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Injector Cleaning Recommendations

moodi

Active Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Messages
625
Location
London
Car
CLS55
Any recommendations for a company that provides a good service?
I would like to get the injectors on my CLS 55 refreshed and properly flow tested.
Many thanks
 
What faults are you having?
 
Who said anything about faults ;)

Looking for a company that will provide a good service with before/after flow test reports and detail of any parts changed etc.
 
Thanks all.. but I'm really only looking for recommendations on the service.
 
If you don’t have an issue why do you need them testing?
 
Does it matter?? I would like them cleaned. The testing and report are to show if cleaning made flow rate improvements as well as what (if anything) was renewed physically.

I am a strong believer in preventative maintenance for all my performance cars and cannot see the harm given the age, mileage and power output of my CLS 55 AMG. Same reason I changed all coil leads, coil packs and the upstream lambdas.

Looking forward to some useful replies.
 
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Does it matter?? I would like them cleaned. The testing and report are to show if cleaning made flow rate improvements as well as what (if anything) was renewed physically.

I am a strong believer in preventative maintenance for all my performance cars and cannot see the harm given the age, mileage and power output of my CLS 55 AMG. Same reason I changed all coil leads, coil packs and the upstream lambdas.

Looking forward to some useful replies.

I'm not sure about the UK but in the US, injector cleaning costs about $25-30/injector and in most cases, this would include replacing the pintle caps, o-rings and filter. I have my own EFI injector cleaning rig that consists of an ultranonic cleaner and flow tester. The reason I bought it is because I tend to buy lots of project cars that have sat a while and the ethanol in the fuel will turn into syrup if left sitting for some time. In my case, buying the rig more than paid for itself.

Today's fuel is very high in detergent and If you're running your car regularly, it's very unlikely that you'll need your injectors serviced as they would be clean from running high detergent fuel. That's not a preventative mtc item. I'm also not sure what value reports offer. The fuel pump in the injector flow tester probably does not have the same flow rate as your car.

Provided that the all the injectors balance out (those test tube looking things fill up at the same time). Your injectors are functioning correctly. If you are suffering from a stumble at idle. I would change spark plugs before going into the injectors. Hope this response qualifies as useful (from a guy that's cleaned maybe 100 injectors).

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Moodi Depends on what injectors you have .But some are cheaper to replace than to have a clean pat test done on them Bang a tin of RED - X in the tank it will clean the system also
 
In the olden days, Lucas used to publish a directory of authorised Lucas injectors service stations (which ment they had the Lucas kit and training, but they serviced all makes). Not sure if this still exists?
 
Moodi Depends on what injectors you have .But some are cheaper to replace than to have a clean pat test done on them Bang a tin of RED - X in the tank it will clean the system also
Alternatively, regular use of premium fuels (Shell V-Power / BP Ultimate etc) will keep the injectors clean. So if the OP is feeding his car with 97/98/99 Octane fuel anyway, chances are the injectors are fine...
 
Thanks all and good information here. Al - knowledgable as always! I had a feeling you had a rig and good to know how you guys do in the US. Your fuel is a mystery to me especially your octane ratings at the Gas pump and then "flex-fuel" which I think is the ethanol based E85?

The injectors are about £250-300 a set brand new, cleaning in the UK on an ASNU machine (inc. changing the pintle caps, o-rings and filter etc) should be about 40% of this including postage both ways.
 
The injectors are about £250-300 a set brand new, cleaning in the UK on an ASNU machine (inc. changing the pintle caps, o-rings and filter etc) should be about 40% of this including postage both ways.

I do not disagree, though the full analysis should also take into account the expected service life of an injector.

I.e., paying (say) 40% of the cost of a new injector to clean an old injector that's already used-up (say) 70% of it's service life is false economy. Plus, the labour cost for removal and refitting the injectors is the same regardless of whether you are cleaning old injectors or fitting new ones.

BTW, I am not opposed to your idea of cleaning the injectors, instead I am referring to the rationale behind it... I work in IT, and we do similar analysis when it comes to servicing and upgrading older equipment. Said that, the way enthusiasts maintain their cars isn't down to numbers or pure logic... myself included.
 
That is a good perspective and I'm not sure what the service life of an injector (top fed) would be after given the renewables would all be changed - not sure how much more there is to ever potentially 'go wrong' with them. Labour is no issue as it would be me doing the work. It would actually mean no downtime if I threw in a new set but the car isn't currently used every day so that is also a non issue in this case.

I'll see what I can find in the way of a best price for 8 of the new Bosch units.
 
Thanks all and good information here. Al - knowledgable as always! I had a feeling you had a rig and good to know how you guys do in the US. Your fuel is a mystery to me especially your octane ratings at the Gas pump and then "flex-fuel" which I think is the ethanol based E85?

The injectors are about £250-300 a set brand new, cleaning in the UK on an ASNU machine (inc. changing the pintle caps, o-rings and filter etc) should be about 40% of this including postage both ways.

The octane levels are about the same. The measuring standards are a little different which is why US fuel octane ratings read a little lower than you see in the Europe. Regular fuel can contain up to 10% ethanol. E85 is 85% ethanol and cars that can run on both are called flex fuel vehicles. If a new set of injectors are £250, then I would buy injectors and just replace them as the difference in cost is not worth the down time. Flow testing sounds sexy but it not that important provided that the injectors balance out. Leak testing (where the machine applies fuel pressure but the pintle remains closed) is more important as that will tell you if your injectors leak.

I've only had to buy new injectors once and that was to solve a problem that eventually turned out to be caused by a poorly seated spark plug.
 
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Update - found a brand new set for price that it didn't really make cleaning worthwhile.
 

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