Diesel injector DIY cleaning?

sasolshares · Post by **sasolshares** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 8:45 pm

Hi All,
At 120k my injectors need cleaning. There is a How-to guide on this forum for removing them and there are other car forums dealing with dismantling and cleaning other makes of injectors.

>Is it possible or desirable to do a DIY removal and clean of the injectors on my 2004 3.0D sport or should this be left to a pro?

>Alternatively, would the use of so-called injector-cleaning additives like Redex or a couple of litres of petrol in the tank be adequate?

thanks
Rob

Smeeagain · Post by **Smeeagain** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 2:07 pm

Petrol in a diesel tank. Really ? New one on me ? anyone else vouch for that one ?

Smee

sasolshares · Post by **sasolshares** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 7:07 pm

Yes, adding petrol to diesel from time to time is not uncommon, particularly on non-performance cars. However I am surprised there are not more diesel owner responses so maybe I didn't make myself clear.

At a milage of 120k miles and idling being a bit rough, you would expect to have to clean all the injectors. There are 3 options as I see it:

Option 1: Use a fuel additive such as Millers Diesel fuel cleaner (recommended by many), Forte Advanced Diesel treatment (recommended by many) or Redex Diesel treat (not recommended).

Option 2: Remove the injectors and have a go at cleaning with carburettor cleaner, alternatively take the injectors along to an injector specialist and get professionally cleaned and tested, or

Option 3: Take the car to my local Independant and trust them to clean and test the injectors with the risk that if there are no error codes they might just run Forte through the system and charge me a load.

So basically I need the injectors cleaned but don't want to pay for doing something I could easily do myself. If it is not a DIY job, happy to pay the experts.

cheers, Rob
E53 3.0D facelift

Bargain Bucket · Post by **Bargain Bucket** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 8:19 pm

In my opinion, these "chuck it in the tank" treatments are like p!ssing in the ocean. To clean an injector properly, the injectors need to come out and be run on a proper cleaning machine with before and after flow rates measured and spray patterns observed. Something the the "ASNU" machine. Maybe the treatment stuff works if used regularly from new (i.e. every other tank to keep the injectors etc clean) but they don't stand a chance of resurrecting a "dirty" injector.

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:02 pm

As a diesel owner I've never suffered from dirty injectors. You might have some, albeit likely limited success with injector cleaner but the petrol in the tank idea is very risky. These are BMW cars not former Soviet Union type engines that'll run on anything the local farmer could ferment! If you get it wrong you could wreck the seals on the high pressure injector pump and they are VERY expensive. The older generations of systems from the 80's might put up with it, but modern systems have such fine tolerances that you are more likely to do serious damage. I know it's a light mix, but even so there are more than a few BMW Owners who have faced massive repair costs for playing with the wrong fuel, or fuel mixes.

If the injectors are that old, I would not mess about with the 'snake oil' cleaners (none of which are approved by BMW AFAIK, and few by any other car manufacturers) and bite the bullet and get new injectors if you think that is the source of the problem. But then it's your car, your choice.

dirtymonkey29 · Post by **dirtymonkey29** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:14 am

are they made by Bosch? Im sure Bosch will remove and test/recondition injectors

DevonX5 · Post by **DevonX5** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 7:33 pm

I know its a bit late to reply but I put petrol in my diesels to keep the injectors cleaner. If you look on the "ingredients" of many diesel cleaners you will notice the main active additive is napatha which is really unrefined petrol (light ends by product of a CAT plant in refinery). Never had any issues and a damn site cheeper than slick 50 etc cleaners. Just completed 175k miles in my TD4 freelander (bmw 2.0 turbo diesel) with no problems.

Smeeagain · Post by **Smeeagain** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 7:58 pm

so what kind of ratio of petrol to diesel are you using and how often ?

Smee

DevonX5 · Post by **DevonX5** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:33 pm

Hi smee

I use an old redex container (call me cheap) and dose as per the instructions on the back. I just substitute the redex, cleaner, with petrol. My mate is an ex Army and Land Rover mechanic and he told me about this many years ago. He still uses it in his LR garage (not just series landies in case you were thinking

disco 3's etc) Petrol is great at getting rid of carbon deposits etc. I cleaned up my EGR which was not working. Left it in a tub of petrol overnight and worked a treat when refitted. I guess the way fuel prices are going though it may soon be cheaper to use the 40k diesel cleaners etc!

I fully agree with x5sport in dont over do it. Remember the diesel pump relies on a certain amount of diesel for lubrication. I dose mine circa every 4/5th full tank of fuel.

Hope that helps

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