Hi Brains Trust,
All injectors and fuel rail are out of the car currently as I go about replacing all of the rubber fuel lines. Just before I started this project my V12 started to miss on one cylinder on the A bank. I am going through a full renewal with new spark plugs, HT leads, distributor cap, rotor and renewing the injectors with new filters, pintle caps, rubber O rings, etc, via the Mr Injector kit. So my local Jaguar mechanic has recommended I give all of my injectors to him to clean, which I assume is a sonic clean? It's $35 per injector and I have 14 (as I have the 2 cold start injectors as well on my HE engine). Do people recommend doing this clean, or just get the injectors back into the car and seeing if the new plugs, HT leads, Disti cap and rotor have fixed the miss issue? I've had the car for a year and it was running beautifully up into the miss developed.
I have a receipt for the injectors being cleaned by Graham Lord (good reputation here in Australia) back in 2008 and 50,000 km ago. Plugs were all previously changed in 2018 and 5,000km ago.
Pics of the plugs that I pulled out and the injectors as they now look (pre cleaning). Interested in people's opinions, please...

12x BP6EFS spark plugs (5,00km from new)

12x fuel injectors & 2x cold start injectors

 

Plugs look consistent with a rarely used V12, kind of normal these days.

BUT

That plug in the snap, 2nd from the bottom, RH side, looks like a crack in the porcelain, or its my one eye doing what it does best??

Injectors, no comment, we talked about this the other night, and I will leave it at that.

 

Get the injectors cleaned say I; what is the point of doing all that refurb work and not being certain the bit that actually squirts in the fuel is working properly?
If you search for home injector cleaning or similar on here, Orangeblossom's posts, you will see how to make your own cleaning and test rig.
The bottom two plugs look far too rich-burning. But as Grant says; if you do not properly thrash a V12 to the red line every time it is warmed up it will not work as it should.

 

Remember Greg, Adam's car is a manual, so to Redline it and HANG ON, he would be out of Victoria is a heart beat.

 

Cleaning the Injectors and Removing the Spark Plugs XJS V12

 

Grant, Greg, Doug (Brain Trust - I like that),

In the pictures of Adam's injectors you can see the pins extended.

I am going thru the same refurbishment on my car. On my injectors when they came out of the car the injector pins were extended as well. At some point they retracted back flush with the metal pintel (the water wasn't cold). I tried using a 9V battery on the EFI leads to see if that would make them extend again. It did not, however I could hear a distinct 'click click' when I touched the wire to the EFI.

Do those pins have to be extended? If so any suggestions on what to try next?

 

I have both an Autool CT150 injector cleaner/flow tester and an ultrasonic bath.
You’re welcome to borrow or purchase either or both.
I’m in northern suburbs of Sydney. Lindsay

 

Hi Lindsay, thanks very much, but I'm in Melbourne and probably not quite at the "do it yourself" injector cleaning stage yet.
Going to take a gamble after Grant's keen eye spot, (please read the other post if you're interested).

 

Hey Grant, I can't fault your eyes mate. I didn't even notice the cracked porcelain on Plug 5A (and I've held them all multiple times). Attached a pic of it after checking it closer this morning. Perhaps it already had a hairline and that's why I was down one cylinder on A bank? Perhaps I cracked it more getting it out? Going to take a punt and get the fuel rail back together (with new filters, pintle caps, rubbers, etc) and back on the car as is. I'm not sending the injectors for cleaning as it is a $400+ job and I could use that on other parts. If the worst happens, and I still have a miss after new plugs, HT leads, disti cap, rotor and parts replacement for the injectors (where I think a couple of the pintle caps were cracked as well) then I will chock it up to "learning" and fork out the cash for the injectors to be cleaned.

 

Beer O'Clock Adam.

Most likely cracked going IN, and usually from lack of Anti Seize on the threads, and just that extra oomph some people simply MUST DO.

 

Honour is due, Grant. Honour is due.

 

HA, we oldies are still waaay ahead of the younguns.

Those that will listen, will take our place, and our V12's, when the time comes. The rest will be banished to their Tesla type "thingies".

 

Hi Brains Trust,
OK, so the fuel rail has new rubber pipes, each injector has new filter, pintle cap and O-rings, and I'm going to refit to the car.
Trying to get 12 injectors into their home positions is a bit of a task. What's the trick? Start at the front with injectors 1A and 1B and work back or start from the rear with 6A and 6B and work to the front?
I could really use some guidance in seating the injectors and harness, please.
Thank you,
Adam

 

You need a second, if not third person to help!

 

Does the Autool CT150 work with hose feed injectors? I have been thinking about buying it, but haven't seen any mention of it working with the hose feed.
Thank you

 

Hi folks,
Slowly but surely, I'm getting the XJ-SC sorted. Today I got the injector rail back on the car. 14 injectors, not 12, as I have 2x cold start injectors on my 1985 car.
With only 1 pair of hands it took a fair while to get the injector rail and injectors seated. I noticed that with the new rubber o-rings on the injectors, getting then fully seated was a bit tough.
The 12 metal injector holders were all sitting proud of the bolt holes on the intake manifolds, so had to do a bit of wiggling, coaxing, and ensuring that every injector was seated correctly.
I ended up starting with 1A and 1B by getting a split washer and nut on just finger tight. Then I just worked 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, etc until I had all 12 on and nuts finger tight.
I assume I need to do a bit of a tighten up after a few days / weeks of use as the rubber o-rings squash down.
Next weekend I should have the fuel lines reconnected, throttle linkages on, cruise bellows and vacuum pipes done.
Then with fire extinguisher handy, I will switch her on (not start) and first check for leaks.
Wish me luck!

 

Hi Brains Trust,
Today I got the rest of the fuel hose connections, cruise control bellows and the rest of the ancillaries connected.
Switched on the car, let the fuel pressure build, checked for leaks on all of the injectors and fuel lines.
Then when I was satisfied that everything in the engine bay seemed OK, I tried starting her.
Took about 10 seconds and then she came to life. Idling sweetly on all 12 cylinders.
So, @Grant Francis spotted the cracked spark plug before I did, just from a pic I posted.
Grant, thanks very much mate!
I'll retighten bolts and check fuel line connections in a few days, but so far, she is running beautifully.
Thank you again Brains Trust, I really appreciated all of your support and advise to get this job done.
Regards, Adam

 

Well done Adam.

SIMPLE cars these V12's, once you get rid of Freddie.

Drive it, enjoy it daily.