[Vwdiesel] A TDI tale of woe and strife, hammers and PBlaster

[dieseltdi at verizon.net]

For those of you that may wonder why you must have the injector "heat  
shields" (really just copper crush washers} and wonder why you can't  
just reuse the old ones....read on!  I have been working on the 1Z  
engine that I bought for my Caddy TDI conversion.  New belts, clutch,  
hoses, the usual stuff.  Well I also bought a set of high flow  
nozzles and had them installed in some injectors that I had laying  
around.  I pulled the stock injectors from my Jetta (they have been  
in the car almost 80000 miles) to install the high flow injectors to  
see how they run.  The old injectors slipped right out and the new  
ones went right in no problems.  I drove them for about 2 months and  
then pulled them to install them in my donor engine.  This seemingly  
simple task has turned into the project from hell.  I spent a WEEK  
trying to pull the injectors out of the 1Z engine.  The would not  
come out!  I could get them to turn but it was the top of the  
injector unscrewing from the nozzle section.  Finally out of  
frustration, I unscrewed the top of one completely, pulled out the  
innards that I could get and then filled the hole with PBlaster and  
then waited a full week.  I screwed the two halves together but still  
NO GO!  I applied heat, I applied more solvent, I beat up the  
injectors with a hammer trying to loosen them  NO GO!  Finally out of  
frustration, I pulled the head, definitely not what I really wanted  
to do.  I then disassembled the injectors (by now ruined anyway) and  
used a punch to drive out the nozzles which were absolutely caked  
with carbon.  Fine I think, the nozzles are out.  Well the nozzles  
were out but not the bottom part of the injector that holds the  
nozzles.  After some more heating and putzing around with it, I  
reassembled the injector with the nozzle portion inside but upside  
down to give me a flat surface inside the injector to push against.   
Using a old screw driver shaft with no handle, I put it through the  
injector hole into the injector and pounded the injectors out one at  
a time.  It took at least 5 good hits with a heavy framing hammer to  
get each injector loose.  Each one was caked with carbon and the  
holes were caked with carbon and guess what was missing?  No copper  
washers!  Now I have to buy a new head gasket and new stretch bolts  
for the head (and expense I wasn't counting on).  Moral of story, the  
crush washers are cheap, do try to save money by not replacing them  
when you remove the injectors, you will regret it later and make sure  
to get the actual OEM washers.  Turns out most of the after market  
washers are too big and will not seal properly and the keep the  
injector from actually seating inside the cylinder.    Now to go take  
some tylenol for my old, aching shoulders.  hayden

Visit my website at:  http://mysite.verizon.net/resosxp8/mydieselpages/
Proud owner of:
2004 Passat TDI GLS, 2.0l, 8 valve, 134 HP, 247 lb/ft of torque  
(making 150 hp with Diesel Power Tuning Box), Blue Graphite,  
Anthracite leather interior, ABS, ESP.
1998 Jetta TDI (Wetterauer Chipset, 2 1/2" exhaust, K&N Filter,  140K 
+ miles, and running biodiesel)
1981 Rabbit Pickup -Awaiting a TDI engine swap with a 96 Passat 1Z  
engine.
And many, many, many VWs; from a 1946 Beetle (11 Beetles total), to  
Vans (5 - 3 splitties, 2 bay window), Rabbits (3), Karmen Ghia (1),  
Jettas (5), Passat (1), Dasher (1), New Beetle (1), and Rabbit  
Pickups (3) most now gone but not forgotten.
1982 Suzuki GS 650GL - resurected from a farm, now back on the road,  
Old school bike for an old school guy!