[starspangled6.0]

So during my DPF delete kit installation, I noticed that the #3 injector had quite literally melted. The plastic housing has gone to goop, and there's soot spraying (or has sprayed, and the melting has plugged the hole) onto the fuel rails and engine cover.

Does anyone know if GM will cover this under warranty? My car still has 45,000 left on the powertrain warranty. I know they'll give me crap for the delete, but pictures I took show the injector and stock DPF setup before the delete was installed. My theory is that the excessive heat from the DPF melted it, but we'll have to see. I haven't noticed a lack of power or economy, but if there's a pressure leak in that cylinder, than it definitely is a major issue.

 

[Snipesy]

Most likely leaking and catching fire. Very dangerous.

I'm serious. Get it towed. Don't drive or it could get really bad.

 

[obermd]

GM probably would have covered it had you not gone ahead and done the DPF delete. You saw the problem before you modded your car so why did you do the mod before getting the problem fixed?

 

[MP81]

To me, it should be viewed as a separate issue. You have pictures on the same day as doing the delete to prove it existed before, if they give you any ****. That should be covered by the 100k PT warranty.

 

[ChevyGuy]

To me, it should be viewed as a separate issue. You have pictures on the same day as doing the delete to prove it existed before, if they give you any ****. That should be covered by the 100k PT warranty.

In the end, yes. But that doesn't mean it won't be a major struggle getting there. And perhaps more costly than it is worth.

I'd give thought to unmodding the car and taking it to the dealer.

 

[MP81]

I'd give thought to unmodding the car and taking it to the dealer.

It would certainly make it much easier.

 

[money_man]

Yup. Unmodify the car and take it in. Don't need more headache for no reason.

 

[Tomko]

I'm guessing it was compromised during a manual regen.

How many manual regens has it had - and were they always performed by an authorized dealer?

 

[justin13703]

If you're taking it in to the dealer, definitely put it back to stock. Once they see that delete, they're gonna make a note of it and they know about it permanently. It doesn't matter if you show them pictures of it the same day as the install. First of all, they don't know when you did the delete, and even if you prove that you took the pictures the same day, they will just say that it happened when you drive it after the delete. One of the things about doing a delete, is you may have to pretty much kiss the remainder of your warranty goodbye.

So if I were you, I would weigh whether it is better for you to remove the delete and try to get them to cover it, or just buy a new injector out of pocket for 200 dollars. But I definitely would not be taking the car to the dealer with a delete on it.

 

[starspangled6.0]

So I've done a little more digging, both visually and with the scan tools.

Yes, absolutely, the mods now on the car will cause a headache for me down the road if I were to take this in to the dealership. However, I'm leaning more towards the possibility that something fell into the injector hole, was resting on the engine block (or is that the intake manifold?), and subsequently melted. What's melted and the injector itself seem to be two very different materials. There is a thick section of padding between the engine cover and the engine, and it's possible that a chunk of that foam fell off and into the injector housing. I'm not seeing any fresh signs of smoke, soot, or fuel. Given more time, I believe that I'll chip away at the entire mess to remove it and see if the injector is affected.

Also, the balance rates for cylinders 1-4 are all within 1-2 of each other (not entirely sure what they're measuring). I remember during my Duramax days that the word on the street was even if your fuel balance rates were out of factory spec, they really weren't anything to worry about unless you saw one or two injectors running 4-8 units ahead or behind the other injectors.

Will report back after I clean out that crap when I get the time to do so. The last time it had a manual regen would have been when I had that bad NOX sensor replaced this fall by the local dealership under warranty.

 

[Chris Tobin]

So I've done a little more digging, both visually and with the scan tools.

Yes, absolutely, the mods now on the car will cause a headache for me down the road if I were to take this in to the dealership. However, I'm leaning more towards the possibility that something fell into the injector hole, was resting on the engine block (or is that the intake manifold?), and subsequently melted. What's melted and the injector itself seem to be two very different materials. There is a thick section of padding between the engine cover and the engine, and it's possible that a chunk of that foam fell off and into the injector housing. I'm not seeing any fresh signs of smoke, soot, or fuel. Given more time, I believe that I'll chip away at the entire mess to remove it and see if the injector is affected.

Also, the balance rates for cylinders 1-4 are all within 1-2 of each other (not entirely sure what they're measuring). I remember during my Duramax days that the word on the street was even if your fuel balance rates were out of factory spec, they really weren't anything to worry about unless you saw one or two injectors running 4-8 units ahead or behind the other injectors.

Will report back after I clean out that crap when I get the time to do so. The last time it had a manual regen would have been when I had that bad NOX sensor replaced this fall by the local dealership under warranty.

That would make more sense to me as the connector and harness look fine in that photo you posted. Can you see any missing/loose/burned insulation on the engine cover?

 

[starspangled6.0]

I didn't see anything missing from that padding today, but I'll check again. Of course it's plausible that the injector housing itself cooked and formed that black goo, but I fail to see any performance issues at all. Melting foam or plastic would have caused the same black sooty matter to cover the fuel rails, too.

Given that the car did have warranty work done by the previous owner- heck, he never even did an oil change by himself- I can only guess what kind of mechanics have been working on the car up till now, and what they could have dropped onto the top of the motor during work.

 

[Snipesy]

Have someone Rev it while you observe? Although I'm not sure you will build enough pressure without some sort of load. Max pressure is 160 MPa exactly. Or about 23kpsi.

 

[diesel]

I didn't see anything missing from that padding today, but I'll check again. Of course it's plausible that the injector housing itself cooked and formed that black goo, but I fail to see any performance issues at all. Melting foam or plastic would have caused the same black sooty matter to cover the fuel rails, too.

Given that the car did have warranty work done by the previous owner- heck, he never even did an oil change by himself- I can only guess what kind of mechanics have been working on the car up till now, and what they could have dropped onto the top of the motor during work.

You just answered one question i was going to ask about whether you bought it new or not. God only knows what happened to it before you got it.

 

[ChevyGuy]

Whatever is going on, I'd figure it out ASAP. Melty fuel parts is nothing to fool with. If you need convincing, go watch a few car fires on YouTube. If you don't think it can happen to diesel, go look for truck fires. Apparently there's enough plastic under the hood these fires never self-extinguish on shutdown. By the time the FD shows up, the car is totaled.

If you're going to be proven wrong, it's better to have taken this too seriously than not serious enough.

 

[MP81]

Diesel doesn't usually ignite too easily, unless temps are high.

...or the fuel is incredibly highly pressurized and atomized, which is exactly what it is right there. And with the turbo being nearby - yeah, that could be real sketchy.

 

[EricSmit]

Have you pulled the injector?

 

[starspangled6.0]

Haven't pulled it yet. I understand the risks involved, but after closer inspection yesterday, it began to appear that it was foreign matter that had melted, and not the injector itself. I will chip away at all that melted crud to see what's really going on in a few days.

 

[EricSmit]

Fair enough.

 

[starspangled6.0]

False alarm on this one. I scraped away the rest of the crud surrounding the injector, and it appears to be either from a very cheap plastic or the foam pad on top of the fuel rails. I still can't find exactly where it came from, but that injector was fully intact and had no signs of wear.