Is it normal for the fuel injectors to be able to move up and down slightly once the fuel rail is tightened? I'm talking like 1/8" or 1/16". It's almost like the two black plastic supports/spacers under the fuel rails are too tall. If I tighten those bolts any more they are going to snap off or strip!

I have replaced all six fuel injectors on my 97 T4R and they just continue to leak. They came with new o-rings installed. I cleaned sockets before I put the injectors in. I have now removed and reseated them three times but still not fixed it. Each time got a little bit better but I can still smell a faint bit of gas.

What am I missing here...?

In addition to the o-rings there should be a seal - a rubber ring - where the injector seats on the manifold. This would account for a 1/8-1/16" gap.

No, there should absolutely be no vertical play. The FSM states that before torquing down the fuel rail they should be able to rotate horizontally freely (means the o-rings are seated correctly) but should NOT be able to move up and down.

I agree with the poster above, something's wrong with your o-rings. By chance, are the old orings still stuck in the top of the intake manifold in any of the holes and you're doubling up? They tend to stick and not want to come out when you remove the injectors.

Easy way to check is to look at the old injectors you pulled out. Should have all 6 of the large o-rings, 18 total if you count the thin ones.

Mine definitely had two o-rings and the rubber insulator on each one, and the old o-rings were out and I even swabbed out the orifices.

The instructions I had were to use light oil... I used 5W30 engine oil... but I guess that's a bad thing because I found this in another mention in the FSM:

"Coat a new O-ring with spindle oil or gasoline before
installing-never use engine, gear or brake oil."

I guess I'll be getting new o-rings now...

Are you using a torque wrench? Maybe the fuel rails are not torqued down hard enough.

Something isn't right, here. Do you still have the old injectors? Have you carefully compared the diameters, top and bottom, and the length of the injector assembly? There should be no up and down play. At all.

Using a dab of engine oil really shouldn't be a huge problem. Some folks use anything from aerosol silicone spray to vaseline or sil-glyde. Some use nothing at all. Still others spit on the o-rings and pop them in. As long as you use a thin film and don't get sloppy this shouldn't make a difference.

Are you trying injectors out of a newer model, I think the 98, or 99 and up have a different injector that's shorter, and may have a different diameter at the rail I'm not sure. Also these injector o rings are really easy to pinch/roll, I always lube them good and have a couple extra just in case.

I usually use vaseline to coat mine. Never had problem one.

I use an oring-specific lube made by Parker called "O Lube". If the old injectors are not already gone with the garbage man, I'd do some side by side comparisons. I know older Honda fuel injectors used different "insulators" (spacers) depending on what engine they were going on. All replacements included both thicknesses.

Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't the 97 use the "green" injectors? They are shaped differently than the brown ones in the 99 and later models.

As for the fuel rails, I noticed when recently changing mine that the metal center of the black spacer has to "seat" into the rail.

The third image in this post shows the central raised portion that I am thinking about.

A very basic how-to: Removing the Intake Manifold

Might be nothing...but at least something to check.

Yes, they are a different design. However, I run injectors that are smaller than the green/grey tops (brown Lexus tops) and was able to torque down the rail to spec with no leaks so using a slightly taller or shorter injector shouldn't be an issue as it was not for me.

I'm sure other injectors would work, I only mentioned the difference because of the posted image.

I was mainly suggesting to check that the rails are seated properly on the spacers.

I traced the problem down to ONE remanufactured off-spec fuel injector. I purchased four Autoline brand injectors (red o-rings) and two B?? brand injectors. One of the non-Autoline injectors leaked wherever I put it. Took me a while to figure that out. Once I figured out that I could just leave the intake plenum off and leave the injectors exposed - while cranking the engine over for a few seconds to find the leak - it sped things up considerably. So... I narrowed it down to the one injector and then returned it and got another one, which was the same B?? brand. It also leaked wherever I put it! It looked the same as the Autoline injectors, but it leaked too. Returned it asap and ordered another Autoline injector in, which I promptly installed and I have not had another problem. What a giant PITA this was! Glad it's done. Now on to other issues!!

Praying they last Injectors are such a critical engine part and aftermarket parts don't have the same longevity as OEM. I thought you were installing reman'd DENSO injectors.

How much are reman'd Densos? Toyota wanted almost $200 for one.