Question : Home Made Fuel Injector Cleaning Machine

[60dgrzbelow0]

After spending quite a bit of time and no small amount of jingle on this idea, I have finally finished the mock-up and construction of an honest to goodness, Off-The-Vehicle, Home Made Fuel Injection Cleaning Machine... But I could use a little help with the one, last item that I am uncertain of: The EFI Harness.

What I want to do is have all six fuel injectors firing simultaneously when I press the button on the OTC Electronic EFI Tester while the machine is pressure cleaning the injectors...and I'd like to to do this without burning this pricey device to a crispy, golden brown. I am generally on unfriendly terms with electricity in the purest sense of its use, so I'm uncertain as to whether I should hook the pigtails up in series.. or in parallel. I have all the construction images (with detailed comments) on my Photo-Bucket to give you an idea of what I am up to here:

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

I would be very grateful for any help those in the electrical know might give me (a simple diagram of the six connectors and two wire arrangements between them would be grand). I am so close to firing this thing up and seeing what it can do... I would hate to FUBAR so much of it before I can actually see if the damned thing works.

Thanks in Advance...

[3400beretta]

You may not be able to do what you want with that device. I'm assuming its ment for a single injector? You must wire all injectors in parallel, in order to obtain the necessary 12 volts at each one for them to fire. The problem with that is, the resistance is going to drop fairly low. Assuming you are working with GM 660 injectors, each one is around 12.5 ohms, and all 6 in parallel is just over 2 ohms. If you can change settings on that injector tester, set it for a low impedance injector test, an example would be Quad 4 injectors. Or it may internally change itself, you have to read the directions. Either way, set it up for a test of a Quad 4 injector, or other low impedance injector, and you should be fine.

[60dgrzbelow0]

3400beretta...

Sorry for the long delay in responding...but other more pressing 'fixes' were standing in the way of my working on this next 'nutty invention' of mine. But now the completion of the engine is nigh, and I'm going to need the stock set of Fuel Injectors to be Spic (and also Span) for the moment when I fire this motor back to life...

I see what you mean about the realities of electricity. So I tested the unit with an older set of injectors via a dual patch cable from the OTC Tester into the six position EFI harness and gradually added consecutive connectors to all six ..at which point the voltage dropped too much as you suggested it would and failed to activate at all through the device and into the Fuel Injectors. I was, however, able to get some positive results by further experimentation.

I finally removed the connectors one at a time and discovered (using the test injector set and some NOIDS) that the OTC device WILL make three of the injectors activate simultaneously. My thinking at this point is though, that I've either got to visit radio shack and try to find the dope on how to build a device capable of delivering the right ohms/milliamps/volts to activate all six (6) without a drop in voltage from the parallel realities you predicted... or just be satisfied with making only three to function on either manifold bank at any one time during an extended EFI cleaning cycle.

Why does this little pile of electronic Doo-Dads have to cost so damned much...and somehow...always fall just short of functionality to do the entire jobs on things? This is the kind of stuff that makes me go CRAZY!

Tomorrow, I'll be making the metal vertical stand to hold this entire "Heart-Lung" looking apparatus in place by some form of a more organized fashion by dragging out several folding angle iron bed frames and try to kill two birds with one stone. I have a new 90 AMP Flux Wire Welder I need to 'get jiggy with' before I attempt to weld the Oil Screen Pick Up Tube on a brand new Melling Oil Pump. I would just as soon booger up those angle iron rails while practicing as to mess up the pump without knowing how touchy the damned, new-fangled thing might turn out to be. If I screw up a few times there, no harm done. After a handful of two-4 minute welding sessions...maybe the knack I had back in high school (over forty years ago) will come back to me! LOL. I'll have to take some digital pics of both jobs and suffer the criticism I will probably deserve from the members who can't WAIT to see the mess I'm about to make of them...LOL

(Now let me think...What was it that Mr. Anderson in Shop Class always used to tell us to listen for when arc welding?... Oh yeah... "The Sound of Bacon Sizzling...")

[60dgrzbelow0]

Home made efi (otv) cleaning machine...works!!!

Homemade EFI Cleaning Machine Progress?....Success!!!!

For the "Cliff Notes" videos-photos version... Please visit here:

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

For the more detailed explanation...

Okay... with the arrival of the first cool day we've had down here in Florida and the final acquisition of all the remaining parts,etc. I finally managed to finish designing, building and testing my "HOMEMADE EFI CLEANING MACHINE". I know...I know...many of you have either admonished me (or soon will) against bothering with this project because of the supposed relatively inexpensive "Mail Out for Cleaning" services that abound on the Internet. Sorry...but I have too many EFI sets to evaluate to do it that way.

My problem is also that I can't stand being held hostage to the abilities of others... and I really do like thinking up ideas on how to build a "Better Mousetrap" ...especially when my ideas really work. And this one really does, fellow forum members. I won't bore you with all the parts and pieces that are involved since the link below will take you directly to my photo-bucket and show you everything in the way of parts, pieces and the design. Just know that the last portion of the project was to build a sturdy metal frame to organize and support this "Jarvik Heart Machine" and have it set up in way that prevents me from using the device inside my garage and risk a fire or other unnecessary hazard. I chose to use up the angle iron I could scavenge from two old bed frames and after chop-sawing my way through what was needed, I constructed a very stable support frame with a handful of bolts, nuts, flat and locking washers that has a remarkably small foot print and gives easy access to all the works and allows easy removal and replacement of the EFIs when the machine has done its job on them.

I shot two videos; the first just shows an overview of the EFI cleaning apparatus and the second shows the marked difference and very real improvement in the EFI spray performance after about twenty minutes of operation using a blend of straight, pure EFI cleaning fluids and no gasoline. I chose to use several quarts of two different brands of concentrated EFI cleaner including Sea Foam and because my in-line design includes a decent metal full filter canister on the input side, I am able to repeatedly recycle the fluid during several operational tests and prove it is working efficiently and economically.

In lieu of using a complicated electric pump design which I had originally planned, I opted instead to use an aluminum A/C Pressure Cleaning Fluid Cylinder feeding into a 60 PSI steel canister fuel filter and then down into a fuel pressure gauge. I'm using a simple air pressure quick-on adjustable valve on the air-in side to control the amount of fuel pressure to around fifty to sixty (50-60) PSI. This obviated the need for a vacuum on the stock pressure regulator on the stock V-6 EFI manifold , which I removed and blocked off with some JB-WELD. The fuel injectors are actuated by the three stage OTC controller that varies the style of fuel delivery and provides a range of pressure and spray patterns to ensure that the fuel injector cleaning fluid(s) will reach thoroughly inside all of the FI innards. That about does it. The only weakness that I have encountered is the fact that the OTC EFI tester is really designed to be used on individual fuel injectors, but in this case...I was able to get to actuate a maximum of three injectors at a time. I simply switched the connection banks to clean all six fuel injectors.

One last point...I know that the clear tubes don't act like the graduated cylinders in the $10,000.00 cleaning machines...but trust me... I could tell in short order that of the six EFIs in the set I was testing, four were responding identically in flow and sound, while one refused to function at all until tapped with something to loosen the insides...and the last one had a low pressure volume and sounded very oddly different from the rest while cycling. So if nothing else... I now know that the last two either need another round of treatment in a heated ultrasonic bath of concentrated "Purple Power"... or they will simply need to be replaced. I have three or four other sets of EFIs to test the machine out on and will report what I find when they are done. I welcome any and all constructive criticism and ideas on how I can improve what I have already done. Thanks for listening and I hope that others can benefit as much from this project as I have.

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

[1988GTU]

Nice contraption you have there. It does what you wanted it to do and that is what counts. You probably are saving $12 per Injector by cleansing them yourself. Def. will add up over time!

[60dgrzbelow0]

Nice contraption you have there. It does what you wanted it to do and that is what counts. You probably are saving $12 per Injector by cleansing them yourself. Def. will add up over time!

Thanks!... and the cool part is that I can do the cleaning of my EFI Sets any time I want and not have to wait on some company to do the job and then have to wait for them to get back to me and on the engine(s) with any hassles of shipping, too!

[60dgrzbelow0]

If anyone is interested... The hardest component to find on the list of necessary parts for this project is the cast aluminum fuel rail-manifold unit ...but I just spotted an identical rail assembly I used here, which includes the full set of 2.8L-3.1L fuel injectors and the wiring harness to boot on eBay under the link listed below for a "Buy Now" price of under $10.00 + $5.00 for S&H. I want to give anyone else interested in monkeying around with this build a chance to snag it before I do for the peanuts the owner is asking for the unit, including extras... So here you go:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150378077726&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Sorry... but I read the fine print that stated this sale included the EFIs for the 93' 3.4l Engine...and now that my machine has found out that two of the six in the set I just tested are either marginal or just bad... I had to buy these to run them all through this device and try to make a complete set for my son's 95 3.4L Re-Build. However... I went back to eBay and did another search and found this comparable fuel rail/manifold w/ a full set on injectors and the wiring harness for a bit more $$$. ( Sorry about that......)

Here is the other one...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370228417798&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[Superdave]

Nice but a little over engineered..


I did something similar to test injectors a while back but didn't use a fuel rail. I took high pressure fuel hose and clamped it to the injector inlet and used a regular DC power supply to trigger the injectors. I was just testing them for leaks though.


You could build a simple relay network to trigger all 6 injectors at the same time using an external 12vDC power supply and your tester as a trigger source.

[60dgrzbelow0]

Nice but a little over engineered... I did something similar to test injectors a while back but didn't use a fuel rail. I took high pressure fuel hose and clamped it to the injector inlet and used a regular DC power supply to trigger the injectors. I was just testing them for leaks though. You could build a simple relay network to trigger all 6 injectors at the same time using an external 12vDC power supply and your tester as a trigger source.

Thanks... and I agree that it looks a bit much... but after working with the thing over the last week, it has just been a breeze to get the injectors mounted, cleaned and unmounted on four full sets (my follow up on all that follows this reply). Super Dave... your idea about some kind of easy to attach and reliable power supply that could do the job of opening and closing all six injectors simultaneously is EXACTLY what I have been trying to get my hands on. I almost snagged a second OTC on eBay this morning...thinking I could just use one unit for each bank of three and that would solve the E=I/R problem or whatever the hell the issues are that are making it not work on all six EFIs at the same time... but the bidding went crazy in the last minute (all the way to being bought at nearly a retail price).

But your procedure intrigues me. I'm just not grounded very well in electronics at all (no pun intended) and I was afraid I would wound the units with either too much of one thing or maybe not enough of the other ... voltage/amperage... electrons-wise. My next post has all the poop on what I've managed to figure out about all this on both strengths and weaknesses (with new photos for the CLIFF NOTED version). I would be grateful for a simple diagram of what it would take to run this thing and hit on "all Six" continuously for about three to five minutes.

As a sidebar (...not TOO far OT) I have several funny stories to relate about my neighbors reactions to seeing me in my front yard-driveway with "FRANK" (short for Frankenstein....or perhaps "The Franken-Jector"....?) working away at cleaning EFIs... I'll have to post them later in the Off Topic Section...

[60dgrzbelow0]

Some follow up observations on cleaning performance and functionality issues of the HMEFICM over the last few days:

For the latest images (short...visual CLIFF NOTES on this update) go here:

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

The fuel pressure level is very critical in making the EFIs cycle the cleaning fluid, which is very much denser than straight gasoline or diesel fuel! Anything below 40 PSI lowers the spray level substantially and thereby reduces its ability to properly cycle and clean them. Anything above 50 PSI simply causes the fuel flow to abruptly STOP. I suspect that the cleaning fluid viscosity is causing some internal pressure differential that is just too thick for the EFI electromagnet actuating the pintle to overcome. After some experimentation, I found that setting the Fuel Pressure to 43.5 PSI provided the best results.

Some of the the EFIs failed to respond for quite a while until I realized that either something ugly was trapped inside and blocking the pintle rod from moving up and down...or that the EM Coil portion of the EFI may have been damaged or faulty and incapable of activating the pintle mechanism electromagnetically. In any case, I found that by setting the OTC unit to 100 cycles for .5 milliseconds and rapping on the lower metal casing with the end of a screw driver for 3-5 seconds at a time...eventually ...small droplets of disgusting, brown mung oozed out slowly ...and then very gradually, the fluid spray improved...eventually getting to the point where these poor performers were equal to the other, more 'easily influenced' EFIs on the Fuel Rail.

The presence of this molasses-rusty-looking crap coming out of the innards of a few EFIs prompted me to take one from a set from a 1996 Lumina and bench grind it apart to examine the interior components. My photo bucket listing has all the photos showing that all the parts inside are either made of plastic, nylon and a very high quality surgical-like steel resistant to rust, corrosion and wear and highly responsive to magnetism. Whatever it was that was trapped in the interiors of these poorly performing injectors before cleaning should not be capable of causing any permanent damage at all to them and my confidence is high that even the worst of these EFIs can be made very serviceable again,

I neglected to provide the specifics of how to re-work the fuel to by-pass the resident Fuel Pressure Regulator on the fuel rail, so I dis-assembled one in stages for instructional purposes and have posted images of the procedures as well. Please note that the $20.00 or so that the “Special Security Fitting Tool Kit” cost me from Amazon.com to be able to remove the unusual center-pinned Torx screws has paid me back in dividends because devices like the PS3, Palm Tungsten E2 (battery and damaged screen swaps) and other similar electronic devices all sport these damned security screws as well and fixing them comes a lot easier when you can “break” into them with the correct tool.

This is the “Here's How” on disabling the FPR:

The Fuel Pressure Regulator on this Fuel Rail looks like a “Top Hat” with a vacuum pipe spigot attached to it and is held in place to the Fuel Rail by means of a separate metal ring and a series of “Specialty Security Torx Screws”. After removing the weird little screws, you can lift off the hold down ring and the hat and expose a thermostat looking item...surrounded by and attached to a rubberized fabric bladder. The simple mod needed to bypass all this hardware is to just pluck out the small, round, hardened shiny steel plate that is attached to the central portion of the under side of the bladder unit by a round “hip-joint”. When this small item is gone, fuel will pass inside the open channels of the Fuel Rail unimpeded to all six fuel injectors. That's it. Just put the pressure/bladder thingy back in place, lay the “Top Hat” back over it along with the holding ring; align all the holes and re-install the Torx screws. That's it. But for an even simpler method to do this Mod, you could simply lay either the “Top Hat” or its hold-down ring over some gasket material and an eighth inch flat disk of aluminum and after drilling out the holes, tighten it all down (crossing pattern to even out the gasket).

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/HOMEMADEEFICLEANER/

[robertisaar]

the relay network is VERY simple, but since i don't happen to know which terminals of the relays do what off hand i'll let someone else draw it out for you.

as for bypassing the FPR: i would have just used a $15 vacuum pump that way i can vary fuel pressure to whatever i like...

[60dgrzbelow0]

...the relay network is VERY simple, but since I don't happen to know which terminals of the relays do what off hand I'll let someone else draw it out for you.

...any takers on the Relay Design Diagram and a Complete Parts List?

...as for bypassing the FPR: I would have just used a $15 vacuum pump that way i can vary fuel pressure to whatever I like...

Superdave and I would not agree with you there, as that would have added yet another mechanical/electrical device demanded by the In-Car set-up that I wanted to avoid entirely in my already complex design/build. But to show that this system has great variability in fuel pressure control (from 0-100 PSI), I'll shoot another short video that shows on the Fuel Pressure Gauge just how precisely and constantly the fuel pressure can be varied by simply adjusting the "on-top-of-the-fuel" air pressure regulator.

I guess I should have asked at the outset of this project whether or not anybody else out there in 60*Land has already built one these things of their own design...

....Anybody.....?

Oh ...about trying to more closely emulate all of the cleaning procedures the commercial versions of this apparatus tout... I picked up a set of six, opaque poly-propylene chemical-proof 50ml Graduated Cylinders off eBay for ten bucks yesterday that I'll use for the "Injector Balance" portion of the tests the Big Boys usually perform. I've also got an idea of how to reverse flow the injectors to perform the back-flushing of the EFIs they use as one of their cleaning procedures that I will experiment with on the GM 3.4L Fuel Rail.

The last thing needed is to design is a sort of plastic lid/support hold-down rack in order to not only clean the injectors at 65 C with "Purple Power" as the solvent in my UMAX Ultrasonic Machine...but seal off the top of the S/S bucket holding the boiling cleaning solution too so I can employ using the OTC unit without risking an electrical short of the control unit when activating the pintle (pintel?) rods during the thirty minutes or so the machine runs and do a better job with the caustic solvent cleaning side of the process. I'll shoot the rest of the follow-up images/videos of all this when these other components are in place and are hopefully working.

[60dgrzbelow0]

...I guess I should have asked at the outset of this project whether or not anybody else out there in 60*Land has already built one these things of their own design... ....Anybody.....?

Holy Smoke... I think I found somebody...and he is a 60*er...too!!!

http://www.fierosails.com/InjectorTester.html

Its interesting that he chose to use the same general construct that I came up with, right down to using the identical GM Fuel Rail! But with the major differences between the two designs being that I finally mounted all my hardware in an organized 'easy-to-get-around' sort of vertical rack... while his parts and pieces seem to be mounted on a half-an-acre of marine plywood where he has to bend down on his driveway to work the thing.

The other significant issue of difference is that his device can only test one Electronic Fuel Injector at a time... having to use a stop watch in one hand, while holding down the power button in the other, while mine will do at least three and the pulses are pre-timed to exact fractions of a second. And still another issue is that his power/wire set up can only open and close as fast as he can press the trigger on his 12V finger button actuator, while the OTC Tester I'm using can force at least three injectors to fire 100 times in half a second. Like me... he was also very concerned with having a fire hazard with fuel substances under pressure in the presence of a possible ignition source, but I'm not sure how he would control a fire once it started (no Fire Extinguisher on hand), but now that I think about it, just because there was no extinguisher present in any of his photos does not mean he would have one on hand in an actual real-time situation.

I still think he has me beat though on his ability to power one injector open and hold that open condition while the EFI Cleaning Fluid (in his case... he chose to use Kerosene as the solvent) for as long as he wants to flush out the injector ...just as Superdave described earlier in this thread.

I'm still interested in coming up with something... with the understanding that I am not trying to approach some God-awful stoichimetric perfection here since I'm not burning anything...I just want to be able to activate all six injectors...and keep them sort of at WOT for a set time frame.

[robertisaar]

depending how your tool is wired, all you need to do is take the sire sending power to the injector, and use it as a signal wire for a relay, and then have the relay do the work, not the tool.

[60dgrzbelow0]

Thanks robertisaar...

I'm going to have to spend a little time trying dope it all out (trying to id the right type and quantity of relays) and try it on a few non-working fuel injectors.

About this idea of mine and the resulting device that is now built... Now that I know that somebody else dreamed it up first, to be fair, I just sent an email to the REAL originator of this idea...gave him some props for thinking it all up... and let him know that HE gets all the credit for its design...attached is a screen print of my message to the man...