All impurities, solid particles, and water in diesel fuel damage these precision injector elements. They damage the injector surface by erosion and corrosion. Paraffin crystallizing in poor quality fuel can also lead to an injection system failure. Simply put, the injectors will clog.
Poor fuel quality —The main reason your fuel injectors become clogged and unable to do their job is the quality of your fuel. If your fuel has too much excess debris or impurities, those by-products can get into your fuel injectors, making it harder for them to work.
Common causes of injector failure
While many things can cause breakdowns, the most likely cause of premature failure is fuel contamination. Fuel contamination occurs when debris in the fuel gets past the filtration, destroying the sealing surfaces. Think microns, smaller than a human's hair-sized, clearances.
Fuel injectors typically fail due to a buildup of contaminants such as carbon. Carbon build-up can cause a clogged or partially clogged injector, preventing the injector from closing all the way. This results in a drip that creates a misfire.
Fuel injectors become clogged due to hydrocarbons, sediment and other elements in the fuel. Most fuels contain ethanol. Ethanol is hygroscopic thus drawing moisture from the air into the fuel. The water in the fuel cause internal components to rust.
Deposits can form on the fuel injectors from fuel droplets that evaporate after the engine is shut off. These gum and tar like deposits can clog an injector, skew its spray pattern, restrict the fuel flow, or prevent the fuel from vaporizing completely.
If your vehicle is revving inconsistently or your RPM gauge is up and down, this may be a sign your fuel injector needs a clean. A contaminated fuel injection system or worn fuel injector can often supply inconsistent amounts of fuel to the engine, resulting in poor performance. Misfiring.
"Fuel injectors have an atomizing nozzle that distributes fuel evenly for optimal combustion and efficiency." Now, a vehicle will typically have one fuel injector per cylinder, with a lifespan of between 50,000 and 100,000 miles, or about 80,000 and 160,000 kilometers.
While the engine runs, put the tip of a long metal screwdriver against one of the fuel injectors. Lean in and put your ear on the handle of the screwdriver. A clicking sound indicates a good injector. If you don't hear anything, the injector may need to be cleaned or replaced.
You might even have multiple injectors fail at once, making more sense to just replace them all. It can also be more cost-efficient to replace all the injectors at once, in the long run. It's often cheaper to buy the injectors in bulk, and if you use a mechanic, you'll only be paying them once.
Common problems include stalling after you have pressed the accelerator, struggling to accelerate and poor fuel economy. Most of these problems occur due to inadequate air to fuel ratio. Also, any delay could lead to overheating and the engine could stall.
If you have one or more faulty fuel injectors — due to wear or mechanical or electrical issues, driving for a long time can cause several problems: Stalling or failure for your car to start. Flooding of your engine. Pre-ignition of your fuel.
The average lifespan of a diesel fuel injector is around 100,000 miles. A typical fuel injector has two basic parts: the nozzle and the injector body. If either of these components gets clogged or damaged, it will compromise the entire performance of the vehicle.
Getting your fuel injectors replaced is part of maintaining your vehicle. The cost of a replacement includes parts and labor. The labor can cost between $200 and $300, while the cost of the parts will vary from $150 to $600.
There have been reports that dirty diesel can have such an adverse effect that it can damage injectors or actually destroy an engine, costing the owner thousands of dollars.
Engine knock results from the miss-timing of the combustion process between the injector firing and piston movement, resulting in a knocking sound from the engine. This symptom indicates that more components than just the injector are now involved.
The best way to clean fuel injectors on a regular basis is to use a diesel fuel cleaner additive. This can be added to the fuel tank periodically to cycle through your engine. If done regularly, maybe once or twice a month, it can keep gunk and debris from building up in your fuel injection system.
Although fuel injectors are individual, they are designed to work as part of a team with the other injectors. So, if you're wondering if you can replace just one injector or all, the answer is almost always to replace them all. Typically, the labor to replace one or all of them is the same.
Age and condition – if the injectors are old or worn out, a clean may not be enough to restore performance and could do more damage. Severe clogging may mean they need to be replaced anyway. Costs – cleaning fuel injectors is cheaper than replacing them.
A damaged fuel injector will not only causes issues with driving, but the effects will persist even as the engine idles. Instead of a smooth engine idle, it will be rough and irregular when the fuel supply is abrupt. Reduced fuel efficiency is another signal of a damaged fuel injector.
Symptoms of Dirty Diesel Fuel
The outward symptoms of these are pretty straight forward. You'll get lower fuel efficiency. Hesitation upon acceleration and rough idling. You'll also get higher levels of certain kinds of emissions, though those will be caught by the emissions control system.
When it becomes necessary to replace the diesel injectors there are two options of you can take. You can get refurbished injectors or get remanufactured ones instead. Each has potential pros and cons that you may need to consider when choosing which is the best option for you.