Had my injectors tested. Need input.
 

I had the injectors from my 87 300D tested at a local diesel shop (authorized Bosch dealer) and here are the results:

1 1880 bad pattern
2 2000 good pattern
3 1900 good pattern
4 1900 good pattern
5 2000 good pattern
6 2100 decent pattern

The shop is offering to rebuild my injectors for $60 each. I know I can get rebuilts online for about $45 but I've heard of some bad experiences with Bosch rebuilts. Should I just pay more and have this shop rebuild them for me or are the cheaper ones from the internet not that bad? Would you rebuild all 6 or just #1 and #6?

For the $90 price differential you're well on your way to buying something like this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43991&item=2481345302&rd=1
and doing your own pop testing and adjustment. The seller is fairly well known in the MB MOG community.

Thanks for the link. Do you own that kind of tester or know anyone who uses it and likes it? How easy is it to adjust the pop pressure?

Anyhow, pop pressure doesn't seem to be my main problem. These are most likely original injectors and they're probably getting worn out. Prior to this test I've done 3 diesel purges, ran a bunch of fuel additives through the tank, and lately I've been using B05 so I'm thinking the bad spray pattern is caused by wear, not by dirt. That's why I'm inclined to rebuild them but I'm not sure if I should go with this shop or buy rebuilt injectors online.

Having them rebuilt will allow for them to be balanced also, something you won't get off the shelf.

If you're considering having the local shop rebuild them ( and sombody correct me on this, if these injectors don't have this part ) but most bosch injectors have a part in it called a pintle and it's usually not included in the rebuild price if theyfind a bad one at the local guys, and they'll usually tag an extra $80 on for each bad pintle. You would want to find out about that ahead of time .

The pintles are part of the nozzle and new nozzles should be part of any rebuild.

Why not just buy new nozzles online (~ $30 ea.) AND a pop tester (can you tell I like tools?!). You've saved $180 over a local rebuild, which pretty much pays for a tester.

The injector unscrews and you replace the nozzle, clean up the parts and essentially that's a rebuild. Set the pop pressures (within about 3-5 bar range) with your almost FREE pop tester and then loan it to your friends (US) and enjoy newfound popularity? ;)

I ordered the injector tester from eBay over a week ago and am expecting it anytime. My main concerns with it were quality and maintainability. He said replacement parts are available and it is similar in quality to the bosch tool. We will see. He said one of the adapters with it will fit a 617 injector.

I am not sure that I will be able to get economical parts for injectors anyway.

I have a buddy here locally that works on some Mercedes diesels for a living. He said that bad injectors are rare and he has never seen a failed injector pump.

I thought about building an injection test bench. Bolt an injection pump to a frame and spin it with an electric motor. Plumb in a gauge and spray fuel.

because I prefer to drive my mb, then work on it, I'd just order them from here, and replace them all. then save the good one's for back up, stored in a oil bag so they don't rust.

Check this site out............ http://injectors.150m.com/

First, the $60 each is a GOOD price if they are balanced (something that NONE of the "rebuilt" ones from the online parts sources will be.)

Second, the $45 dollar price is not real. You pay a $15 core charge on top of that. No one that I know (including myself) has ever received their $'s back for the core charge. Even Rusty keeps saying "I'll get back to you on that" when I ask where to send for the cores for refund, then never gets back. Have gone through this cycle three times with him with two customers injectors. He's probably the most honest of the sellers too (besides Phil at Fastlane anyway), so it's not just the seller.

Others on this forum have sent injectors back to "somewhere" for their core charge refund and have never seen a dime back (82-300TD comes to mind.)

So....., the REAL cost of the online rebuilts is...., $60. Getting them done locally for the same price where you can take them back and complain and where they will BALANCE them (make sure this is included) is WAY ahead AFAIC.

Make sure they do use NEW injector nozzles (the one part they SHOULD be using new and all genuine "rebuilds" will come with - yes, includes pintles, they are matched as a set) and make sure they are GERMAN or (G*d forbid) FRENCH and NOT the India made ones (no offense to any Indian members, except maybe the ones I personally know, but they know I'm an offensive person anyway!)

I've almost given up on doing injectors for lack of finding good parts. One out of five of the India nozzles have been useable and most of the parts sellers only have those now.

Most people do prefer driving to maintenance or walking.

There is far more to it than that.

Your post sounds a little like peeing on people from high places.

I just replaced all 4 of my injectors in my attempts to get rid of my nailing problem. I choose to go to the local NAPA that specialized in European parts, at 59.00 a pop for factory rebuilds I did pay a premium over the 46.00 internet specials. GET BOSCH ONLY! Took one day for them to get them in, no shipping charge. I did have to pay a 15.00 core but when you stand in front of the sales person with 4 cores and say you want your money back, you get it. I had one of the injectors leak at the seal between the halfs, they ordered a new one and did a return on the bad one to satisify the warranty.

The 240D has never run so good for me. Nailing gone, heavy smoke at start-up gone, loads more power, smoother idle. The first set lasted 200k, I bet I get that again.

Diesel Addict,

Check your PM.

The rebuilt injectors available from most of the suppliers are not balanced closely enough. They are probably better than what is currently in the car, but they can be better.

What does balanced mean? Is it the same as setting the pop pressure?

Sooty Taillight, thanks for the injector link. Those injectors look great to me! I'm seriously considering them.

I'm surprised that no one here has been able to get core refunds for injectors. I never had a problem getting core refunds for my alternator and starter.

I also emailed the injector tester seller and he said he doesn't know if it will fit 603 and 617 injectors and there's no documentation. Sounds to me like a cheap product.

The only draw back on the "Colorado Gold" is that they do not offer injectors for 1987 OM603 for either D or SDL. They do offer oddly for the 1986 SDL.

I emailed an inquiry as to why, and the response I got back was some mummbling about India and wouldn't sell them because!

I took him to mean that some part to rebuild these injectors can only come from India and wont offer these injectors because they wouldn't be up to their standards.:mad: