Any do's and don'ts for ultrasonic cleaning injectors?

[Scotto52]

I picked up an ultrasonic cleaner to clean the gasoline injectors on my 280SE and the diesel injectors on my 300TD. I've never really used one before. The injectors are all out of the 280 and I'll be doing this in a few days. Some of my questions would be...

What kind of solvent and or ratio to use?
Can I submerge the whole injector?
Does an injector pulse tester have to be used?
Does it matter which way the injector is submerged?
(upside down or horizontal?)
Can you clean more than one injector at a time?
How long should one injector take in the bath?
Any post bath procedures?

I was originally going to use some of that purple power stuff mixed with water & dawn. Maybe like a 10/90 ratio from what I've read off the internet. Then let the injector hang in the bath, without touching the cage.

Anyways, wish me luck. Any advice is always appreciated. Have a good weekend and stay safe!

[ScooterABC]

I've never heard of using an ultrasonic cleaner for injectors. Typically I think people use a pop tester, and I used a mixture of 50% carb cleaner and 50% ATF.

[gmog220d]

I know a few things about using ultrasonic for cleaning parts, and can offer a few general tips.

Whatever you're cleaning, it will need to be broken down into its various parts. The solution needs to be able to carry away the crud it's removing, and fully assembled, enclosed things won't allow for that. As for time, let the stuff you're cleaning tell you how long. Let it go for 5 or 10 minutes and then take a look. If the parts are still dirty let them go for another 5 or 10 and then check again. For stubborn residue use an old toothbrush where needed.

Also, you don't need to fill the tank up with the solution you are using. Fill the tank with water, and then put the solution into a glass or plastic container along with the parts you want to clean. The ultrasonic waves will pass through the walls of the container and do their thing inside where the solution and parts are. This keeps your tank from getting nasty. You'll need to place the container into the tank when filling with water so you don't cause an overflow when putting container into the tank later on.

Purple Power, Simple Green, dish soap - all those will work fine on their own. Just pick one and go with it. You can use a pretty weak solution and still get good results. When done cleaning rinse with water and blow the parts off with compressed air. Lay them out on a clean paper towel to let them dry completely.

You'll like having that ultrasonic tank. They come in handy for all sorts of things. I work on watches and cameras, and I use my machines for all sorts of stuff.

[Diesel911]

I can't answer about the gasoline injectors.

Concerning the Diesel Injectors especially the Nozzle which is 2 mated parts don't mix them up with other nozzles.
When it comes time to pop test the Injectors you will also find if you kept the parts from one entire Injector together you won't have to shim as much.

When I worked in a Fuel Injection Shop there was some sort of powdered chemical we used in the ultrasonic tank.
There is a claimed fire hazard if you use the old style paint thinner, solvent, diesel fuel or kerosene. I have used solovent, diesel fuel and paint thinner but you need to make sure it does not get too hot. And not acceptable for inside of the house.

Otherwise I use straight Purple power or some other similar degreasers.

[filp]

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/299321-diesel-injector-cleaning-diy.html

Make sure your solvent doesn't destroy the beaker, or just use Pyrex beaker.
I'd do at least 30min each injector separately, then leave them out to dry.
The solution gets hot

[Diesel911]

No matter what you use to clean fuel injection stuff once it is dried out it needs to be at least dipped in diesel fuel so it won't rust and to lube it before assembly.

When I did this at work the disassembled parts went into carburetor cleaner, they were hosed of with water then dunked in solvent then blow dry with an air gun with special attention to the small passages. Once dry they went into a pan of diesel fuel.
During assembly I blew the excess diesel fuel off and assembled them and tested.

In the shop we only used the ultrasonic tank on Injector Nozzles when a hole was plugged and other methods to unclog the hole did not work. Indirect Injection Nozzles never went into the ultrasonic tank because the carburetor clearer took care of the carbon.

At Home it is a different story don't normally have solvent and never used carburetor cleaner but once at home; but I have compressed air. So I use the ultrasonic tank.