so this was about the most frustrated i've been w/ my truck in the 5yrs i've owned it, never any major problems that i couldnt understand why, blown hg's is about the only major problem i've had...until friday i was driving to a buddy's, normal driving, and as i pulled into the driveway the truck died...i didn't hear anything out of the ordinary while driving down the road (radio was on...) so i put it in park and try to start it again....cranks, cranks, cranks, finally starts....sounds horrible. loud knocking and then i look out the back and nothing but grey smoke and a whole cloud of it. i immediately shut the truck off...i thought i would put it back to stock, unhook the batteries to reset the computer...and restart to see what happens....now it won't even crank...locked up. towed it to the dealer sat morning and they won't be able to look at it til tom. or wed and i guess i was hoping for some piece of mind...any one have and ideas of what it could be that isnt catostrophic??

hpop? injector maybe??? thanks for reading...

 

well in case there are people who were concerned w/ what actually caused my motor to lock up, it was hydro-lock. all 4 o-rings on the rh bank blew and filled the cylinders w/ fuel. my dealer thinks it is related to the programming of my sct due to the extremely long pulse widths that most tuners use....anyone else?

i plan on cleaning the injectors, hopefully there still good, but definitely going to get a fuel system...does anyone have any experience w/ an issue like this? will cleaning be good enough or will i most likely have an injector fail in the near term?

since the motor is already open would it be best to spend the cash and get some performance injectors?

thanks to all who can provide some feedback.

 

What tune were you running on your SCT? This is the first incident of blown O rings that I have read but, I havn't searched the data bases and I might. Do you run BD? Hope things go better for you. rc

 

How many miles do you have on her? What tune were you running? Keep us posted on what you do. I dont know about your injector questions but I am sure someone will tune in soon. GL!

 

The base fuel pressure (usually 50-60 lbs) is the only pressure held by those o-rings. This pressure is set by a mechanical regulator and cannot be modified by any means of tuning. Fuel pulsewidth is simply the amount of time the injector is open and has absolutely no correlation with injection or base fuel pressures. No tuner is capable of damaging the injector o-rings; no matter how good or bad the programming is.

The biggest portion of all o-ring failures I've ever seen are due to the injectors being improperly torqued when replaced. Ironic since it all happened at once on one bank. Has that bank of injectors been serviced before? If so, I would be stirring the pot with whoever installed them last. Reason being is that for the o-ring to leak into the cylinder; the copper compression washer has to be burned through. This is only possible if the injector is not torqued to specification during reinstallation.

 

i was running the hybrid race tune...

no the injectors have not been mainteneced, and i have owned truck since new. i was not trying by any means to put blame on your tune matt, just what my dealer thought was an issue and thought i'd share for discussion. he has had this happen to two different trucks, the other running different tunes and this is what he told me.

with that being said, he also said it was a recurring issue. any suggestions as to how to fix? will a fuel system help? regulated return? what brand, fass or itp? any preferences, why?

thanks for all who respond!

 

I see in your mod list you have ARP head studs. In order to remove the head gaskets, the injectors must be removed.

Fuel systems are a great idea for injector life, but won't solve your problem at hand. Whoever reinstalled your injectors almost certainly mis-torqued them. There is simply no other way for the compression washers to fail.

Every time an injector is removed it must have new o-rings and washers installed on it, along with being precisely and properly torqued. 2003-2006.5 trucks should be torqued to 26 lb-ft with a long T40 Torx bit; late model trucks torqued to 28 lb-ft with a T45 Torx. This is absolutely imperative; torque too low and compression forces its way past the compression washer and burns up the lower o-ring. Torque too high and the injector hold-down will yield and the same result ensues.

I have seen way too many monkeys installing injectors with air ratchets to have any faith left for the to properly get torqued

BTW, I certainly wasn't trying to be defensive or make you think I thought you were blaming me The shear ignorance of someone at your dealer inferring that a tuner can somehow magically change the spring rate of the mechanical fuel pressure regulator just ruffles my feathers. It baffles my mind to think that people who by trade are supposed to have superior knowledge of these engines do not...

 

I'm curious, is this the same dealership that replaced your headgaskets last summer? This might be why they are directly blame elsewhere.

Mark

 

after i wrote that post last night i thought about it, and realized that when the studs were installed injectors were pulled and i would not put it past that mechanic to mis-torque. i have changed dealers and the new mech is ford cert. 6.0 mech. and i do have a lot of confidence in the newest dealer and feel he has a good understanding of what is going on or may...and so let me try to explain his rationale...

due to the long pulse widths he feels on other trucks as well as mine that the compression stroke is starting before the injector closes causing some of the cylinder pressure to go up into the injector. He did some experimenting on another truck and hooked fuel pressure gage up and noticed that this only happens when fuel pressure drops below 30psi and so that is why i thought the aftmkt fuel system would help.

this time he did replace o-rings on rh bank and checked the torque on the lh bank before buttoning back up. i am going to get a fuel system to help things out because i'll need one when i get larger sticks anyways...thanks for your responses Matt, i'd be curious to think what your thoughts are on this latest issue...i'll try to call you and discuss tonight i think would be better...thanks again!

 

lol what do yall need me for????????????? he has it all under control.

 

this site is priceless I tell ya!

 

I still need you BowTie.....don't go any where....Dan.

 

This is assuming that the increase in pulsewidth is occuring before the stock firing event would have occured, by increasing the injection timing. Increases in timing create cylinder pressure spikes; the same spikes actually being discussed in some other threads concerning head gasket issues. From a technical perspective, this would raise the cylinder force placed upon the compression washer on the injector, however, given the surface area, every other piece of the cylinder (head gasket, piston, cylinder wall) would fail long before the washer if it is torqued properly.

All of our recent tunes use lowered injection timing, which prevents these cylinder spikes.

If you are looking for and RR Fuel system, give me a call I do have them in stock. And while they are great for injector life and performance, I will be up front and honest, don't expect it to be a solution for your current issue at hand one bit. Fuel pressure levels really have nothing to do with the issue.

 

2003 stroke, be sure to print matt's posts and take them in there. that's what I would do.

 

Did it bend anything when it hydro-locked?