I recently had to replace the injector seals on my backup 2007 Audi A6 4F. Here’s how it all started: the car began experiencing a performance loss that I had never encountered before. When I stepped on the gas, the vehicle’s response was sluggish. Initially, I didn’t think much of it, but when I heard a hissing sound (like air escaping) from the engine, I knew it was serious and decided to take action.
Upon opening the hood, I noticed oil leakage around the injector housings. To understand the cause, I grabbed my toolkit and got to work. The first step was removing the coolant reservoir, which gave me a clearer view of the problem. Next, I labeled the electrical connectors and hoses, then disconnected them starting with the electrical plugs, followed by the metal hoses.
To access the injectors, I removed the three caps on the upper cover where the injectors enter the engine. Carefully, I detached the tensioning mechanism holding the injectors in place (be cautious not to drop any nuts into the engine!). The middle injector was in my hand, and it was in terrible shape. The copper seal looked deformed, almost worm-like. The injector itself was no longer shiny; it had lost its integrity due to pressure from the piston chamber, causing unburnt or partially burnt fuel to be ejected forcefully.
I promptly ordered six sets of three-piece seals (each injector requires three seals) and began the repair process.
Using a felt pad attached to a cordless drill with a threaded rod, four nuts, and two washers, I cleaned the part of the engine block where the injectors sit.
For this cleaning, I used synthetic thinner, which worked wonders, leaving everything sparkling clean.
With a Dremel tool, I carefully cleaned the injectors without damaging them and installed the new seals. I reinserted the middle injector without any issues, but when I moved on to the left and right injectors, things didn’t go as smoothly. Despite my efforts, I couldn’t remove them. Fortunately, a friend lent me a puller tool designed for this purpose, and the next day, I managed to extract the remaining injectors without any problems.
I was lucky that the nuts holding the injector tensioners came off easily, likely because they were located inside the oil chamber, providing some lubrication.
After thoroughly cleaning all the injectors and their housings, I reinstalled them. Initially, the car struggled to start (due to the fuel lines being empty), but on the second attempt, it fired up smoothly. There were no more unusual sounds, and I took it for a quick performance test. The car drove as quietly and powerfully as it did when I first bought it.
I wanted to share this experience with you. If you have any technical questions or issues with your engine, regardless of the make and model of your vehicle, feel free to reach out to us. We aim to respond quickly and help you save on repair costs by providing the guidance you need.