If you are planning on rebuilding a junkyard engine you never really know what you are getting until you start to tear it down. Most of these high mileage engines have been put through the paces and require some serious attention. One component that is almost impossible to test is the fuel injector. This magical cylinder is used for metering fuel in the engine at an exact moment coordinated by the ECU.
When firing up your new power plant you want to make sure all of the vitals are perfect. You can use gauges and software to monitor just about everything on an engine these days from, fuel pressure, oil pressure, rpm, and more. One thing you can’t see is if your dirty old injectors are doing their job efficiently.
If you are doing a rebuild and are just planning on a small cam and exhaust, there is really not much need for a high dollar set of large injectors. The factory units are generally fine for this type of application. So instead of buying a new set, you can send the tired units to Fuel Injector Clinic (FIC) and have them rebuilt. They offer several different services for factory injectors that include cleaning, injector modification, and flowing.
FIC immerses the injectors in an ultrasonic bath while pulsing them to remove all of the debris from the inside of the injectors making sure they are clean inside and out.
When FIC receives your injectors, the first order of the process is to flow them. They will inspect the injectors for leaks, Ohm testing, spray pattern, pulse operation, and flow rate verification. If everything checks out, they will contact the customer and see if they would like them returned or to go ahead and clean them. According to FIC, this helps them keep the cost at bay and results in quicker service time.
The picture on the left is before the cleaning process and the picture on the right is after FIC does their magic. Not only do they look cleaner, but they also flow much better.
If you decide to have them cleaned, FIC will take your injectors and immerse them in an ultrasonic bath while pulsing them to remove all of the debris from the inside of the injectors. After this process, the injectors will be reflowed to verify that they are performing flawlessly. When you receive the refurbished injectors, they will come with a flow sheet showing the flow data from the initial test so you can compare it to the post-cleaning analysis.
For more information on this process and products from the Fuel Injector Clinic, please visit fuelinjectorclinic.com.