[s-cars] Re: Injector O-ring replacement - lubricant?

[Dave C.]

I removed the intake manifold and retrieved the piece of shroud.
Thankfully this is not a turbo engine or it would have been a lot more work
 It's bad enough as it is.  After breaking the first shroud I became more
careful and didn't break any more.  No doubt having the intake manifold out
of the way was a help in this regard.  The Bentley specifically states the
injector must be pulled straight out and now I know why... if you pull it
at an angle you will break the shroud.  I used the injector puller tool
with a BF Screwdriver as a lever and a small block of wood tailor made to
the right size as a fulcrum.  Having the right size block of wood was
critical.

The Bentley also states the O-rings should be lubricated, but I couldn't
find any statement as to what type of lube.  After reading a few replies
and thinking about it a bit I decided to use "Lubriplate" ( which I think
is lithium grease) to grease the O-rings.  The fat Viton O-ring is >really<
tough.  There's no way I could have gotten that O-ring on the injector with
it installed on the car.  It was all I could do to get it on with the
injector on the bench ... and trying to do it without any lube would have
definitely been the wrong thing to do.  I didn't want to mess with gasoline
at all, although I'm sure it wouldn't hurt the O-ring.  And I decided if
these O-rings can live in gasoline there wasn't likely to be any damage
from petroleum based grease.  

Now I need to find a new intake manifold gasket before I can finish putting
it back together... I'll pick one up tomorrow.  The FLAPS will have one for
me in the morning 
--------------
DAve C.


At 05:39 PM 12/18/2003 -0500, Bob Rossato wrote:
>> So, it is often the case that o-rings are use to seal things that
>> actually swell them, solvents do a good job of swelling o-rings, like
>> gasoline.  Silicon, petroleum o-ring lubricants made for high temp would
>> be my first choice, engine oil second.  A flammable liquid that you
>> really shouldn't be touching and that swells the o-ring would be my
>> last, just after putting them in without anything on them.
>
>With regard to fuel injector seals, VW/Audi have always specified to soak
>the o-seals in gasoline for a few minutes prior to installing, and to only
>use gasoline for lubrication during installation.  At least with the old CIS
>systems.
>
>Bob
>
>
>