i found a leak yesterday at injector seal.
managed to drive the 120km home with no hiccups but i guess it needs doing quick? what potential damage is possible to engine if i run it?

it’s not super easy to get to. but is the most accessable one that’s gone.

is it a pain in the arse to do myself? do i need special tools eg a slide hammer? i’ve read that on some engines it’s not to hard.

i’m fairly competant. done steering rack, glo plugs, cv boot before, but is this in a diferent league?
thanks

Find a deseil specialist, do not drive beyond getting it there, should be not too expensive if caught early

thanks b n d
anyone else?

anyone done it themselves?

It depends on how bad.

Just because you’ve just noticed it, doesn’t mean it’s not been leaking and building up soot/tar for a long time.
Possible damage is a worn injector seat in the head, or injector damaged so it won’t seal with a new washer. Very worst case scenario is needing the injector machined out, but the engine could run for a long time before it actually causes any problem.

It all depends on how badly sooted/tarred up the injector is into the head, as to how hard the job is going to be, and you really don’t know until you try. I’ve seen injectors buried under copious amounts of tar/soot buildup that have come out easily, yet others with minimal buildup result in big pullers and lots of damage.

If you do attempt it, rags to plug any openings, a small hammer, various small screwdrivers, small wire brush(es) and a hoover are essential.
I’d suggest stripping just enough of to get access to whatever clamp holds the injector in, start the engine and slacken the injector clamp slightly. If the injector moves/the leaking/popping gets worse, you’re in with a good chance of getting the injector out with minimal hassle. If on the other hand slackening the clamp bolt a couple turns doesn’t change anything, it’s going to be a problem.

excellant thanks mc. sounds like a good suggestion. i might get some quotes and see how much of a fright they give me.

it has been leaking a while i reckon.
there’s tar stuff collected and cooked around and about, but not clear if gunked around the injector itself.

so how it works: undo the clamp then draw out the injector with whatever equipment/means suitable. clean right down into bottom of the hole (with cotton buds in long tweezers i’ve read), replace seal (copper washer type thing?) and replace cleaned injector and clamp? that about it?
of course i’d need to disconnect the fuel pipes from the injector and re-connect after. how do i purge them? i do i just plug them and hope that the fuel pump does the business after?

Had all four done on my dispatch van at the local garage with no problems at a cost of £80

good to hear danoodog thanks. have just been reading some horor stories of stuck injectors so was getting depressed about it!
will have a go as suggested by mc and call some garages on monday

What engine, dv6?

Sorry pressed send, very different job depending on engine and the main issue is how long they have been leaking for, I’ve seen some leak so bad for so long the injectors are no longer visible and hidden under a coke/Carbon crust, if it’s the 1.6 HDI you need to do other stuff before your turbo dies!!

I just read this thread title as ejector seats.

I am sorry I know nothing about injector seals

I bottled it in my daughters 1.4tdci engine as tooling was half the labour cost and there are different size seals, fit the wrong ones and they’ll fail to seat properly. It also had to be soaked over night and even then they had a right game with one of the injectors and the fuel rail disintergrated as expected.
From memory all in including parts was £238 parts accounting for over half that figure.

ejector seats: pain in the arsch : )

i’m not sure which engine. i could get onto wikipedia i guess
it’s 2001 2.0l Jtd (HDI)

i’m gonna call some garages on monday. seeing as i’m in france and there are millions of scudo/expert/jumpies around it should be fairly common job to the right garage.

if they quote me through the roof or can’t get the injector out i’ll think again.

2.0 HDI isn’t common for injectors leaking, first things first attempt or ask a garage to attempt to retorq the injector down usually this will do the job, not a perm fix but would get you home. Defo worth a try, this will also work if it’s a 1.6 but very different repair.

thanks chris.
the leak is fairly open by now; it’s puffing away, and the clamp nut is pretty tight already; i’ve tried to tighten it a bit but it’s horsed right up.
also i’m already at home : ) it got me home and the rest. will easily get to a garage but hopefully not damage injeactor seat.

start the engine and slacken the injector clamp slightly.

Got to be honest – I REALLY wouldn’t do this. Fuel pressure on a modern diesel engine is 30,000 psi or more, and at that pressure even a tiny leak will inject diesel straight through your skin / eye etc. Electrically isolate the fuel pump before starting work; they can and do fire up from time to time with the ignition off.

The plastic cover over the engine is not just to make it look nice.

Glad you got home ok, without boring you to death, if funds permit change the oil after the leak is done, all the Unburned fuel caused by poor/low compression that’s exhausted from the cylinder is partly recycled, and the oil system takes the vapor and causes “issues”
That’s the basis of the much discussed 1.6HDI turbo issue.
As I said 2.0hdi is a strong old engine but no engine can live off polluted oil.

thanks chris
the oil’s due for a change. got oil and filter sitting ready to go. so will do that.

just to finish this topic off, i got the injector seals done at a deisel specialist garage: 160 euros, and he said 2 were a pain in the arse to get out, and he had a special tool for removing old seals, and he pressure washed the engine. glad i took it there and didn’t bother myself.
next to change the oil.