355 Fuel Injector Removal

Hey, I was just thinking of doing the exact same thing! Any tips from the pros?

John, what source are you looking at to do this?

 

Is this something that should be done every so often?

 

Yes, motor is out. Here's the best pic I could find of the fuel rail...haven't looked close yet to see how they come out. Electrical connector looks simple, not sure on the fuel rail connection.

Injectors can cause many undiagnosed problems - running rough, lean, etc. Many guys run injector cleaner through on a regular basis, but removal and clean / test is the best.
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Any recommendation on injector cleaner---I know BG has good products..

 

Congrats on making the 10k club!!! Imagine that, time to catch the bad guys AND post on Fchat, good job!

Agreed, BG is the best I've heard of. My buddy is a local distributor, he was hoping to hook the system up to the 355 and take a pic.

 

You have to unbolt the fuel rail, to remove the injectors. They come out very easily. They have an oring on them that seals the fuel from leaking. The fuel rail is what keeps them from ever coming out.

There really is no definite time to clean injectors as it will very much depend on how the car gets used and whether it is a model that is sensitive to the problem, which 355's are not.

But.............I will be removing my injectors every major service, every 5 years. September this year for me.
I would recommend everyone who has their engine out to do so also. Cost is small to have your injectors working as efficient as possible. It does not take much to get dirty injectors. Injectors become clogged with fuel residues (something similar to varnish) due to the evaporation of fuel in the injector nozzle when the engine has been stopped. Every time you stop a hot engine, (and I am sure ALL Ferrari engines are hot after we drive them ) small amounts of residue adds to the already present build up. The more frequent the stops, the more rapidly the build up accumulates. This accumulation eventually reduces the flow of fuel through the injector and disrupts its spray pattern, causing the engine to run lean ect...ect...

 

Well thanks alot PAP, just what I needed, some superb rationale to do one more thing while the engine is out. Lucky for me maintaining / upgrading the Ferrari is just as fun as driving it

 

Yes as PAP stated, the injectors do pop out.

However.

Looking at your picture, it seems that the top of the plenum is blocking the rails from coming up. So you may have to remove the the top from the throttle bodies, then you can take the injectors out.

 

Yep yep.

 

ok I couldn't resist, fuel injectors are out. As Ernie suggested, I did have to remove the intake plenum for access on both sides. To remove the plenum you need to remove the hose clamps which attach it to each throttle body (4 per side). With the clamps off a 2-piece clamp will come off allowing you to pull the plenum up and off.

With that out of the way there's 2 bolts that hold the fuel rail onto the intake. Remove those and the whole rail can lift off, injectors popping out with it. Then for each injector there's a steel clip you need to slide off, then you can pull the injector out of the fuel rail. Have rags handy, plenty of gas spills out!

Injectors are off to RC Engineering on Monday for cleaning / calibration...

 

Good post!

 

Glad to hear they came off. I figured that was the way they had to come out because, when we were putting the throttle bodies on Plugzit's 348 I remembered that was how the plenum top went on. Anyway, glad to hear you got them off.

 

Thanks, I've learned a ton from other posts so the least I can do is give a little back

 

Nice work Jay.

 

I've used Cruzin Performance a few times:

http://www.cruzinperformance.com/


I've also heard good things about WitchHunder Performance:

http://www.witchhunter.com/


I also run a bottle of Techron after a car comes out of storage.

 

Your right there! Just removed mine so thought i would add my 2 penneth.

removed water tank and taped hoses up out of way so not dripping water everywhere. removed all air intake pipes and filters.

also took engine lid off for better access.

that gives you access to the clips on inside under plenum. don't drop the bolt, but it take out so you can remove the clip entirely, this, as has been said, gives you access to 2 horseshoe shaped clips on each one, a screwdriver under an edge enables you to lever these off and hold tight as you feed it round to remove them.

this allows you to lift the plenum, up but not remove it. i then safely took off rubber seals and stuff a bit of paper towel into air intakes above the butterfly to keep clean.

what i couldn't figure is removing the pipes from the other side under the plenum. I did start to think I needed to separate plenum halves, but it turns out these are just push on hoses, so a gentle lever off worked.

how we had access to the fuel rail, just held by the 2 bolts, rather tightly.

i also made sure i numbered all the pipes and connections just in case they are not so obvious which goes where in a weeks time!

fuel rail now lifts up with the injectors coming out of the intake end. easy enough, i left fuel pipes on it. and with wiggling the back injector that came out and allowed me to drain fuel into a jar. dont lever them, wiggle is best.

now to send them off for that clean and then put it all back together again!

ill spend a bit of time cleaning up air intake, butterfly area whilst in there as well.

 

Just come back from cleaning. I used these guys having seen the equipment at autosport show and was impressed with it. http://www.injectorcleaning.co.uk/index.htm
service was excellent, back in post 2 days after i sent them. Takes longer to get them back in the car!
Results below, all mine were good, but flow rates increased.
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Interesting stuff Andrew!

How did they increase CC?

 

Got a clean them, usually in an ultrasonic bath...multiple times. Then flow test and reclean if required.

Here is one place that describes their process:
http://www.witchhunter.com/process2.php4

 

Holy crap!!!

Papster used to post MORE than one-word sentences??????



I'm speechless....

 

INDEED.... Early onset carpal tunnel set in somewhere around post #25,000 ---- Alas, poor chap

Now, the tip of PAP's nose is starting to become calloused from repeated keyboard pecking......so, he may have to resort to single-syllable words only

Joking of course ---- LUV 'YA PAP !!!

 

and new filters. That can be issue with adding cleaners, any crap from fuel system goes straight into those micro fine filters.