop in RPM for #4.
When the engine is cold it sounds worse than before, real ragged. I'm hoping it will clear up when I get that other injector in there. The best improvement has been freeway cruising. MUCH quieter.

 

be aware that there is a hydraulic injector tester at your dealership. ford required each diesel qualified dealership to purchase one. the problem comes getting the dealership to admit they have one. its kind of a pain to operate it.

 

What exactly do they find with the test? A complete dead one or can they say # whatever is just a little bad and # whatever is completely healthy, etc?

 

Did it help the rattle at mid-throttle? Sounds like we have the same noise based on your description in another thread... "Underway it would sound like a rod was trying to knock. It was getting loud enough to make me feather the throttle and drive around at 2500 rpm. At 2000 it was hammer hammer hammer." My symptoms are very similar. Do you think the stage 1 injectors would make more noise? $1080 sounds cheap for the stock injectors, the stage 1's with new parts looks like quite a bit more. What made you decide not to get the new Alliants, I thought that's what you planned to do at one point. Was it a core charge issue? Thanks for the advice.

 

It helped but did not eliminate the mid-throttle rattle when cold and really cleaned it up once warmed up. A lot less throttle is required to maintain speed now. Before I was worried about abusing the cylinder that was making all the noise, now all that is gone.
I can't answer the question about stage 1 noise, never driven one to know.
I decided against the Alliants because they wanted to charge me core on brand new injectors. That went against everything in me. I'm buying brand spankin' new injectors that don't use up somebodies core supply and they still want my old ones??? I don't think so!
The irony is maybe 5 minutes after I closed the deal on a set from Bean's is the other guys called back and offered to sell me the new ones outright. I would have accepted but for the fact that I had just ordered from someone else. It's better this way anyhow, I saved over $1200.00. I'm a big believer in using new parts whenever possible, but that's a lot of money.

 

OK, my question is this ......
Why replace all injectors if a scan, buzz test and cylinder cont. test show only one bad one ? Being retired it's BIG BUCKS to replace them all .......
Thoughts or suggestions ?????

 

PS.....( i tried to edit but it wouldn't let me )
I'm having a diag. scan at Costal Diesel in Corpus tomorrow.
Can they tell if your tubro is bad from a scan ???
Thanks

 

Well just heard back from the dealer. I talked to the tech who worked on it. He said it passed the breakout box test and the cylinder contribution test. He did pull a few codes, one being a PO541 hard fault, but he thought it was probably from some of the mods. He did say something about the oil aeration being off. He told me the ICP was rising too high, said 3400 rpm pressure was 1800-1900 and should be 1780. He also told me that the injectors are tough as nails and when I asked about being worn he said they are usually are good or bad. I'm not sure if he really knows what he's talking about, but did seem knowledgeable. Seems to me there would be a wearing process. Maybe he just doesn't usually see them until they are too far gone.

So where does this leave me? The tech didn't seem too concerned. I am thinking I will take out the chip and see if it runs the same way with the chip on stock as it does without the chip. At least I could rule that out also. The tech did say that It would still be under warranty if not for the mods and mentioned bringing it in without the chip etc.. I know what I was getting into with the mods and warranty though, I think I said something like "I don't need no stinking warranty".

I'm not as worried that I'm doing engine damage now, worth the $70 for the diagnostics. I still think it's too loud. It did seem a bit quieter after I got back from a 2600 mile round trip to florida the other day. Maybe I should drive it out some and see. The only problem is I will start doing a bunch of towing soon that could add up to tens of thousands of miles. I might just be over thinking this one, it's making me crazy! Anyway, If anyone has any ideas based on this info, feel free to chime in.

 

Hink I always noticed that my truck would be quieter after a long pull with the trailer, even empty. For about a week it would be nice and healthy sounding and then gradually the knocking would return. I think these engines do thier best work if run hard all the time.
If you have a lot of towing to do and the engine is running good now, go for it!

 

this probaly don't help, but most of the elders I know that have been around diesels, say the engines like a load and about 2500 rpm. I can't say this is true,but mine seems to run better pulling my 12,000# fifth wheel than it does empty.

simms

 

Well, as long as I know the injectors and fuel pump are okay I'm not going to worry too much. I'll see how it does after some more driving. Thanks to everyone for the input! At least I don't have to go out and spend a bunch on injectors right now! But, since I had planned on spending cash, maybe this would be a good time to do some more mods??? Maybe some of that extra filtration I've been thinking about!