Aftermarket Fuel Injectors

[Pot Hole]

Many 4Runner owners are replacing their fuel injectors to eliminate the misfire codes that plague some of the higher mileage vehicles. My son's 4runner has burped the P0300 Code and after replacing some of the easier stuff (spark plugs and wires, coil packs) my mechanic has recommended replacing all six injectors while we have everything torn down. My son's 4Runner is a 2000 Limited with 170,000 miles on it. He has two more years of college and then I'm sure he will sell it and get something else. Toyota wants $125+ for their injectors, but the internet is flooded with rebuilt/re-manufactured injectors for considerably less - many of which are Denso injectors which is what Toyota uses I believe.

My question is, for those of you that have replaced your injectors with rebuilt/re-manufactured injectors, have you had good luck with them and did your CEL codes go away? I've thought about ordering a set from Rock Auto, but I want to get a reasonably priced set that where all have been tested for consistent output. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Buckaroo]

At 235,000 miles, I sent all 6 injectors to WitchHunter Performance - WitchHunter Performance - Injector Cleaning & Flow Testing Services. Check out the website and note the comment on counterfeit injectors - you can search that topic on this forum and find lots of discussion. WitchHunter tested them all, rebuilt 5 ($110) and replaced the sixth with an OEM one that he had rebuilt which matched the flow rate of the others ($35). High quality and very cost effective.

FYI...Denso not OEM manufacturer....I think it's Altrom (?).....

Buckaroo

 

[JayRolla]

Do like stated above. Most likely only one has failed. Go OEM only on the replacements.

If you get a mechanics stethoscope you can listen to each injector. They click when firing. If you dont hear anything replace that injector.

 

[pauldub]

I wouldn't expect a bad injector to give you a random misfire code but a cylinder specific code instead. Sounds like your mechanic may be throwing parts at it.

 

[Pot Hole]

Do like stated above. Most likely only one has failed. Go OEM only on the replacements.

If you get a mechanics stethoscope you can listen to each injector. They click when firing. If you dont hear anything replace that injector.

But what if it is not a firing problem, but a leaking injector? The crappy gas we have these days wears injectors out and they leak into the cylinder. I would think the only way you could tell that is by replacing (or rebuilding) them all. Am I thinking all wrong about this???

 

[pauldub]

If you want to get locked in on it being an injector problem, you can pull them out and do some rudementary tests on them with a hand operated vacuum pump to see if they are leaking. I think it's unlikely to instantly have multiple bad injectors as opposed to a single bad injector. A single bad injector should give you a misfire code for an individual cylinder; i.e., 0301, 0302....

 

[12BYotaFan]

I replaced all six of mine recently. I had had a slow loss of power/pull over the course of about 5 months. Then i started getting random misfires on every couple of start ups. Sometimes really bad, sometimes just for a few moments, but a tap of the throttle would make them stop.

I yanked the intake and replaced all 6 on a nice weekend in early february. My Cyl5 injector tested at about 160ohms (from the 13-15 its supposed to), and I had two more that were ohming out around the 30ohm mark.

I bought all 6, brand new from FiveO motorsports. It was the best price I could find, and not much more than sending my originals for cleaning and rebuild, and included the O-rings. I spent a few days searching the web and it was the best price I could find. My dad swapped an injector in my sister 97 last summer, and he paid $138 for it through the toyota parts counter.

Forgot to add, I was at 215k when I swapped. Started having some noticeable stumbling, but no codes, at around 209k.

Now Im running up hills at 70-75 that I was struggling to manage 55 before, and Im up about 1/2-3/4 mpg ever since (with my heavy right foot).

 

[nobb]

I wouldn't expect a bad injector to give you a random misfire code but a cylinder specific code instead. Sounds like your mechanic may be throwing parts at it.

I diagnosed a misfire on a Ford recently and one bad cylinder does indeed give a random misfire code. However, it has to exceed a certain threshold before it trips a Check Engine Light. Therefore you can have a very slight misfire that never triggers a CEL. With Ford, there is an extended PID within the OBD stream called Mode $06 that allows you to see exactly how many times each cylinder has misfired, so you can focus your attention to the right one. Not sure if Toyota has a similar extended OBD PIDs like other manufacturers (Ford, GM, Hyundai, etc...)?

 

[Pot Hole]

If you want to get locked in on it being an injector problem, you can pull them out and do some rudementary tests on them with a hand operated vacuum pump to see if they are leaking. I think it's unlikely to instantly have multiple bad injectors as opposed to a single bad injector. A single bad injector should give you a misfire code for an individual cylinder; i.e., 0301, 0302....

I don't think we are locked in that all the injectors have gone bad. However, once you go through the process of pulling everything off that you need to so you can access the fuel rail, it makes sense to go ahead and replace them all while your in there.

 

[3bears]

I don't think we are locked in that all the injectors have gone bad. However, once you go through the process of pulling everything off that you need to so you can access the fuel rail, it makes sense to go ahead and replace them all while your in there.

I agree, I hate doing things twice, If I had one going bad, and had high miles, I would look into replacing all of them.

 

[Pot Hole]

This discussion has wandered away from my original question, for those folks that did a complete fuel injector replacement using aftermarket (reman/refurbished) injectors, which ones did you buy and do they seem to be working OK? It's nice to have some first hand experience from someone before purchasing.