Itinerant Air-Cooled

Hi all. i recently acquired a 77 Westfalia bus (2L FI). I'm in the process of replacing the fuel lines (waiting patiently for my kit from German supply). I noticed today that my injectors do not have the blue plugs i have become accustomed to seeing in photos. Instead they have black plugs and no identifying marks other than a number: D1620BA. The PO mentioned to me that he had taken the bus to a shop and had some work done, including... new injectors. Fortunately, the PO was good about keeping everything. Included with the bus were several boxes of spare parts... some new, some trash. Anyway, I have 8 old looking injectors with the correct Bosch part number on the side (and those blue plugs I was looking for).

My question is: What are these mystery injectors? My instincts tell me they are cheap garbage, but I don't want to jump the gun. I plan to send some number of these old injectors off to cruzinperformance (or somewhere else?) for testing and cleaning, and will swap those in... unless someone convinces me otherwise. I'm very new to the air-cooled VW world, but from what I've seen so far, the original parts are usually the best. What would you do?

Thanks
-sean

seanholcombe wrote:original parts are usually the best. What would you do?
Thanks
-sean

I would not waste your time speculating as to what is the best. I would test them and if they work as intended, keep them.
Colin

seanholcombe wrote: (waiting patiently for my kit from German supply).
Thanks
-sean

Welcome Sean,

FYI on German Supply-

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... &start=180

I'm really surprised they are still open.. I only used them once. After taking a month to get just a few items from them and attempts to contact them to find out the status of the order being ignored via email and phone voice mails, that was enough...

Hi Sean, and welcome! If you would be so inclined as to put your general location in your profile, we might be able to find some specialized help near you. For instance, a gentleman near me rebuilds injectors in his home garage and tests/inspects them after. I'm sure if you were near us we could go over and learn ourselves! If you're nowhere near, then we can help you rig up a proper testing apparatus: if you're picky and well-off, you can get all fancy with graduated cylinders and a testing stand; if you're of limited means but creative, you can make a test rig with most materials found in a home garage and kitchen as long as you promise to wash the measuring cups after. :)

Welcome to the site!
Robbie

asiab3 wrote: If you would be so inclined as to put your general location in your profile
Robbie

Profile updated. I'm a little bit north of Atlanta.
Thanks for the replies and welcomes.
I'm not opposed to rigging something up to test these injectors. I guess my concern is that I can't find any information on them. A trusty google search on the part number only turns up a handful of references similar to mine, except the others use words like "leak." Even if they work well enough, I'm not sure I want to use them if they are, in fact, a cheap replacement that will not last very long. Mine do not leak, and do not appear to have been related to the fuel delivery issues that prompted me to remove the fuel tank.

seanholcombe wrote:

asiab3 wrote: If you would be so inclined as to put your general location in your profile
Robbie

Profile updated. I'm a little bit north of Atlanta.
Thanks for the replies and welcomes.
I'm not opposed to rigging something up to test these injectors. I guess my concern is that I can't find any information on them. A trusty google search on the part number only turns up a handful of references similar to mine, except the others use words like "leak." Even if they work well enough, I'm not sure I want to use them if they are, in fact, a cheap replacement that will not last very long. Mine do not leak, and do not appear to have been related to the fuel delivery issues that prompted me to remove the fuel tank.

You're on the right path w/your thinking here in regards to generic or re-production parts. Most are inferior to the original VW parts. You be much better off sourcing rebuilt, original VW/Bosch injectors and shit can those off brand units.

take them to the injector shop, and refurbish them (cleaning & leak test) , or just buy new ones. or, you can be the first one to test newer Vanagon injectors without running the resistor pack and L-Jet :)

In your shoes, I would have the 8 Bosch injectors cleaned and sorted into two groups, and put the off brands on the shelf. The one and only issue I have had in 9000 miles was TWO RAM injectors crapping out on the same trip. I now have my original Bosch units back in place and carry the two good RAMs as spares.

cegammel wrote:In your shoes, I would have the 8 Bosch injectors cleaned and sorted into two groups, and put the off brands on the shelf. The one and only issue I have had in 9000 miles was TWO RAM injectors crapping out on the same trip. I now have my original Bosch units back in place and carry the two good RAMs as spares.

What exactly are TWO RAM injectors?
ColinAcronymsAnonymous

Two is the number of injectors that failed....RAM is the only maker mark on the injector. Google gave me no more info than that. These came "nearly new" on an engine I purchased.

cegammel wrote:Two is the number of injectors that failed....RAM is the only maker mark on the injector. Google gave me no more info than that. These came "nearly new" on an engine I purchased.

Keeps coming up as Dodge

Bosch does make injectors for Dodge Ram/Dakota/Durango, but I know yours are not these plastic pieces of crap.
Colin