2003 Silverado Duramax injectors

[D2Cat]

If you need some information and good service and prices check these folks out.

http://oregonfuelinjection.com/

I've also gotten good service and products here in Bitely, MI: http://www.accuratediesel.com/nostart.html

Easy to talk to and very helpful.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Thanks everyone! Good suggestions and info.

 

[67Truckin]

My son has a 2004 Duramax diesel and just loves it. It's got 140,000 on it now and is pushing over 600 horse with the water/meth injection on. He has added a 5" straight pipe exhaust, programmer, 3" down pipe from the turbo, ported intake manifold and huge air filter piping. It gets about 20 mpg on the highway with the 5 spd Allison tranny. It's just now starting to get a blue haze from the injectors but they should be under warranty. We also have a 2006 Dodge Cummins and a pair of 2008 Ford Powerstrokes in the family. All are 4x4 one ton trucks. We see no advantage of one manufacturer over the other in regards to maintenance, repairs and breakdowns. The Fords like to eat front axle bearings at $500 apiece with us doing all the work.

 

[lugbolt]

The Fords like to eat front axle bearings at $500 apiece with us doing all the work.

I had to do mine for the first time recently. $293 total with me doing the labor. But mine's an '03, F250 CCSB 4x4, 143,000 miles when I did them. I expected them to be gone long before based on my boss's truck-same exact truck, he got 100k out of his. I always try to buy Motorcraft or Timken, none of the chinese parts store stuff. You are right though, they tend to fail more often than other brand vehicles.

 

[Jimc3165]

Cant say that I share the diesel woes but I have a Cummins. Not trying to start a who's diesel is better war, just stating that I have a different experience with my truck.
I do not take it to Chrysler, I take it to the Cummins commercial shop. I did blow a high pressure fuel pump at 210K miles. That required 6 new injectors and a high pressure pump. When the pump ate itself it threw small metal debris down the lines. The Cummins guys showed me the metal particles lodged in 2 of the injectors. They also replaced the hard lines after the pump. In their opinion, they couldn't guarantee they got all the debris out of the lines by flushing them. As the orifices on the injectors are extremely tiny, any leftover debris could be catastrophic.
Starving the injectors should not cause failure. In fact, it should throw a code for low rail pressure (P0087) long before there's anything else happening if its a fuel pump issue. sadly injectors are a wear item and they are damn expensive.

Agree, My Cummins is very dependable but it is not 13YO yet. When I was in high school years ago I worked at a truck shop that supplied trucks for a lumber distributor and I heard the drivers all say our trucks with the Detroit was fine for east coast runs but for any East to West run we needed a Cummins engine. So when I bought my truck I wanted a Cummins. As stated above not trying to start a war and am not talking bad about your truck. Also about 30K ago I added a 2 filter system under the frame that has a 2 micron Cat filter and a water fuel separator.

 

[sheepfarmer]

These are all helpful posts. As I mentioned before I like learning new stuff, but prefer not the hard way. As an update, I had my truck hauled to someone that has his own shop (I can only hope he is as good as Tooljunkie) for a second opinion. He was about to leave for a week but at least my truck is inside, unlike where it was. That outfit tried to charge me a $350 restocking charge for the remanufactured injectors from Florida that I had told them I didn't want earlier in the week and to look for OEM or new Bosch injectors. Not my fault the parts guy didn't cancel the first order. Or maybe they were going to put in the cheap ones and charge me for new ones? In any case the service manager backed down and they "only" charged for the fuel filter and 2 hrs of tech time. What the tech wrote on the sheet was that injector 2 was bad, "injector return flow rates above spec" and "injector 2 causing misfire and heavy smoking". The thing that bothered me is that it went from running great, no smoke, to totally dead in seconds. The guy that has it now took a quick look after the tow truck dropped it off, and said he primed it and it ran for a bit, and he thought it might be the pump. So I have to wait until next week, but maybe as mentioned above it will be both

 

[D2Cat]

Sheepfarmer, I think you made a smart move!

I hope your new guy finds something obvious and simple to cure, so you'll still have confidence in your truck.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Sheepfarmer, I think you made a smart move!

I hope your new guy finds something obvious and simple to cure, so you'll still have confidence in your truck.

D2 I got the name of this new guy when I took your earlier advice and talked to the guys that helped me out with the Ford 8N. Was kind of round about, but he did sound more sensible when I talked with him. Works on tractors too. Only foot he put wrong was to mention using ether to start something, and I jumped in feet first to say, but "not on a Kubota" etc. Everyone please keep your fingers crossed!

 

[sheepfarmer]

Well I am beginning to think my truck is never going to run again, or I am going to have to get it towed someplace else with its engine parts in a cardboard box

The new guy who has a nice shop building next to his house, is NOT like TJ alas. I think he has ADHD. He may be a really nice guy, he spent at least one of the intervening weeks driving a grain truck for a buddy who hurt his hand, but he never tells me the same thing twice, and I can't tell if he is just making up stories or what. Or if he optimistically thinks he can do more than he can. In any case my truck has been there 6 weeks and it doesn't run.

Week 1 he was gone , I knew that, he'd said he could get to it first thing Monday.
Week 2 he said he could get it to run for 45 sec by priming it, no smoke, but there was a Cub Cadet and a truck ahead of mine ( that wasn't there when I first called )
Week 3 thought it was a lift pump he'd have to take the fuel tank down, oh and did I mind if he put in new batteries, mine weren't holding a charge. I said fine it was on mylist of things to check before winter.
Week 4 he had discovered that this truck didn't have a lift pump, there was some kind of prepump embedded in the high pressure pump.
Week 5 he said he'd ordered a pump but it didn't come with the gaskets he needed. I said where did you get the pump and he said he googled 2003 duramax and got it off the internet, and I blew a fuse, slow blow as it took me a while after I hung up, sent him a text to say if he'd just gone to local dealer and bought it there we'd be done by now. Turned out he didn't really have it yet was going to get pump from local diesel parts supplier and gaskets from dealer.???
Week 6 he called and said he was sorry but he got it to run a little longer with the new pump, and it was smoking bad and so he thought it was an injector after all. Oh and did I mind if he put a new idler pulley on it. This was Wed before Thanksgiving. His favorite diesel store had Bosch remanufacture by Bosch injectors, and so I drove over and got them hoping he would get on it over the long weekend. No luck so far.

I have wandered the internet looking for a shop manual, diesel supplement, and parts manual like we have online for our tractors, and there seems to be all
sorts of junk out there, but not what I am looking for. I am thinking he is winging it without torque values, and when I mentioned shop manual to him he pooh-poohed the idea of finding one. If he'd had a shop manual he'd have known it didn't have a lift pump in or near the fuel tank. Any sources?

The bad news is I can't even drive it to the mall and hope someone steals it.

 

[armylifer]

Sheepfarmer,

There is another component to the fuel delivery system in the Duramax that is often overlooked. It is the EDU. If the EDU is bad your fuel injectors will not work and the symptom would be the same as if the injectors are bad. Here is an explanation copied from the manual. I wish I had more information on it but this is all I could find right now.

Control System
An electronic control module (ECM) is used to compute and
control the fuel system. Sensors on the engine and vehicle are
used to calculate the control operation of the fuel injectors. The
ECM controls the injectors in conjunction with the EDU
(electronic driver unit), which is part of the Bosch common rail
fuel system.
The EDU is mounted on the engine, while the ECM is usually
mounted somewhere in the cab or under the hood of the
vehicle.
The engine fuel is routed to the EDU to assist with heat
dissipation of the power electronics in the EDU. The EDU
contains the high power amplifiers needed to activate the fuel
injectors.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I am so sorry to hear about you getting the run around, it's sad when a shop or mechanic doesn't do a good job or the right thing.

There are several options for manuals for it:

https://haynes.com/en-us/duramax-diesel-engine-chevrolet-gmc-trucks-vans-01-12-haynes-techbook

http://www.helminc.com/helm/product...m=result&Style=helm&Sku=GMT03CK8PU&itemtype=N

Another good option is Duramaxforum.com for information.
from what I've read there is some pretty knowledgeable folks on there.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I am not a diesel tech by any means, i dislike throwing parts at something in hope it will miracously run. Cummins i had in shop a while back wouldnt pull a stuck egg off a plate.made an adapter to test fuel pressure from lift pump and discovered pressure was a couple psi below spec. New in tank pump and filter,and it would finally pull itself around.

What im getting at is duramax guys have duramax tools and knowledge. Cummins and ford and all others require different tools and knowledge.

Met a guy last week that knows old mopars like no one i have ever met. He does nothing else,60's dodge. Specialist in every sense.

Biggest thing for good diagnostics is a scan tool,upscale and name brand. I spent 3800 so i could access the systems and obtain sensor values. It also gives me access to a vast database.

Dont give up hope,im sure you will find it running soon enough.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

An old friend used to say, "If it was runnin' real good before it started runnin' bad, chances are good you can get it runnin' real good again."

I think he grew up before "technology" made some analysis more difficult.

I just found out that the brand car we are looking at requires you to have the computer re-coded when you swap the battery! Not sure I am liking that technology...

Good luck.

 

[D2Cat]

Here's a set of manuals on ebay. Offer the guy $225 and he may very well accept your offer.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2003-Chevro...ash=item3f7014b329:g:8eUAAOSwa~BYOPKI&vxp=mtr

Sheepfarmer, I have a complete set for an '84 Ford with 6.9 that I was going to donate to a museum, will that help?

If you choose to not purchase a set of manuals, I think going to the Duramax forum as North Idaho Wolfman suggested, will get you information on common seen problems and allow you to post questions. So you have experience from owners, much like on OTT.

 

[OldeEnglish]

I've had my share of useless mechanics, one of the main reasons why I bought a brand new truck.

I have a friend that had a nice off road built jeep Cherokee that had an engine light that wouldn't go away. He spent thousands at a shop with no luck. He finally gave up and brought it to a jeep dealer. 1 hour later and a $10 part the jeep was fixed. Dealer mechanics are pricy but most of the time it will save you in the long run, especially seeing that vehicles are so technical nowadays.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Thanks guys, I sure appreciate your thoughts and ideas.

D2 I put a bid in on the manuals, while I couldn't use them effectively the guy fixing my truck sure could. He is I think reasonably honest just not doing well. Has apologized for not picking the right things to replace. (Wouldn't be so bad if high pressure pumps and injectors were cheaper.) Went out to visit my truck again this afternoon. He has installed the injectors (I assume, the engine is more or less put back together) but he said it won't run for more than a few seconds unless he puts the fuel up on a ladder and does the gravity feed thing. Then he said it ran fine for 45 minutes (?). Back to the vacuum leak in fuel line hypothesis. Did things like pressurize fuel tank, and observing fuel full of air bubbles somewhere, not sure where. Thinks it is either the fuel line which now has a leak by the fuel tank or the housing for the head of the fuel filter. The fuel lines are rusty and so fixing the fitting where the leak is looked to me to be hopeless, I crawled under there to see, so I okayed ordering fuel lines, which will no doubt be a nightmare to install. He has a pit that he can put the truck over. But he keeps having to call his assorted buddies for info, so I think TJ and OldeEnglish are right, this was one of those cases where it should have gone to a dealership, although they have tried to cheat me in the past. This guy has to keep figuring stuff out from first principles. Sigh.

BTW those of you that think your BX needs skid plates should see what is vulnerable on the underside of a 4wd 3/4 ton truck. What were they thinking putting the fuel cooler radiator under there where it could be covered with mud? I happened to have run this rig through the carwash with underbody blast the day before all this happened or it would be much worse.

 

[D2Cat]

It sounds like he has accomplished quite a bit though. If the fuel lines are rusty it is very likely there is/are holes in them somewhere. That would allow the air into the fuel.

Your off road experience last winter may have been a contributing factor to some of the possible damage on those fuel lines also.

Hopefully when it all said and done the mechanic will realize it has been a learning experience for him also, and charge less then a premium rate.

 

[Tooljunkie]

A leaky fuel line shouldnt be that difficult to repair, a bear to diagnose but maybe hes getting close.

Bought a 77 jimmy many years ago, replaced all exterior sheet metal and swapped in a good running engine. Fuel lines rotted right off the truck. Once i solved that, truck would idle all day long but i couldnt move it. 1 inch and it would stall. I could make it stall by just shaking truck. It had been sitting for years, turns out water made it into gas tank while it was parked.about 4 gallons.

I agree with not putting fragile things under trucks,like a fuel cooler. That right there could be the issue. Isolate fuel line and low pressure air.soapy water like looking for a leak in a tire. Could be the pickup inside the tank is cracked too. Tank full of fuel?

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Fuel filter ever been changed?

 

[D2Cat]

I have a '95 Chev 1/2 ton with 6.5 diesel. I had similar fuel problems with it. I dropped the fuel tank, cleaned, and installed a new fuel gauge float.

It would run fine and then randomly die, like it ran out of fuel. I then began noticing it more frequently during cold weather. (I only used the truck for my welder in the back, elec/hyd bale spike for moving hay bales, and snow plow in winter)

After much disgust, guessing and fiddling I discovered the strainer sock on the fuel pick-up line was for a gas engine. The sock for a diesel had "larger" netting to allow diesel to flow, and in the winter when fuel would be cold it was worse!

I ended up removing the strainer completely, and installed an inline filter outside the tank before the elec. fuel pump down by the frame rail.

Been working for years. But it sure is an experience with a big bale of hay, going down the road late afternoon, truck quits, and it gets dark at 5PM.

Sheepfarmer, when you have diesel power you get classified as an "odd ball" and have to find the right folks to be on your "team" to overcome some of the weird happenings.

I'm hoping your current mechanic is considerate in the end.