Fuel Injectors Cleaned

[scotty]

Besides cursing at the Spyball security device this weekend, I also re-fitted the fuel injectors as they were returned from the firm who cleaned them. It's quite interesting this as when the firm phoned for my credit card details I asked them if there was any difference in flow patterns before and after cleaning. The guy said that my injectors were pretty good in anycase so I was thinking that I had wasted my money. Anyhow when I fitted them and went for a spin there was quite a big difference to the engine. It is now much better at reving through the gears and has much more zip. I also cleaned the air filter when I was doing work on the bike but have not put the twinmax on it yet so it is likely that it's going to run even smoother after that. i think the firm I used are probably used to testing car units that have done over 100K and the flow patterns are all over the place so in comparison the bike ones probably looked quite good. Before getting them cleaned I could tell thinks wer'nt right bu holding my hand over the exhaust with the engine running as the right exhaust was pulsing more than the left. They are the same after cleaning. My bike has done just over 55K and I don't think they were cleaned before so if any of you have engines that are a bit sluggish of late then this process could be worth doing.

Cheers

Scott

[snavetrauts]

Scotty..... Is'nt there something you can put in your fuel that can clean the injectors.... or does this muck up the works??

Stuart

[scotty]

Hi Snavetraunts - I've not heard of the stuff you are talking about but it's worth looking into although the manufacturers claims could be excessive. I reckon it probably would'nt do much good. I would like to learn a bit more on how the company I used actually cleaned the units out. They did replace the little filter sacks at the input side of each injector and they sent them back in a plastic bag. Both looked clean to me. They also replaced the rubber seals on the input and output sides but these were in good order before I sent them off so the old ones would have done.

I am wondering if just soaking the injectors in carb clean or some such stuff would have achieved the same results and saved me a few quid. One thing is for certain though and that is the cleaning has really put zip back into the motor. Once I get the throttle cables balanced it's going to be even better.

[JoeC]

Scott, what price for the cleaning?

[scotty]

It was about £30 for the 2 including postage. Not bad, but being tight fisted with the pennies I'm wondering if this is a task that could be carried out at home with the right tools. There is a special tool to remove the inlet screens and once these are out of the way it may be a case that carb clean or something might do the job. New inlet screens would have to be purchased and fitted and this might just do the trick unless the pintle caps (holes where the petrol comes out) require replacing. The cleaning is done via a ultra sonic cleaning tank.

The main thing though is that each injector has to be flowing at the same rate and that's where the specialist equipment is essential. It's balancing the 2 units which makes the difference to the motor and I reckon this might be more critical to a big twin that say a 6 cylinder car engine.

[Vince]

It has been said that using a hi grade fuel such as Optimax, V. Power, tesco's 99 Ron has a cleaning benifit? I must admit I tend to use the odd tank in my ST, used to in the old VFR as well, that old engine was still a sweet at 90k as it was when new... In fact probaly running better IMO.