FUEL FILTER AND INJECTORS RENEWED

[pitpan]

Hi all,

At last I have changed both the fuel filter and injectors.

After depressurising the fuel system by disconnecting the fuel pump the First Job was the fuel filter, which snapped inside the connector & I presume points to cheap plastic being used. I depressed the tabs on each side and it moved a little but then decided to break, not a major problem as it was easy to remove the broken piece but annoying all the same. The fuel filter strap needed to be pried off and then tapped back into place with either a hammer or the blunt end of a screw driver on reassembly. The fuel that came out of the filter was black in colour. New filter fitted and job complete.

Now onto the Injectors,

Following the Haynes book of dirty hands in photos and how too advice step by step I got to the step where I had to remove the two bolts holding the fuel rail to the head. Using a T30 socket I managed to 'Break" loose the first bolt but when it came to the second it proved more of a challenge. Whoever it was that fitted these bolts originally used thread lock and on this one it just would not budge so much so that it rounded of the innards. With this problem I had to use a cold chisel to tap away at the bolt until it decided to budge.

To loosen the bolt behind the rail I used a 10" extension with a 10mm socket.

This just left releasing the fuel rail loom and wiggling the fuel rail and injectors out off the head.

I replaced all 4 injectors as a matter of course, at 22 quid a pop you have nothing to lose and have piece of mind knowing you have new ones.

With everything reassembled I cleared the fault codes, re-pressurised the system, checked for leaks and took the old girl for a spin and I can say that no MIL came on well not on this trip anyway, I can hear the injectors working and the car drives much better with better acceleration. Tomorrow I will take it for a good long drive to see if the problem has been fixed.

[Landmark]

Glad you seem to have got it sorted.
Griff

[Gadgetman]

Hm...
My filter has a metal housing, not plastic. Sothing that breaks off of that!
The clip holding the filter can be a real pain in the... that's true...

My filter came with rubber caps on the connections. These are very handy when removing old filters.
Just put them on the connetors on the old filter as soon as you unclip the lines. Much less messy than trying to untangle a filter half full of fuel from the retaining clip.

Reading your description of the liqiud that came out of the filter, I hope that was from the inlet side...
Frankly, I'd consider taking a good, hard look at the sludge at the bottom of the fuel tank.

Also, it's quite possible that it would have run quite OK without replacing the injectors since it sounds like your filter was the main issue.

[pitpan]

Yes gadgetman,
one side had clear fuel the other was a dark dirty blackish colour, I changed the injectors as I was getting a p0200 fault code plus a p0300 which both indicated that there was something wrong in that department, it needed doing anyway as nothing on this vehicle has been changed since it's birth way back in 2002 my next job will be the Cat once the fitting kit is released by Oz customs and arrives

[pitpan]

UPDATE...

Well after taking the old girl for a two hour drive I can report that nothing went wrong with the car, no MIL light and no limp home mode but I am wondering if I should get her tuned after changing so many parts.

[Landmark]

Don't think you "tune" cars nowadays. It's all done by the engine management. Not like in the "old days" when you could alter timing/fuel mixture etc.
Griff

[Gadgetman]

The ECUs used in these are 'auto-tuned', and should adapt to the engine within 15 minutes of normal running.
I'm not certain if it's even possible to write in custm data to tune it manually.

[pitpan]

So if I go to Citroen they wouldn't be able to reset it to factory settings to make it run more efficiently.