I’ll be honest, I was skeptical but tried it out. One of them wasn’t clicking. Swapped it out and BOOM!! 92 Cadillac Coupe is smooth again. Thanks bro!!!
I enjoy how you figured out that you could place the camera against the screwdriver so the audience could actually hear the clicking. Simple detail with a large effect. Well done.
Literally all I'm here for. I'm troubleshooting a cranks, coils good and spark, no start motor and have never done the listen test. Wires and injectors are very hard to access for removal. MIIIIGHT be a wiring issue elsewhere. What to do? I stuff the stethoscope in there and listened -but- guess what? I've never done this before and don't know what it's supposed to sound like. Now I do! Saved me a lot of digging.
@@gregorymalchuk272 Yep. Injector Sub harness has its own ground ring to frame. An out of the way, easy to overlook coolant reservoir mounting bolt secures it. Bolt had backed way out causing intermittent no injectors that sometimes would get bumped back into working when I was looking elsewhere jostling things. Runs amazing again and I know a lot more about that machine than before.
Great videos. I am a mechanic and machinist and its really good to see youngbloods doing it right and doing it for themselves. Also the diagnosis progression you show is really nice too. This is not something you will ever get from a dealer.
Tested the injectors on a silider that's not working, it seemed to click louder and with less frequency than the others, but consistently. The cilinder on that one misfires for sure, may be thats the reason the injectors clicks sound louder but injectors click consistently ..
@vr irregular firing compared to the others is still bad, the coil inside might have high resistance or be damaged to the point that the electrical pulses and thusly the mag field aren't being applied as they should to the injector.
OUTSTANDING VIDEO. I already knew how injectors function, yet I have to give you a lot of praise for going the extra mile and showing people the cross section of an injector with the solenoid.
you are a natural teacher, caue you're clear and think it through, and explain it that way, from a laymans perspective, rather than assume people already know all about it and you drown them in technical terminology.
That is just brilliant. I did leak off test on my diesel injectors and it looked good. Tried this method (had to figure it out myself...) and one wasn't clicking!!
Love your simple and direct how to's man. Ive been wrenching for years and youre by far the best instructional ive found! Keep up the gopd work and thanks again
Thank you for the clear and simple way of explaining without leaving out any details . I enjoy all your videos and often learn as I am new to this 😎 muchas gracias señor Chris .
Was looking for fuel injector videos for my 89 ranger with the 2.9 all over TH-cam... Should have known better and just went straight to your page. Thanks for all the content Chris!
ive used this method too, listening to engine sounds especially on the timing chain part and bearings about to get worn out! its helps a lot of money and time before removing anything or buying some parts that might be the issue but turns out its not.Great video Chris!
I've done this and the problem I typically see is the sound from other injectors travel down the rail and you can't tell if the injector is bad or not. I think a better way in addition to an Ohms test is switch the injector from one port to another than run a code test for that cylinder and see if you get a misfire for that cylinder.
Yo, I just did this on my VW jetta 2015. Worked great. Thank you. Had EPC / engine light (sometimes flashing) power loss, bad fuel economy, even smelled like gas sometimes, rough idle, shaking engine etc . OBD said p0304. Recently changed spark plugs, changed coil pack a year or two ago, new battery. Tried fuel injection cleaner, guy at Oreilly said it it should clear up after driving around a bit. Seemed fishy, looked up online and they ranged anywhere from 100-1000 miles or a few tanks of gas before the injector cleans itself (it didnt). Anyway, I swapped plug 1 and 4, still showed misfire. Pretty sure it was fuel injector and this test showed no clicking on 4. Now, I have to see if I can fix it myself. :) Thanks, again.
Holy crap this saved me!...... tried this on my boat motor and found a bad injector!!! Swapped it out and now engine runs smooth as silk....... happy as a pig in mud now!
Hey thanks man! Excellent video! I had hesitation AND a hard start (two cranks) in my 1999 Jeep Cherokee. The hard start was due to a failing fuel pump (bad check valve and fuel pressure regulator). The hesitation and bad idle were from a failed injector. 'Preciate it man.
Hey Chris I've been watching your video since a while. They are very informative and helpful. One request, can you please upload more videos on engines?
Yea that’s my question that’s what I want to test for my mustangs been missifiring Kathy after letting it it run on empty tank I think the crap got in a few injectors. How would we test for that because hey we all know everyone’s will works it’s just telling a diff from a clog to a bad one is the question
I'm glad I'm not the only one that knows this trick. I have won lots of money from people that don't believe you can do this with a screwdriver. Lol That screwdriver comes in handy for alot more things that most people don't even know.
You can hear most anything inside anything with moving parts diagnosis them to a Point, alternator, water pump, tensioner pully etc. Discerning the noises is done with experience hands on logic and common sense. Good luck
Nice trick. Done this with a thin pipe to check water pumps, power steering and knocking lifter. Why I never thought of doing it for injectors is crazy to me.. lol
You r the mutha...man. thanks for all ur videos. 97 4runner driving me nuts. Misfire on a cylinder. Figured change the plugs ,wires and coils since it has 160k miles. Ran beautiful for 2 days and then same 304 code. Checked your other video on how to check the resistance. Some homework today. Thank you
This helped out a lot thanks man! I was in a bind with 2 options wrong with my car, bad cylinder or bad fuel injector. Did this test and found it's the injector! I'll be sure to buy new ones ASAP.
Hey thanks. Just bought a 2010 V6 chevy camaro LLT RS So far i replaced the oil filter, air filter, oil change, sprayed the sensor with intake cleaner, rest the computer by disconnect the battery to reprogram the computer. Car is showing no more check engine light thus far but noticed that clicking noise that you just described. I was hoping it's the sprak plugs because i am going to chsnge them soon anyways. I possibly need that a new fuel injector, currently everything is closed for Christmas. Wish me luck! It's a upgrade compared to the 2002 mustang v6 srs i was driving. It was a good car for learning experience in my opinion.
When I first saw my dad use a metal pry bar to listen to the engine I thought he was crazy lol Now I use this technique to check several moving internal engine parts to hear if they are running correctly.👍
I fi#@ing love you I have been a mechanic my whole life and never thought to try to listen to my injectors hell didn't even think I'd be able to hear them you just saved me a lot of time and money I was about to chalk it up to bad head gaskets or collapsed lifter
MAKE SURE YOU UNPLUG (and then replug) THE INJECTORS (one at a time while the car is running) to make SURE they are NOT Clogged!!! The screwdriver test will ONLY let you know if they are FIRING, not if they are delivering FUEL! I've been struggling to diagnose my car's misfire for about a month now and I dismissed my fuel injectors as the cause because this method worked great -- I could hear each injector firing exactly like in the video -- HOWEVER, 2 out of 4 of my injectors were *clogged! I only tried it because I read in these comments where someone suggested doing so, now I can finally fix and drive my car again. When you unplug it, the car should dramatically lose power, start to stutter and stumble, then you will know the injector is working properly, so plug it back it in and try the next one. By doing this, I was able to find the two injectors responsible for my car's problems.
Thanks for this! I figured I had a leaking injector but couldn't figure out how to prove it. This worked great.... Thing sprays like a garden hose! #2 on a 2006 Ford Expedition 5.4l.
This is a great trick i learned a few vehicles back, Harbor Freight sells a cheap ass tool i bought that looks like a doctors stethoscope to do the exact same thing, didn't really need it but great to have if i ever do.
After watching your other video, I found my defective injector with a multimeter. The bad one read 193 ohms whereas the other two that were accessible read 14 ohms. Plan to replace all 6 because of the labor involved. Don't wanna do this twice. DTC was P0304.
You don't necessarily need to do the screw driver trick against your ear you can also rest your chin against the screw driver handle and "hear" just as well through the vibrations it causes in your jaw and entire skull. Sometimes you can actually hear things better that way because the vibrations cause more stuff to jiggle than just the area around your ear. Chinning it is actually, partially, a guitar player trick we use to tune guitars by ear. Not just an old school mechanic's trick...but being told to do that by a mechanic is how I started doing it with instruments and you won't believe how much better you can hear things doing it until you try it!
With that screw driver test you also need to listen for the sound. Say you got 4 injectors and you are having a poor acceleration, or intermittent surging off and on, like a chugging type acceleration, if you hear 3 injectors sounding strong and clicking good, then when you get to the bad one it will sound very weak yet hear a weak clicking sound, and sometimes a rapid chatter takes place causing the engine to struggle and shake, that tells you the injector is going bad. I tested mine, 13.0, 13.0, 12.8, 12.7. Numbers are 1 to 4. The fourth one was 12.7 which is within resistance specs, being 0.5 but the sound was the dead give away being so weak, it cannot handle sudden load acceleration. Once you get to highway speeds, you will feel the surging effect take place. How old is the car itself is the first thing to know. So that sound must all be the same and sound good and strong. You can have a injector all within resistance specs of 0.5 as you said and I disagree, but it must match the sound with the other three. I can also hear that number 3 is sounding strong, and the resistance is below 13.0 when compared to the other two good injectors, It tells me that number 3 is getting ready to fail likewise. They should all be within 0.1 or the same. Anything more than 0.2 difference, that 0.2 is getting ready to say bye bye, while you already know that 0.3 the injector sounds weak and is causing that surging, chugging rough engine effect. Sometimes you might catch it doing the machine gun like sound, like a rapid chatter being totally abnormal on a intermittent basis If they are all good, then check the compression on all cylinders, take a look at the cap and rotor and that COIL look for signs of corrosion, and if there is a hole in the exhaust pipe loss of back pressure can screw it up, and last but not the least a Clogged fuel filter, or a fuel pump in the tank is getting weak!!!! One has to check everything besides just injectors. As to the ECM, sometimes that is the cause but its rare. MOST IMPORTANTLY, PULL OUT THE PLUG WIRE AND SEE IF THE ENGINE CHANGES RPM OR SHAKES MORE. WHEN YOU GET TO A BAD SPARK PLUG, THERE WILL BE NO CHANGES TO THE ENGINE RPM OR ITS SHAKING EFFECT. Do it one at a time Ok.. The one that does not change the RPM or changes the engine shake effect, REPLACE THAT PLUG. Cheaper to do a plug change. If that does not help suspect the spark plug wire itself. For me it turns out yes I did have a weak fuel injector, so I did the swap on the plugs to a different cylinder, retested to hear the injector, it was the same sound being weak, and then pulled out the swap plug and bingo it turns out to be the spark plug. I changed that and presto the problem was solved. Plugs do go bad INTERNALLY not showing a break on the outside or severe carbon build up. So puzzling indeed I then did another test on that bad plug and discovered sometimes the readings were good, sometimes the readings were bad on the ohms scale. Without an some means to see inside the plug itself,> besides destroying the plug, I have no idea what broke or went bad inside that plug internally. So if this does not solve your problem then read on next paragraphs. Before all this, did you recently fueled up the car. You could have gotten bad gasoline, and if not then 3 tests can be done quickly by yourself and maybe the fourth one before going to a mechanic. Take a good look at the plugs as described above paragraphs, then how old is the spark plug wires when were they ever changed, when was it the last time you changed your cap and rotor, have you ever had to replace your coil if so when, then do the compression test, must show first compression 40 psi or higher and it should climb rapidly before the 10th stroke. Then do the injectors both by screw driver first, listen to the sound of it, then if all good check the resistance, when was the last time you changed the fuel filter, you can change it yourself. Is your exhaust sound loud or not, If not > Beyond this point if the problem still continues, then you go to the mechanic to test that fuel pump, and to check to see if the ECM is functioning properly and they need to check the other items below next paragraph. Four other possibles are a bad MAP, and or a bad idle solenoid or idle air sensor. Usually these will set off the codes to the ECM or a injector wire to ECM is grounded somewhere in the harness line. If no codes are seen or light from the ECM, and no wires damaged, you missed something. Go back and restart your trouble shoot list as I said here. Good luck
I’ll be honest, I was skeptical but tried it out. One of them wasn’t clicking. Swapped it out and BOOM!! 92 Cadillac Coupe is smooth again. Thanks bro!!!
is it ok to change just one injector?
@tealmountaintrekking6141 absolutely, considering you're smart enough to track down the bad injector. Most people can't, so they replace all of them.
I enjoy how you figured out that you could place the camera against the screwdriver so the audience could actually hear the clicking. Simple detail with a large effect. Well done.
Literally all I'm here for. I'm troubleshooting a cranks, coils good and spark, no start motor and have never done the listen test. Wires and injectors are very hard to access for removal. MIIIIGHT be a wiring issue elsewhere. What to do? I stuff the stethoscope in there and listened -but- guess what? I've never done this before and don't know what it's supposed to sound like. Now I do!
Saved me a lot of digging.
@@zedex1226 Did you ever figure that out?
@@gregorymalchuk272
Yep. Injector Sub harness has its own ground ring to frame. An out of the way, easy to overlook coolant reservoir mounting bolt secures it. Bolt had backed way out causing intermittent no injectors that sometimes would get bumped back into working when I was looking elsewhere jostling things.
Runs amazing again and I know a lot more about that machine than before.
Preciate cha on 411
Great videos. I am a mechanic and machinist and its really good to see youngbloods doing it right and doing it for themselves. Also the diagnosis progression you show is really nice too. This is not something you will ever get from a dealer.
***** Thanks a lot man! I appreciate it! I try hard to get the best info out there without rambling on! Fixing cars is a lot of fun!
Hello dnl machine,
My daughter and I are trying to change fuel injectors on her 2003 Honda element.... can you help us,please?
The only thing that one is going to get from a dealer is a car with a bad injector .
Tested the injectors on a silider that's not working, it seemed to click louder and with less frequency than the others, but consistently. The cilinder on that one misfires for sure, may be thats the reason the injectors clicks sound louder but injectors click consistently ..
@vr irregular firing compared to the others is still bad, the coil inside might have high resistance or be damaged to the point that the electrical pulses and thusly the mag field aren't being applied as they should to the injector.
OUTSTANDING VIDEO. I already knew how injectors function, yet I have to give you a lot of praise for going the extra mile and showing people the cross section of an injector with the solenoid.
This was a life saver. I knew it was my fuel injectors but didn’t know how to test it, and which one. This helped out a lot. Thank you
That “mechanic’s stethoscope” can diagnose all kinds of engine problems. I have them in several different lengths. Very valuable tools!!
Changed my ignition coil since I was getting P0303 and done. No more car hesitation nor error found, thanks!
Loved the video wasnt dragged out no bs short sweet and to the point.
That's one of the best things I like about his videos, no bs and straight to the point. Plus everything is on realistic prices.
That's ChrisFix for you. He is THE BEST
AMEN brother
Ff
Yep- I subbed for that reason.
Hey Chris Fix..
Job well done, NO LIE'S, No BS, Keep up the GREAT WORK.
you are a natural teacher, caue you're clear and think it through, and explain it that way, from a laymans perspective, rather than assume people already know all about it and you drown them in technical terminology.
This is awesome. I told my husband that I heard this sound prior to him listening, he didn't believe me. You proved me right!!! boooyaaa! Thanks man!
You sound like a very pragmatic woman. I wish you were with me now to help check my fuel injectors. Well done, and I like it 👍
@@daisyb5646 she’s married dude
@@dmac2899 what is his problem 😂😂
@@dmac2899 names Daisy, looks like another woman who needs help lol
That is just brilliant. I did leak off test on my diesel injectors and it looked good. Tried this method (had to figure it out myself...) and one wasn't clicking!!
Love your simple and direct how to's man. Ive been wrenching for years and youre by far the best instructional ive found! Keep up the gopd work and thanks again
Hearing it made my day, no BS thank you for actually doing good work and teaching in a simple yet exceptional way!!! Skal
Chris, you're videos are extremely helpful, all of them. Thank you for doing what you do. Cheers brotha.
My neighbour saw me doing that , he never asked me something since then
Iaf Mehdi by not understanding what ure doing your neighbour might think ure takling to ur car engine :p
your neighbor is nuts
🤣🤣🤣
Someone who asks questions is an idiot for 5 minutes, someone who doesn’t ask questions, is an idiot for life.
@@AAexc66 ...ignorant neighbour "the guy next door thinks he's the car whisperer.. he's nuts!!"
Thank you for the clear and simple way of explaining without leaving out any details . I enjoy all your videos and often learn as I am new to this 😎 muchas gracias señor Chris .
Was looking for fuel injector videos for my 89 ranger with the 2.9 all over TH-cam... Should have known better and just went straight to your page. Thanks for all the content Chris!
ive used this method too, listening to engine sounds especially on the timing chain part and bearings about to get worn out! its helps a lot of money and time before removing anything or buying some parts that might be the issue but turns out its not.Great video Chris!
I have to say, I really appreciate your videos. You break things down in a very easy to follow manner!
+Molly Hebert Thanks Molly! I am glad the videos are easy to follow and helpful!
Love it man. This beats the hell of removing all injectors to find blockages
You literally just put my anxiety to a halt.
Glad I could help!
Man, by the time I finish watching all your videos I should be a certified mechanic for myself
I've done this and the problem I typically see is the sound from other injectors travel down the rail and you can't tell if the injector is bad or not. I think a better way in addition to an Ohms test is switch the injector from one port to another than run a code test for that cylinder and see if you get a misfire for that cylinder.
Make a video and show us
That would be cool man
P[😊😊
Yo, I just did this on my VW jetta 2015. Worked great. Thank you. Had EPC / engine light (sometimes flashing) power loss, bad fuel economy, even smelled like gas sometimes, rough idle, shaking engine etc . OBD said p0304. Recently changed spark plugs, changed coil pack a year or two ago, new battery. Tried fuel injection cleaner, guy at Oreilly said it it should clear up after driving around a bit. Seemed fishy, looked up online and they ranged anywhere from 100-1000 miles or a few tanks of gas before the injector cleans itself (it didnt). Anyway, I swapped plug 1 and 4, still showed misfire. Pretty sure it was fuel injector and this test showed no clicking on 4. Now, I have to see if I can fix it myself. :) Thanks, again.
This was very helpful for my 2010 Cobalt ss. Thank you so much. God Bless
Holy crap this saved me!...... tried this on my boat motor and found a bad injector!!! Swapped it out and now engine runs smooth as silk....... happy as a pig in mud now!
ChrisFix: “...using a screwdriver.”
Me: Heck yeah a tool I have already!
@@AJNoon accurate lol
thats one of the best ways for a quick and easy diagnosis for testing injectors. bloddy nice work.
Thanks man! It is a simple way to do it and super effective!
Remember to give the video a "thumbs up" if it was helpful (that helps me out, thanks)!
Just bringing the comments up to 1,000 with this comment
Your description of this method and when to use it was clear and concise!
I concur
Reminds me of a cheaper version of that stethescope rod tool. Pretty cool stuff.
0
Bro this just helped me diagnose my bad fuel injector. Thank you brotha. Really appreciate it.
I'm glad the video was able to help you diagnose your fuel injector!
this is what iam looking for.. thanks for sharing,, keep going man! ✌️
Hey thanks man! Excellent video! I had hesitation AND a hard start (two cranks) in my 1999 Jeep Cherokee. The hard start was due to a failing fuel pump (bad check valve and fuel pressure regulator). The hesitation and bad idle were from a failed injector. 'Preciate it man.
Awesome! Glad the video helped and nice job diagnosing the problem!
1:27 so thats what the back of his head looks like
RealDarkFilm
@RealDarkFilm
1:29 acshooely lol
CHris is like thinking: "damnit i gotta expose myself thiS much..
@RealDark contd ..
...time to quickly duck outta the way! :3 lol
he should have worn an Austin powers mask
🤣🤣🤣
You are my favorite mech tech on You Tube! I have been doing A LOT of my own maintenance on my vehicles. Thank you!
Hey Chris I've been watching your video since a while. They are very informative and helpful. One request, can you please upload more videos on engines?
Somebody give this guy an award. Please.
Crisfix, what would a clogged injector sound like?
Patrick Austin probably won't hear it
Yea that’s my question that’s what I want to test for my mustangs been missifiring Kathy after letting it it run on empty tank I think the crap got in a few injectors. How would we test for that because hey we all know everyone’s will works it’s just telling a diff from a clog to a bad one is the question
I'm glad I'm not the only one that knows this trick. I have won lots of money from people that don't believe you can do this with a screwdriver. Lol That screwdriver comes in handy for alot more things that most people don't even know.
Can you show how to replace fuel injectors?
Just pop me out and replace them with new ones; at least in this example,, diesel is differentffrom direct injection
You can hear most anything inside anything with moving parts diagnosis them to a
Point, alternator, water pump, tensioner pully etc. Discerning the noises is done with experience hands on logic and common sense. Good luck
thnk u just checked them pretty amazing.....
dozumbabfree Awesome! Glad you learned something new!
CHRISFIX IS A KING OF MECHANIC
You forgot to say that a bad injector can cause the car accelerate like gay
____________ 0 'm
😅😅😅
I would prefer a gay car running well than a straight one that thinks like you.
You are amazing... No $5,000 test unit is needed!
Just because its clicking doesn't mean if spraying
That can happen, this is just one test to do though
Nice job! Thanks for taking the mystery out of how this system works!
you should check out scotty Kilmer channel he works on cars too
Geoff k ChrisFix way better
Scotty Kilmer is more focused on making quick vids
he thinks fuel economy 10mpg. in his georgeos mk3 Lincoln is great.
I guess that they're rivals
sk introductory is unnecessary & most are summarized.
Chris, you are a Godsend. Thank you for helping the youtube community. Happy holidays. Stay safe,
Awesome 🤘🏻
Always explained to detail and make it easy for us! No wonder CF has 5.88 million subscribers!! Me included!!
I wish i can do this with my 350z but the Fuel Injectors are under the Plenum lmao.
Pretty sure you can still reach them. I’m able to see and touch my fuel injectors under the plenum in my G37
You need U shape screwdriver 😂
The best video on here! Quick and to the point with an excellent general explanation of everything going on!
thank you...
Thank you I’m about to add this knowledge to my hardrive 🧠
Haha awesome
Why not just unplug them one by one, if it bogs then it's working if not then it's bad
You could do that too but the clips on fuel injectors can be brittle and you can easily break them!
Also some injectors are a bitch to get out on certain cars
#Gman Upper Intake Manifold Removal is required when servicing on the 2000 Caravan w/ 3.0 Engine. It's not horrible, it takes time though.
Well, it's definitely a good method if you've rewired your injectors and you'd like to see if it's getting an electrical signal still
savagenw
Nice trick. Done this with a thin pipe to check water pumps, power steering and knocking lifter. Why I never thought of doing it for injectors is crazy to me.. lol
You r the mutha...man. thanks for all ur videos. 97 4runner driving me nuts. Misfire on a cylinder. Figured change the plugs ,wires and coils since it has 160k miles. Ran beautiful for 2 days and then same 304 code. Checked your other video on how to check the resistance. Some homework today. Thank you
Did you find you're problem?
@@myhoodiskc
Yes I did. Injector 4 was clogged
Wow !
This dude did a great job with this video for dummy mechanics like me !!!!
Thanks!
chris all the old mechanics that my dad knew diagnosed cars that way back in 80's. Guess what about 97 % of the time they were right. Kudos Chris....👍
some of the best videos on TH-cam.
This helped out a lot thanks man! I was in a bind with 2 options wrong with my car, bad cylinder or bad fuel injector. Did this test and found it's the injector! I'll be sure to buy new ones ASAP.
+EnzoProductionz Awesome! Glad the video was helpful and you figured out it was the injector!
New sub . I love how you dont bull shit and tell life stories . you just get er done!!
Hey thanks. Just bought a 2010 V6 chevy camaro LLT RS So far i replaced the oil filter, air filter, oil change, sprayed the sensor with intake cleaner, rest the computer by disconnect the battery to reprogram the computer. Car is showing no more check engine light thus far but noticed that clicking noise that you just described. I was hoping it's the sprak plugs because i am going to chsnge them soon anyways. I possibly need that a new fuel injector, currently everything is closed for Christmas. Wish me luck! It's a upgrade compared to the 2002 mustang v6 srs i was driving. It was a good car for learning experience in my opinion.
When I first saw my dad use a metal pry bar to listen to the engine I thought he was crazy lol Now I use this technique to check several moving internal engine parts to hear if they are running correctly.👍
Hell yeah , Chris fix for the win again
I've tried with long 3/8 and 1/4 socket extension rods and they work as well.
I have to agree with the other comments, chris, I have seen a lot of youtube videos and yours was excellent.
Loved it for a quick check. Heading out to check them right after I watch your other video.
Awesome! Thanks a lot!
wondering if you could make a video on how to clean an engine bay and leave it almost brand new :)
Thank you!! Was going to call my mechanic tonight but I’ll give this a try first!
Dude I have been wondering on how I could find out which injector was bad. You are awesome!!!! Thank You :)
I fi#@ing love you I have been a mechanic my whole life and never thought to try to listen to my injectors hell didn't even think I'd be able to hear them you just saved me a lot of time and money I was about to chalk it up to bad head gaskets or collapsed lifter
Great Video. Simple straight forward test.
Good job. To the point and no wasted time. Good execution.
MAKE SURE YOU UNPLUG (and then replug) THE INJECTORS (one at a time while the car is running) to make SURE they are NOT Clogged!!! The screwdriver test will ONLY let you know if they are FIRING, not if they are delivering FUEL! I've been struggling to diagnose my car's misfire for about a month now and I dismissed my fuel injectors as the cause because this method worked great -- I could hear each injector firing exactly like in the video -- HOWEVER, 2 out of 4 of my injectors were *clogged! I only tried it because I read in these comments where someone suggested doing so, now I can finally fix and drive my car again. When you unplug it, the car should dramatically lose power, start to stutter and stumble, then you will know the injector is working properly, so plug it back it in and try the next one. By doing this, I was able to find the two injectors responsible for my car's problems.
Great idea, i'll try this asap to figure out a idling problem on the grocery getter!
koolchilds Let me know what you find!
Right to the point
Thanks for this! I figured I had a leaking injector but couldn't figure out how to prove it. This worked great.... Thing sprays like a garden hose! #2 on a 2006 Ford Expedition 5.4l.
So was your truck misfiring before you changed that injector and how bad was the misfire?
This is a great trick i learned a few vehicles back, Harbor Freight sells a cheap ass tool i bought that looks like a doctors stethoscope to do the exact same thing, didn't really need it but great to have if i ever do.
After watching your other video, I found my defective injector with a multimeter. The bad one read 193 ohms whereas the other two that were accessible read 14 ohms. Plan to replace all 6 because of the labor involved. Don't wanna do this twice. DTC was P0304.
Should be easy to check with my new 5$ stethoscope from harbor freight ,, great video !
Didn't expect to learn how a fuel injector actually works...BONUS!
+CaptMr I try to allow you to understand the whole process so you know what you are testing.
I have to say You my friend are awsome.
Thumps up and subscribed.
You can save people $100 of dollars with this one easy DIY man you the best.
Great job. This is such a useful way to find a lot of different things. This is a way back tip haha.
Gr8 job man, same problem with my daughter's rover 200
Wow I think this is the only video where we see the back of Chris’s head
I learn a new idea on this, thanks bro.
Thanks a lot!
Straight to the point and you even explain how the injector works. I give you prop.
That was great you are the only Tex’s ever said that thanks so much you the man 🙏🏻
You don't necessarily need to do the screw driver trick against your ear you can also rest your chin against the screw driver handle and "hear" just as well through the vibrations it causes in your jaw and entire skull. Sometimes you can actually hear things better that way because the vibrations cause more stuff to jiggle than just the area around your ear. Chinning it is actually, partially, a guitar player trick we use to tune guitars by ear. Not just an old school mechanic's trick...but being told to do that by a mechanic is how I started doing it with instruments and you won't believe how much better you can hear things doing it until you try it!
man, i really appreciate your vids. Just got first car (ford ranger 2004) and you really help me do basic maintenance. keep it up!
Lol I remember seeing my dad have his ear to a screwdriver like that when I was a kid. Memories 😉
With that screw driver test you also need to listen for the sound. Say you got 4 injectors and you are having a poor acceleration, or intermittent surging off and on, like a chugging type acceleration, if you hear 3 injectors sounding strong and clicking good, then when you get to the bad one it will sound very weak yet hear a weak clicking sound, and sometimes a rapid chatter takes place causing the engine to struggle and shake, that tells you the injector is going bad. I tested mine, 13.0, 13.0, 12.8, 12.7. Numbers are 1 to 4. The fourth one was 12.7 which is within resistance specs, being 0.5 but the sound was the dead give away being so weak, it cannot handle sudden load acceleration. Once you get to highway speeds, you will feel the surging effect take place. How old is the car itself is the first thing to know.
So that sound must all be the same and sound good and strong. You can have a injector all within resistance specs of 0.5 as you said and I disagree, but it must match the sound with the other three. I can also hear that number 3 is sounding strong, and the resistance is below 13.0 when compared to the other two good injectors, It tells me that number 3 is getting ready to fail likewise. They should all be within 0.1 or the same. Anything more than 0.2 difference, that 0.2 is getting ready to say bye bye, while you already know that 0.3 the injector sounds weak and is causing that surging, chugging rough engine effect.
Sometimes you might catch it doing the machine gun like sound, like a rapid chatter being totally abnormal on a intermittent basis
If they are all good, then check the compression on all cylinders, take a look at the cap and rotor and that COIL look for signs of corrosion, and if there is a hole in the exhaust pipe loss of back pressure can screw it up, and last but not the least a Clogged fuel filter, or a fuel pump in the tank is getting weak!!!! One has to check everything besides just injectors. As to the ECM, sometimes that is the cause but its rare. MOST IMPORTANTLY, PULL OUT THE PLUG WIRE AND SEE IF THE ENGINE CHANGES RPM OR SHAKES MORE. WHEN YOU GET TO A BAD SPARK PLUG, THERE WILL BE NO CHANGES TO THE ENGINE RPM OR ITS SHAKING EFFECT. Do it one at a time Ok.. The one that does not change the RPM or changes the engine shake effect, REPLACE THAT PLUG. Cheaper to do a plug change. If that does not help suspect the spark plug wire itself.
For me it turns out yes I did have a weak fuel injector, so I did the swap on the plugs to a different cylinder, retested to hear the injector, it was the same sound being weak, and then pulled out the swap plug and bingo it turns out to be the spark plug. I changed that and presto the problem was solved.
Plugs do go bad INTERNALLY not showing a break on the outside or severe carbon build up. So puzzling indeed I then did another test on that bad plug and discovered sometimes the readings were good, sometimes the readings were bad on the ohms scale. Without an some means to see inside the plug itself,> besides destroying the plug, I have no idea what broke or went bad inside that plug internally. So if this does not solve your problem then read on next paragraphs.
Before all this, did you recently fueled up the car. You could have gotten bad gasoline, and if not then 3 tests can be done quickly by yourself and maybe the fourth one before going to a mechanic. Take a good look at the plugs as described above paragraphs, then how old is the spark plug wires when were they ever changed, when was it the last time you changed your cap and rotor, have you ever had to replace your coil if so when, then do the compression test, must show first compression 40 psi or higher and it should climb rapidly before the 10th stroke. Then do the injectors both by screw driver first, listen to the sound of it, then if all good check the resistance, when was the last time you changed the fuel filter, you can change it yourself. Is your exhaust sound loud or not, If not > Beyond this point if the problem still continues, then you go to the mechanic to test that fuel pump, and to check to see if the ECM is functioning properly and they need to check the other items below next paragraph.
Four other possibles are a bad MAP, and or a bad idle solenoid or idle air sensor. Usually these will set off the codes to the ECM or a injector wire to ECM is grounded somewhere in the harness line. If no codes are seen or light from the ECM, and no wires damaged, you missed something. Go back and restart your trouble shoot list as I said here.
Good luck
Thank you very much for this helpful information, I'm gonna check my injectors like this to.
This was an awesome video! That was my problem and this video helped me figure it out. Thank you!
Thanks for this. I recently got a P0301 code. After new spark plugs and new coils I still have the error code. I'm going to try this in the morning.
Thank you Sir. Very helpful.
Thank you to share this with us.
I'm french (and I'm not perfect) and that's perfect to determinate if my LPG's injectors are right or not to work