signs of a bad injector?
 

well, as many of you know, i broke 2 sets of ringlands in less than a month, it gets pretty old pretty quick tearing your motor apart that often. the only thing is, i can't figure why they broke again the second time when i had a very conservative tune (no too much timing at all, and a/f never going above 11.8 in higher boost). i dropped some pretty serious coin in to the motor for this next build, and if i broke something again (within a couple months anyways), i'll seriously end up hurting someone or something. i've narrowed it down to a few possible options as to why the motor went the second time.

1) staying in full boost pulls while hitting boost cut (boost cut is a fuel cut, so possibly staying in the pull was causing lean conditions under full boost)?

2) stock plugs at stock gap (i was experiencing no spark blow out and plugs never showed any signs of detonation what so ever, so i didn't see a need to gap them down or run colder plugs)

3) the used cast pistons that i put back in after the first rebuild could have possible been weakened from exposure to detonation the first time the motor went?

4) faulty injector(s)


well, i'll definitely be running colder plugs this time, just for some insurance and peace of mind to know that if that was the cause, it will be fixed. obviously forged internals, so weak cast ringlands won't be an issue, i'll be tuning for 3 bar, so i won't be limited to the 11.2 psi boost cut anymore. so the only thing that leaves is the injectors (rest of the fuel system is new from the pump up). but i'm thinking if it was an injector, i would have noticed either in my afr, or the way the car ran. my afr always reacted normally to changes made in teh map, and the car ran fine with no misses or stumbles. maybe i'm just really paranoid because i'll be fucked after spending all this money if something goes wrong, but give me some input/experience on as many as the possible causes that i have listed. (dave and jeff chime in now ;) )

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

Could you have your injectors cleaned and/or mapped to be sure of their functionality?

I didn't think it was that much to have it done, but I could be wrong.

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

how many miles were on the injectors? they were brand new! I say, 15psi, stock internals...it was bound to happen sooner or later. :-\


at least now you are stepping up to what the turbo needs ;)

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

yeah, they were brand new, but ya never know. i was only running 12psi :-\ and if it was making too much power, i think something would have broke besides ring lands like a rod or something :-\

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

id point fingers at those used pistons. remember what jeff said when you rebuilt it. they only last so long ;). new injectors can still be faulty also. heh just because their new doesnt mean they cant ---- up :-\

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

Did you ever setup a PVC setup? It may not be the primary problem but could have added to the problem.

Used pistons on a turbo setup... UHm no no? <SHRUG>

Fuel cut is definately not a good thing on a boosted car esp when its WOT. Its like hitting redline!

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

yeah, i'm pretty sure it was from staying in it while hitting boost cut, b/c when i had it off, the car was fine for a week or so and ran great, then i grenaded it in less than 24hrs. when i enabled the boost cut/extra features. as long as it's not my injectors, i'm good. i've got lower comp. forged internals now, and everything else taken care of, i'm just trying to get a peace of mind that the injectors are fine basically, because i'm about tapped out and that's all i need is to have to buy some new injectors.

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

Im sure your injectors are fine. If not you can always try the ghetto way of testing out the injectors. Someone posted up a while a go a thread on how to clean o test out injectors using a battery and a turkey baster or something... worth a try if u want a piece of mind...

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

bad injectors sound clicky like bad valves, but a much smaller sound

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

boost cut owned u man
u were boosting and then the fuel cut out. think about what happens with the lack of fuel with boost
detonation city

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

yeah, i know, i just want to hear it some more so i'm not so paranoid about wasting a couple grand on the motor i just built :P

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

fuel cut won't hurt your car; it either cuts all or none on a cylinder by cylinder basis
the spark is either igniting all the fuel or nothing; not just some; some would be VERY bad...


you used cast pistons and boosted them and broke them; they do that.

If you're worried about an injector being bad then get a little stethescope thing with a long probe on it and listen to your injectors; if one of them sounds funny look into replacing it. I check out all my dsms and they were fine; then i listened on a toyota my friend had in their shop working on it with known bad injector; it def. sounded bad.

you may also consider buying a J&S safeguard. It will detect knock and pull timing on an individual cylinder basis. if it hears detonation i'll pull timing from just that cylinder. So if your intake is giving too much or not enough fuel to cyl. XX then the j&s will keep it from blowing up. I have a J&S and love it to death; i only wish i bought it sooner. You can pick them up used for ~ $300 w/ a monitor and are worth every penny

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

yeah, i've been thinking about getting one, more than likely will, just an extra peace of mind.

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

:) good to hear

i'm gunna go have sex with mine real quick

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

dude kev, cmon.

just have the damn things tested and enjoy peace of mind.

there's always one of those local mom and pop injector places in every town, guy probably drives a ford pickup and is named oscar or wally

...ok, maybe i took that one a bit far.

remember, if you blow it up again, im coming down there with a trailer and taking your car away...grounded. :-*

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

i've got 3 reused cast pm6 pistons in mine now! 10k miles and no prob.

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

i think you might have started to ping because of the stock plugs. 2 steps colder should do the trick. Hondas run hot plugs to begin with, and adding 10+ psi is most likely gonna make you ping

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

i always have in the past, and have always reccomended it to others, but most of the guys i've been talking to lately say they always run stock plugs, so i gave it a try. it's a little harder to find 2 step colder plugs for a b16, no where carries them that i know of and you have to special order them :P

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

yeah, you will most likely have to special order them. I run BPR7ES in NGK, b series turbo guys around here run BCPR7E-11

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

i've always ran bkr7e-11 in the past, but stock heat range for b16's is 6, so they're only one step colder for me. if i have to order them, i may just order some R5671a-9 which are three step colder, but reccomended for 400+whp, oops :-X

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

three steps colder is ALOT. I think if you have 7 heat range plugs youll be fine.

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

yeah, that's much colder than stock, but it's what i've been reccomended by a few VERY good tuners with lots of high hp honda tuning experience for the power i plan to make, so i'd rather be safe than sorry. if i feel like they're overkill, i'll step it up a notch to the 8's.

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

too much power for the stock honduh cast alunimun pistons. plain and simple.

won't last with any tune.

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

if an injector is bad one plug will look alot different than the rest

Re: signs of a bad injector?
 

note to self: do not enable boost cut/extra features. :P