Build up of gunk on the injectors

[PeterE320Cdi]

Whilst having some work done on my E320 CDi the mechanic pointed out a nasty build up of gunk on the 2 injectors at the front of the engine. When cold the gunk was hard and glossy. When warmed up it was more like the consistency of bluetac and we were able to pick some out. Does anyone know what may be causing this or if it points to a serious problem?

Heres some pics.

 

[Dieselman]

The injectors are leaking combustion gasses past them. They need removing, cleaning up, new heat resistent washers and bolts

 

[PeterE320Cdi]

Thanks Dieselman

I have a couple of questions.

How serious a problem is this likely to be? I first noticed it at the last service 12,000 mile ago and thought someone must have spilt oil on the engine. Since then it has built up to a thick deposit which has now been scrapped out. So can I leave it and have it done at leisure or is it likely to go bang at short notice?

How hard/easy is the job likely to be, something that you can do on the drive in a couple of hours or a full day event?

Cheers, Peter.

 

[Dieselman]

it won't go bang but might cause some damage to the head as the gasses blow by..

get it seen to fairly soon.

not a big job as long as the injectors come out Ok.

 

[Fas_E320 CDI]

i was told that the building up of the tar like deposit is produced by the engine, the injectors will not go bang, I once bought a merc e320 cdi and injector number 4 was seriously hissing, and when i took off the engine covers, they was a vast quantity of tar like deposit build up, i almost believed that someone had purposely did this so that the injectors won't go....but even after test driving at high speeds and rpms, the injector did not bang, but my advice is...get it done asap...its only a injector seal and bolt (a cheap fix)....from experience....otherwise once they do bang...you'll have to get the bolt holes re-threaded etc...and its difficult to find guys who do re-threads privately (well down here anyway).

 

[PeterE320Cdi]

Thanks for the advice.

Can anyone give me the part numbers for the bits that need replacing? The car is a year 2000.

 

[Fas_E320 CDI]

make your way to mercedes and take your chassis number with you, and tell them you require an injector seal and injector bolt, they can trace it for you quiet easy.

Fasar

 

[PeterE320Cdi]

Pleased to say this has been sorted. They must be some of the cheapest spare parts. Cylinder bolt 82p, Seal 65p.

 

[GeorgeA]

Pleased to say this has been sorted. They must be some of the cheapest spare parts. Cylinder bolt 82p, Seal 65p.

Did you fix this yourself?

Was it simply a case of removing the injector replacing the seal and re-install?

 

[PeterE320Cdi]

I had the garage do this for me, the labour time was 1.5 hours so I assume it was a simple job.

 

[GordonTarling]

Simple job? In 1.5 hours? Where I am, those £1.47 parts would have cost you around £200 for fitting them! I do sometimes wonder just how anyone arrives at those 'standard' times that they all seem to use!