Replacing fuel injector seals. Symptoms.

Poor starting requiring lots of cranking. Almost impossible to start when left facing uphill. After a while it becomes difficult on the flat or with a low level in the fuel tank. The reason is that the fuel injector leak off pipes or seals are leaking air in and the fuel is draining back into the tank. It then requires lots of cranking for the fuel pump to pull the fuel back through. In the worst cases it cannot. To test if this is the case take off the top of the fuel filter and see if it is brimming with fuel. If not you have leakback. There are three areas where the air can get in. The injector rubber leak off pipes which are a push fit and are under the engine cover/wiring harness. Easy to change. The early originals were cloth covered and will definitely need replacing. Try those first. Second and fairly unusual is a leaking fuel filter housing. Replace the filter and the two seals. Clean off the housing with brake fluid cleaner and look for staining perhaps from a crack in the top casting? Next are the fuel injector cross over seals within the cylinder head. There is a rubber and metal seal under a cast iron flat pipe that goes into the cylinder head. The leak off bit is a small hole. Hard to believe but these do leak badly and when they go they get worse over just a couple of days.

Tools
Torx socket set. 17 mm spanner (preferably 17 mm pipe union spanner) , 27 mm spanner. 18mm socket. 10mm socket, torque wrench. Parts Also, here's the other items for future reference: Injector seal Injector to cyl head seal SEAL, RING, INJECTOR NOZZLE HOLDER TO CYLINDER HEAD 9117693 Inlet manifold gasket x2. Camcover gasket Crossover O rings x4 (3.69 each) 90500940 + 90572108 (optional it can be OK to reuse) (44p each) 'O' RING, INJECTOR NOZZLE HOLDER TO CYLINDER HEAD 90500732 (5.20 each) SEAL, RING, INJECTOR NOZZLE TO INJECTOR NOZZLE HOLDER 90502704

Injector to crossover seals x4

Injector to cylinder head copper washers/seals x 4 if required SEAL, RING, INJECTOR NOZZLE HOLDER TO CYLINDER HEAD 9117693 Leak off hose Optionally 3 leak off T pieces ( 14.35! comes as one length) HOSE 93181131 (3.06 each can be brittle and snap). DISTRIBUTOR 9281478

Cam shaft pulley bolt.

(should be renewed each time as it a stretch bolt I dont though)

Torque settings
Canshaft main bolt - 66 lbs/ft, then 60 degrees then 30 degrees

How to:Remove insulation cover

Unbolt the wiring harness (2 bolts pictured) disconnect the two wiring plugs by the front end and the one on the inlet manifold and lift the harness away and lay by the battery.

Remove the EGR valve by taking off the two bolts. Push the vacuum pipe off with a screwdriver -dont pull it.

Marvel at how dirty it is!

Clean the injector and leak off pipe area (with brake cleaner?)

Pull off the leakoff pipes x 4 and the long connection down to the pump. This pic only shows the end of them

Remove the fuel pump wiring socket by pulling out the red locking plate and then pulling the plug out.

Remove the injector pipes, 17 mm spanner. The one at the bottom rear is a bit of a pig. I needed a 17mm off set brake pipe union spanner.

Cover the exposed ends of the injector pipes. The fuel pump ends can be covered by a large rag. The cylinder head ends I covered with tape and pushed on aerial plug ends to hold the tape in place.

Remove the inlet manifold top cover. Remove the pressure sensor before cleaning. Groan at the amount of muck within. Remove the inlet manifold the 10mm nuts are there under the crap.

Clean the inlet manifold and top cover. Remove the actuator solenoid to assist in cleaning and prevent it getting contaminated with solvent etc. The deposits are not baked on and scrape off quite well. Use a plastic scraper such as a kitchen washing up brush with the chisel edge on one end. Then use Gunk or jizer with stiff brush to clean it all up finally rinse off. Beware this a filthy job do not do it in the kitchen. If you know a engine shop with a caustic hot washer - pay to have it done!

A clean one

Clean the inlet ports in the head. I have read of a spoon with the edges bent in a a scraper but I use a piece of 22mm copper pipe clamped by hand onto a vacuum cleaner hose. The ports are fairly horizontal so the crap does not fall into the valves easily. The vacuum effectively prevents the crap going too far. I then finish off with a 15mm piece of copper. This gets rid of 90% The final 10% is almost impossible to remove without it going down into open valves.

Remove the vacuum pump. There are 4 bolts. You need to undo the wiring support and bend away to reach one of the bolts. (as below)

Remove the cam cover bolts. Ease the fuel pipes up and away from the front of the cam cover. Release the breather hose. Remove the rear wiring harness bolt on the top of the cam cover. Push the wiring harness inch back towards the bulkhead to release it from the tongues that stick out of the cam cover. Lift away the cover. According to the book you now need 100 of special tools to lock and set the timing. This site says you can get away without and I now agree. Set the engine to TDC. This is when the first two cam lobes are at 10 and 2 Oclock.

A further guide is that the vacuum pump slot in the end of the cam should be horizontal AND the timing mark/hole at the top. If this is not right rotate the engine a complete 360 degrees and the vac pump hole will then be at the top and the cam lobes facing up at 10 and 2 Oclock.

Adjust the engine position by placing in reverse and pushing backwards to rotate the engine or in first and push forwards. You must not rotate the engine backwards ( i.e. in first and push backwards, reverse and push forwards). IMPORTANT scribe marks on the cam pulley and the cam itself. Dont use paint it will come off with the oil. A sharp screwdriver will do. The marks must be good enough to ensure that you replace them in exactly the same position.

Place a cable tie around the chain and into a cam pulley hole and tighten to keep the chain in place. I used a bungee cord very tight into one of the bonnet holes and hooked in to the pulley to put a considerable pull on the pulley towards the windscreen. (ignore the drill bit in the pic not necessary)

Place a 27 mm spanner on the camshaft casting where it is cast to a hex shape to hold it in place. Undo the cam bolt with a 18mm socket. Gently lever the pulley off. There is no keyway and it comes off easily (the timing is set by the position of the pulley on the cam hence it is infinitely variable and the two are just clamped together with a high torque). Remove the camshaft caps. Remove by undoing the bolts turn at a time in a spiral pattern until they are all free. Do not be tempted to remove them all in one go the cam cam snap or bend the cap bolts. They are machined in place and MUST be refitted in exactly the same place as they come out. Clean and mark them or place somewhere safe in exactly the right order and orientation. Lift out the cam shaft and place it in clean rag and wrap it up. Remove the injector crossovers by removing the bolt and them lifting slightly and levering back towards the front of the car. There is an O ring that can be a bit tight. Sometimes the injector stays in place and sometimes it lifts out, whichever carefully lever off the top injector seal. Also remove the O ring and replace.

Clean the O ring recess. I find that a smear of silicone grease helps the crossover to be pushed back in. Tighten the crossover bolt by hand as far as you can then turn 360 degrees note this is not really tight but seems to crush the seal just enough. If you overtighten the leverage on the top of the injector is too much. All that remains is to re-assemble in reverse order. When replacing the cam cover put a smear of silicone sealant in the corners around the rear camshaft cap. (the two lower arrows). Clean up the surface (brake cleaner again) and the corresponding gasket (if reusing the old one)

Tighten the cam caps in the same spiral pattern a bit at a time to keep even pressure on the camshaft.

ENSURE that the cam marks match exactly when refitting. Only when fully tight release the tie wrap and bungee cord.

The fuel system will be empty and it is notorious difficult to bleed the fuel through. It takes many minutes of cranking to get the fuel through- often enough to flatten the battery. To help, fill the fuel filter to the top with diesel and refit the cover quickly. Leave the inlet manifold hose off. Get an assistant to turn the engine over on the key whilst cranking squirt Bradex easy start into the inlet. It will run on this alone and the key can be released vary the speed of the engine by the amount you spray in. After 20 seconds or so stop spraying and the engine may run by itself. If not repeat once more. Some have sprayed brake cleaner as this also works but not quite as well as easy start.

Conclusion:
The engine now starts when parked on a hill facing up! Best is the improved performance from cleaning the inlet manifold and ports. The power is increased lower down, so the power is now progressive without the dead area below 2000rpm. Makes the car much more driveable. Top end power is also improved. MPG seems 4-5 better as you dont spend so much time at full throttle.