All,

I just pulled the injectors out of my car and pop tested them. 4 out of five GERMAN Bosch nozzles produced a nice concentrated mist of a spray pattern at 130 bar. The 5th nozzle started squirting a thin stream before popping - the tip of this nozzle also looked scorched - it was a reddish copper color, while all of the other nozzles were silver. Fortunately, I had a good spare injector which I substituted - and the engine seems to idle more smoothly.

So, my question is - should the nozzles spit a thin stream prior to popping?

I bought new Indian made Bosch nozzles, and the 2 that I've tested squirt this thin stream before they pop - does this mean that they're crap?

How do I recognize a bad nozzle?

I have a 1983 300D with the 617.951 engine.

The nozzles should NOT spit a thin stream prior to popping. This can lead to all sorts of very expensive problems, if left alone.

Do an advanced search in the Diesel discussion. Nozzles would be a good term. There is also a member that sells another brand of Nozzles - I believe he has videos of a before and after installation of the Nozzles. He might have a vid of a pop test. Pop tester is also a search term that should yield good results. I think about 90% of dieselheads agree that the Indian Bosch nozzles are inferior - perhaps this merely the result of a learning curve, and newer Indian nozzles are better...who knows....I can't help, however, but remember the old saying "Once bitten, twice shy".

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09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D