HELP: LMM injector seized in cylinder head

[DuramaxPowered]

Yeah, copper washer was gone and the space between the outside of the injector and bore was filled with rusty looking soot.......The injector bore and seat look fine though, not damaged. I did a compression test earlier this year, and all cylinders were good @ 390-400PSI. I'm not really sure what to think.

 

[hoopty_05]

I am in the same boat with a stuck injector. To top it off, it is #8. All 7 others came right out with no more than a screwdriver under the hold down. I don't have a tractor, forklift, cherry picker or welder but I did go to Harbor Freight and pick up a small slide hammer for $21.99 and a pair of pliers for like $4.99. Out the door was $29+change. Here is the end result...

I have soaked it with PB Blaster and Berrymans Chemtool, pounded and pried on it for 6 hours with a 2.5' pry bar and it will not budge. The aluminum under the little metal foot where the hold-down rest against is cracking now.

I finally tried my tool but it still will not budge. It is in such a bad spot and I can't pull directly on it. I am thinking about pulling the brake booster forward out of the way to make more room and taking the top valve cover off, then try rotating the injector with a pry bar or pipe wrench and pulling with the slide hammer. I already have the new injectors to go in and will just have to pay the core fee for this banged up core.

If anyone has any pointers (other than removing the head) I am open to them.

 

[Burn Down]

Go back to harbor freight and buy a cheap impact universal socket, either weld it to your puller or find a nut with the same threads and weld that to one side of the universal, take a lug nut (check to make sure that threads on to the injector, I haven't verified but was told its the same thread) and weld that to the other side of the universal. The universal will let you work around obstructions, hasn't failed me yet.

 

[hoopty_05]

Go back to harbor freight and buy a cheap impact universal socket, either weld it to your puller or find a nut with the same threads and weld that to one side of the universal, take a lug nut (check to make sure that threads on to the injector, I haven't verified but was told its the same thread) and weld that to the other side of the universal. The universal will let you work around obstructions, hasn't failed me yet.

Do you have any trouble pulling at an angle to the injector? Do you think my 2lb weight should be enough if I work at it a little longer or do I need to spend more money to get a 5lb? Also trying to decide if I need to move the brake booster. I am trying to spend as little as possible on this project. The truck doesn't run because the previous owner bent all of the pushrods or at least most of them but I assume they all have some amount of bend in them. I haven't removed the driver's side valve cover yet but the passenger side appears that most are bent.

 

[Burn Down]

Holy crap! How did he bend all the pushrods? And no I don't have issues pulling them at an angle, that's why the universal socket works so well. You may need a heavier weight on your puller.

 

[hoopty_05]

Holy crap! How did he bend all the pushrods? And no I don't have issues pulling them at an angle, that's why the universal socket works so well. You may need a heavier weight on your puller.

Based on the fact that he only had it for 10k miles, I assume that he bought it thinking he could get it to run better, (was white smoking) and after trying to replace injectors, couldn't get it to run right or start and used Starting Fluid on it. He didn't admit to this. He just said he didn't have time to mess with it anymore and that he wont attempt to start it with ether because he doesn't want to mess the motor up. What he conveniently failed to tell me is that he already did and bent the pushrods. :thinking2:

 

[Awenta]

I'd pull the heads after hearing this

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[Burn Down]

Based on the fact that he only had it for 10k miles, I assume that he bought it thinking he could get it to run better, (was white smoking) and after trying to replace injectors, couldn't get it to run right or start and used Starting Fluid on it. He didn't admit to this. He just said he didn't have time to mess with it anymore and that he wont attempt to start it with ether because he doesn't want to mess the motor up. What he conveniently failed to tell me is that he already did and bent the pushrods. :thinking2:

I'd pull the heads after hearing this

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I agree with Arek. I would pull the heads and plan on doing head gaskets and studs with a complete head inspection. Be easy to get your injector out then. No telling what damage has been done, it would suck balls to drop a valve and wreck everything.

 

[hoopty_05]

I agree with Arek. I would pull the heads and plan on doing head gaskets and studs with a complete head inspection. Be easy to get your injector out then. No telling what damage has been done, it would suck balls to drop a valve and wreck everything.

So how can I get the head off if I cannot get the injector out? There are head bolts (at least one) hidden by the lower valve cover which is not going to come off without removing the injector. The only way I could figure is maybe the injector will let me lift the lower valve cover enough to get a wrench under the valve cover to get the head bolt out.

I am planning on getting grade c head gaskets and ARP studs but I don't know how much it would cost to have the heads checked, milled, valve job, etc.

I could look it over myself and make sure nothing looks abnormal and press the valves open to see if any stick but outside of that I don't know. I also planned on replacing the pushrods and setting the valve lash before pulling the heads just to run a compression test on the cylinders. It would stink to pull the heads, replace head gaskets, get it all back together and find out it has bad rings and no compression.

 

[hoopty_05]

Also, I may have to scrap the lower valve cover now anyway because it has a fracture in it to the right of the #8 injector from the sealing surface down. Unless I can salvage it somehow. It is a small fracture but I don't want oil seeping out or water getting in.

 

[hoopty_05]

Ok, so I finally got the #8 injector out!!! :beer
Here it is....

Now, next steps...
Does THIS look like the best price on headgaskets and ARP studs? I checked a couple different vendors and they wanted over 1k for gaskets and ARP studs.

I am going to continue teardown to get the heads off. I then plan to have them inspected and resurfaced and have the injector bores cleaned unless there is an effective way to do that myself.(just don't want another injector to not seal)

I plan to then lap the valves by hand (unless there is a problem with doing this with these valves/seats), and install new valve guide seals.

I am not sure if it is necessary but I plan to install as many of the seals/gaskets as I can from that kit as I put it all back together. If they aren't really needed and I can save some coin, please let me know and I will just order the ones I need and call it good. The truck/engine has 345k miles on it so I didn't figure replacing most of the seals would be a bad thing.

Here is my truck as it sits now... Lowered, and intake, intercooler tubes, egr+cooler, FICM, PCV all removed.

Input is appreciated. This is my first diesel and I bought it not running. (pushrods bent after person tried starting fluid due to bad injectors)

 

[hoopty_05]

Go back to harbor freight and buy a cheap impact universal socket, either weld it to your puller or find a nut with the same threads and weld that to one side of the universal, take a lug nut (check to make sure that threads on to the injector, I haven't verified but was told its the same thread) and weld that to the other side of the universal. The universal will let you work around obstructions, hasn't failed me yet.

Thanks for this tip. :thumb: As you can see in my previous post that is just what I did. I found a #8 Hardened nut and welded it to one side of the universal from Harbor Freight. ($7.95), and bought a short lug nut from Orielly's ($1.99). Since my threads on the injector were boogered up from prying, I slotted the lug nut with my dremel to clean up the threads as it goes on. I also just borrowed the 5# slide hammer from Oreilly's for a $50 deposit so I wouldn't have to waste money on one to use it maybe once every 5 years or so.

Using the slide hammer wasn't enough by itself so I had some help last night by getting a pry bar under the hold down while also using the side hammer. It finally worked its way out over several minutes of prying and slide hammering! :banana:

 

[rg3whitelbz]

Nice work. For reference what thread pitch lug nut did you use?

 

[x MadMAX DIESEL]

M14-1.5 iirc whatever size ours are


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[NC-smokinlmm]

I'd bet that thing ran away from the looks of the push rods. Better do an oil sample to make sure the bearings are ok...

 

[Burn Down]

:thumb: Glad you got it out. I know the feeling all to well when there stuck bad

 

[hoopty_05]

Don't want to thread jack so I will keep this short and sweet and probably post this up elsewhere but wanted you all to see the outcome....

This is what I found in the teardown...

 

[hoopty_05]

M14-1.5 iirc whatever size ours are

^^^ That is correct. I didn't recall the thread pitch when I went into Oreilly's Auto Parts. Just told them I needed a lug nut for an '05 2500HD and they showed me what they had. Picked the cheapest one at $1.99. :thumb:

 

[ripmf666]

Ok, so I finally got the #8 injector out!!! :beer
Here it is....

Now, next steps...
Does THIS look like the best price on headgaskets and ARP studs? I checked a couple different vendors and they wanted over 1k for gaskets and ARP studs.

I am going to continue teardown to get the heads off. I then plan to have them inspected and resurfaced and have the injector bores cleaned unless there is an effective way to do that myself.(just don't want another injector to not seal)

I plan to then lap the valves by hand (unless there is a problem with doing this with these valves/seats), and install new valve guide seals.

I am not sure if it is necessary but I plan to install as many of the seals/gaskets as I can from that kit as I put it all back together. If they aren't really needed and I can save some coin, please let me know and I will just order the ones I need and call it good. The truck/engine has 345k miles on it so I didn't figure replacing most of the seals would be a bad thing.

Here is my truck as it sits now... Lowered, and intake, intercooler tubes, egr+cooler, FICM, PCV all removed.

Input is appreciated. This is my first diesel and I bought it not running. (pushrods bent after person tried starting fluid due to bad injectors)

Head gasket kits with arp studs 890.00 shipped

 

[hoopty_05]

Head gasket kits with arp studs 890.00 shipped

What about without the head studs? I am now looking at an '06 LBZ long block that has a cracked piston but already has head studs. I am going to check it out and probably just replace all the pistons with LB7 pistons with new rings, hone the cylinders (if the one with the cracked piston looks ok), replace the rod bolts with ARP rod bolts, and put it all back together.

I sent you a PM. If you have time to check it out, I would be forever grateful! :thumb: