Anyone cleaned their fuel injectors ??

[Tiger-G]

Hi all,

It's that time of year when I do my 955's annual service ready for summer.

I noticed the bike was more sluggish last year, just didn't pull as well as normal. The fuel filter hasn't been replaced since 2009, the throttle bodies haven't been balanced since 2009 and it hasn't been on a diagnostics machine since 2009.  Do you think it would be worth while cleaning out the fuel injectors, getting the throttle bodies balanced, and getting it on a diagnostics machine to check / reset the values ??

Has ayone got any tips for fuel injector removal, checking, cleaning and replacement ??

All info would be warmly received, as I've never taken fuel injectors off before but am keen to try   

[iansoady]

I would certainly balance the throttle bodies (use carbtune) but IMO injectors only need attention after high (> 100K miles) mileage. We have nice clean petrol here in the UK, plus a good filter in the tank so there shouldn't be a problem. They're easy enough to get out if you really want to. You can't clean them yourself, they need to be done by a specialist.

I'd also get Tuneecu and check for DTCs etc.

[Tiger-G]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the info. I think Tiger deserves a treat this year after my home maintenance for the last four years !!  I'll book it in to get the throttle bodies done and checked for fault codes.

[topher0268]

Well since you asked ..... 

A while back I was chasing mice out of my airbox and dealing with their permanent eviction ...

http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,12434.0.html

While I was in there I decided to check on my sticking throttle. This is what I found: *EDIT* my bike is at 25k and this is what good ole ethanol fuel does in this part of the country ....





Here's what the injectors looked like:





So I broke out this little handy dandy machine. I purchased it at a local hospital silent auction. No one knew what it was other than a big ole tub ... but wait .. is that .. it is ... A SONIC INSTRUMENT CLEANER!!!! Got it for 20 bucks with a broken relay switch .. eat yer heart out fellas ...



Dunked throttle bodies and all injectors ... just look at those super bubbles do their work ....



Followed up by a little soft scrubbing on the bodies and a little injector cleaner on the ... well the injectors. Here's how they came out:





Bike is running GREAT now. Balanced the throttle bodies once I put it back together .... OH and this is IMPORTANT .... BY ALL MEANS GET THOSE RETENTION CLIPS BACK ON THE WAY THEY CAME OFF OR THE FUEL PRESSURE WILL DISLODGE AN INJECTOR AT THE MOST INOPPORTUNE TIME .... ask me how I know 

[Tiger-G]

Hi Topher,

Thanks for the pics and info, that's just what I needed !!  I needed to have a close look at the injectors to get a rough idea of what i was tampering with. I'm going to strip them today and give them a clean.

It would be nice to know which way to flush them ??  I would say back flush as you are just pushing any crap further in if you "front flush" (if that isn't already a real word, it should be, lol) ??

Appreciate the help 

[Tiger-G]

Well, I bottled out in the end cleaning the injectors myself. Got them done at a specialists for £15 each.  One less thing to worry about !!

[LiveandLetDrive]

I'm looking at doing the same thing myself on another project.  For only 3 injectors at £12 each you may as well.  In my case there's 8 and being obstinate I plan to do them myself.  Just look up "clean fuel injectors" on YouTube and you'll find a few people setting up rigs to DIY.  Basically you need a way to feed pressurized cleaner the injector (forward and rearward to backflush), and a 5V switchable lead to open and close it.  They are not meant to be turned on for extended times, so pulse quickly! 

[Sin_Tiger]

Jammie did    If anyone asks me what I'm doing next leave I'll be digging around in the rubbish skips at the back of the local hospital  what a find

[topher0268]

Jammie did    If anyone asks me what I'm doing next leave I'll be digging around in the rubbish skips at the back of the local hospital  what a find

I KNOW RIGHT!!!! Seriously it was tagged with a bunch of furniture and listed as "portable sink" ... I got to looking at it and noticed the timer on the side. I asked and was told "ahh that doesn't work". It had a safety switch just under the side panel by the timer. There was a panel screw missing right by the switch and the metal panel had bowed out disengaging the saftey switch ... little manipulation of that panel to bend it back into place and replace the missing screw .... BIG OLE FRIGGIN SONIC CLEANER .... I can damn near dunk a whole bike 

[Dutch]

For what it's worth: when the injectors are not too dirty a bit of injector cleaner in the fuel might be enough. I got a bottle at a local fuel station, put half (1 bottle is for a car's fuel tank) in the tank and I do feel the throttle response is better. For bikes that sit over winter there is also a fuel stabilizer as modern petrol isn't as stabil as old fashioned one.

Cheers, Dutch

[Tiger-G]

I'm looking at doing the same thing myself on another project.  For only 3 injectors at £12 each you may as well.  In my case there's 8 and being obstinate I plan to do them myself.  Just look up "clean fuel injectors" on YouTube and you'll find a few people setting up rigs to DIY.  Basically you need a way to feed pressurized cleaner the injector (forward and rearward to backflush), and a 5V switchable lead to open and close it.  They are not meant to be turned on for extended times, so pulse quickly!

Hi,

I looked at all (some) of the vids on Youtube, but also read up in other places. From what I read, you can't clean an injector "properly" with just carb cleaner. You need to get it done ultrasonically. Now that's fine for those of us that have an ultrasonic cleaner the size of a small nuclear reactor, but for others it ain't gonna happen !! 

So to get it cleaned properly, tested, new o-rings, and to get the results of the test, I'm happy with what it cost me  :-)


edit:  Just got them back. The guy said they were ok. Got the flow rates up from 288cc to 303cc (whatever that means !!) which is a 5% increase.  So I suppose the moral of the story is: the fuel in the UK is top notch (I only use Shell by the way), and after 6 years on the bike, the injectors weren't worth taking off in the first place, lol !!


Thanks for your help though guys, I'm sure this info will help someone else in the future   

[LiveandLetDrive]

Just scored an ultrasonic cleaner off eBay for $20 + $25 shipping!     I think it's about 6"x6"x10" but don't have it in my hands yet.  A little rusty (but that's why I own a powdercoater...) but supposed to be in working condition.  I'm going to clean everything, including the cat...