Injectors

[Sentech]

I made a BIG mistake some months ago.

 

I inadvertently put 26 litres of lead  free 95 octane petrol into my diesel 2.9 CRD ............... brain freeze and not paying attention.

 

That said, I realized my mistake immediately, drove 1.5 miles to my house, removed and drained the entire tank, and fitted a new fuel filter.

 

The car is still running fine BUT my average fuel consumption is a bit off. I'm getting about 12 ltr/ 100km (urban driving).

 

I have a niggling suspicion the injectors are goosed.

 

Are they expensive to buy ? Has anyone changed them ?

 

Chris

[RichardM]

If my calculations are correct thats around 19.5 mpg - ooh -thought mine was juicy 32.2 mpg (according to the car's readout.. in summer it was around 36 - all urban(ish) I live in the countryside so not a great deal of traffic jams. Trust you'll get many more stats.

[bignev]

Yeah that's as bad as my petrol 3.3, pretty rubbish! But fuel on it is 57 pence a litre..........

 

I wouldn't have thought that - if as you say - it's running fine, the injectors have been damaged. You say "a bit off" what did you used to get?

[Sentech]

It used to average out at about 26-28 mpg (imperial) this has dropped to about 24 mpg. Then again the vehicle is seldom used for journeys of more than 10 miles (urban)

 

It's LHD and measures in ltrs /100km on the computer.

 

It used to do about 550 (ish) on a full tank now I'm looking at 500 (ish)

 

Personally I don't think  driving 3 miles on a 60/40 diesel mix would have damaged the injectors but I 'm seeking opinions. 

[bignev]

Not ideal but not too horrendous at that. Every 2.5 or 2.9 (no Chryslers by the way) diesel I've owned has been around the 25 to 26 mark, or under, unless it has been on a good run.

How up to date is it on service stuff, namely the air filter?

And have you got any sticking brakes? Are tyre pressures good?

Edited December 25, 2020 by bignev

[Sentech]

I serviced the Vehicle when I drained the tank.

 

Fuel filter, air filter, oil and filter.

 

The Vehicle just passed it's vehicle inspection so the brakes and tyres are fine.

 

I'm just a bit concerned that she' s drinking diesel a lot more than in the past.

 

How much do injectors cost and how big a job is it to change them out ?

 

My 2.9 CRD is 13 years old but low mileage, I'm trying to decide if new injectors are worth it.

[gordy]

Doing a check over this thread as I had just flew over it in past. Did I just read 1 1/2 miles, one and half miles driving with petrol in the diesel. Can't believe your contemplating doing an injector change. Think it was my son that did this years ago with his injection car and he drove it back home about 6 miles. Didn't hiccup or anything enroute he said. But its up to you of course, garage, AA and RAC would recommend you change them after half a mile.

[Sentech]

My own viewpoint on the fuel "Screw Up" was that I hadn't driven far enough for the 60/40 Diesel / Petrol mix to even reach the injectors.

 

BUT

 

The fuel consumption does appear to have increased over recent months to cause me some alarm.

 

Maybe it's just the repeated short journeys. We seldom drive more than 10 kms in any given direction, so the car only just reaches its operating temperature.

 

The engine itself operates just fine, no bangs, knocks or misfires, it just uses a lot of fuel recently.

[bignev]

Trying to be positive about it, even down in Portugal the ambient temperature will have dropped a bit over the last few months, which will affect the fuel consumption, more so on short journeys. A colder engine uses more fuel. And winter diesel is different too - but I have NO idea if you get that, probably not, but I don't know if you're North or South and ever see freezing conditions.

 

Just my opinion, but if it runs well without excess smoke, starts fine, and no problems at any running conditions then it's not over likely to have damaged injectors. 

 

Of course you may have had it years, I don't know that level of detail, and the fuel use has not been this low before at this time of year.

But if you have had it a while have you always filled the tank? If not then there's no comparison to be had sadly.

 

And at 2 to 3 mpg worse yes it's costing you money, but at low miles per year (guessing again here because of the 10km journey, but you could do it many times a day.....) then that actual cost may not be that high? And it's relative cost compared to a set of refurbished or new injectors?

[Sentech]

just out of interest what would a set of refurbished or new injectors cost ?

 

I'm in Northern Portugal and yes it can get cold here, last night it was - 2C

 

I always completely fill my tank when I get fuel, that's how I noticed this problem.

 

Now that I think about it, that pre heater (which still works on my car) could be a contributing factor.

[bignev]

Ah yes quite cold!

 

I wouldn't know how much having injectors done would cost for yours, but a quick search on ebay came up with a few "refurbished" (to what extent is anyones guess) at £230 EACH!!!

 

New ones were coming in at over £400 EACH.......!!!!!!!

 

That buys a heck of a lot of fuel!

 

But I believe the Webasto heater runs on diesel so yes that will be a factor, but not all year, only operates under certain temperature conditions.

 

Some of the guys more knowledgeable on the operation of it will help on that I'm sure!

[Sentech]

UPDATE:

 

It shames me to admit this but, it appears that a new set of disc pads on the front may have cured my problem.

 

When I inspected them. they were VERY WORN to put it mildly, which is a bit odd as the vehicle passed it's annual inspection last month.

 

The right hand side MORE SO than the left, indicating some drag on that side, though I never noticed any pull to the right.

 

My fuel consumption based on my last tank refuel appears to have returned to normal.

 

BTW I can buy brand new BOSCH injectors locally at €210 + €100 deposit, refundable when I return my injectors ............. though I'm fairly confident it won't come to that.

[bignev]

Good end result mate!

Slightly confused as to why there would be a deposit on a new injector, but hey who cares. I can understand if they were refurbished so the company then still have stock.

Thankfully as we all thought that is NOT where it's come to!!

 

Well I don't put too much faith in most MOT tests sadly, can go one way or the other.

 

My van had "severely" worn rear pads in July 2018, it's still on them 11,000 miles later. I did check them at that time, and were only worn down by 1mm from new..........