Overheard a foreman say something about injector cups and it clicked

I was at a shop in Nashville last week grabbing parts and this old foreman was on the phone chewing someone out about not cleaning injector cups right before seating them. He said "you're just asking for a comeback in 500 miles" and hung up. That stuck with me because I've had two jobs in the last 6 months where I had to pull injectors again on a 6.0 Powerstroke after the customer brought it back. Turns out I was getting lazy with the solvent wipe and not using a brass brush to really dig into the cup. Now I spend an extra 5 minutes per cylinder on that step and it's saved my tail. Anyone else had a comeback traced back to a simple prep mistake like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant_hart1mo ago

That line about "asking for a comeback in 500 miles" really hit me too man. I used to think a quick wipe with brake clean was good enough, I didn't buy into all the prep work hype. Then I had a 6.0 come back with a miss at idle like two months after I did injectors, customer was pissed. Pulled the driver side and found a tiny burr on the cup I missed, caused a bad seal. Now I'm with you, I take a brass brush and a mirror to every cup before seating anything, it's worth those extra minutes.

bennett.noah1mo ago

That "tiny burr" you found with the mirror makes me wonder, did you feel it with your finger first or just spot it visually?

oscar_ellis1mo ago

My cousin spent three hours once with a dental mirror and a pick on a 7.3, found four burrs he'd have missed otherwise. Makes you wonder how many times we've all just gotten lucky, right? Grant Hart's story about that 6.0 is exactly the kind of cautionary tale that sticks with you.