Worst week ever - 3 blown injectors in 5 days on a fleet truck

Last month I had a week that almost made me quit. Monday morning a 2015 Freightliner rolled in with a rough idle, turned out to be a bad injector on cylinder 4. Wednesday the same truck came back with another injector shot on cylinder 2. By Friday the driver called me from the side of I-35 saying cylinder 6 just let go. Three injectors in one week on the same engine, all different cylinders. I pulled the fuel sample and found water and debris, turns out the fuel cap seal was cracked and letting crap in. Anyone else had a run of bad luck like that where one small thing causes a domino effect?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_jenkins28d ago

Man, does your luck come with a warranty or something? Three injectors in five days sounds like the universe just decided to test you. I had a similar run a few years back on an old Pete, swapped an injector and then had two more fail in the next week. Turned out I'd cross-threaded the fuel return line on the first one, sent metal shavings through the whole rail. Felt like a complete idiot, but at least I learned to double check everything before I button it up. Your cracked cap story is just a kick in the teeth, water in fuel is a nightmare you don't forget. Hope that coolant flush and fuel system cleaning didn't bankrupt you, because I swear those repairs are great at making a paycheck disappear.

fiona_lane28d ago

That bit about the cross-threaded fuel return line sending shavings through the whole rail, man that's a gut punch. You think you're fixing one problem and end up creating a bigger one, I've been there more times than I care to remember. These things really do teach you to slow down and check every little thing, but it's a hard lesson when it's your own wallet taking the hit.

paulm953d ago

Wait, you're telling me that cracked fuel cap caused all three? I read somewhere that water contamination can wreck injectors in like 50 miles if it's bad enough.