Anyone had trouble with an injector sleeve going bad and leaking coolant into a cylinder?


The coolant level in my truck has been dropping about 2 inches a day in the tank for the past week, but no sign of leakage beneath the engine. Then I noticed on cold starts I would get a white smoke from the exhaust for about 30 seconds, and it smells like radiator fluid.


The dealer suspects a leaky injector sleeve and is doing an overnight pressure test to see which cylinder(s) looses pressure.


Are injector sleeves considered a wear item? How expensive are the parts to replace them? Although I'm still within the 100,000 miles (90k now) and this (hopefully) should be a covered repair, I wonder whether or not I'm in for future issues with any of the other 7.


Doug

A few have gone bad that I've seen. I don't believe it is a wear item although. Changing yourself is just as deep as doing injectors and I believe there is a special tool needed to pull the sleeve. It's just a O-ring.


Courtesy of Erichttp://dieselplace.com/forum/uploads/injector_tubes.jpg





No Tank pressurizing issues like a headgasket?


Mac

I don't know if I am having the same problem, but I have been losing coolant very slowly somewhere. I have been marking the tank with a sharpie and have been constantly checking levels.


I also have white smoke upon start up, however, very very little. It also smoke a little when it idles for a while. But one stomp on the throttle at level 5 cleans that right out.


Dealer told me that they checked pressure for headgasket, that's o.k., but never said anything about injector sleeves.


I just had all eight replaced about 3 months ago, and seems that the nicktane and the oilguard are doing there jobs. Fuel filters are clean and oil is very clean.


It makes me nervous because if it is injector sleeves, someone told me that injectors are 2 months out. Is this right?


Is this problem a big deal. Like I said, I lose about a 1/2 of an inch every month, so it doesn't seem serious.


Thanks for info

Injectors sleeves occasionally come out when you pull an injector. If
they are not reinstalled with NEW seals and properly, they will leak
coolant into the exhaust.

Come to think of it, I have a set of Dmax heads at the shop now that are
off a destroied engine, I'll check them out and see what the correlation is
with coolant in the exhaust.

Kevin

I had the exact same issue. No fluid found, but it was going away. Turned out to have 3 injector cup seals leaking. Came that way from the factory and just got worse over time. After getting them replaced, I have not lost another drop. It should be covered under warranty.

The injector is what holds the sleeve in place so if you started loosing coolant shortly after having injectors replace they were most likely disturbed during the injector replacement. Something the installing dealer should cover.

I've did a lot of detroit diesel injector sleeve/cup replacements and usually if bad enough troubleshooting is minor.I just pull the injector and watch the cooland flow.No pressure needed,but thats a inline 6 with better access than a duramax.Telltale signs are driver reports no visible coolant loss,white smoke,low power,oil film in the coolant.With the series 60 heads their is no way the cup leaks when injector is pulled.With the duramax I can't say because I have never worked on the internals of the engine.My .02 on a different engine but same problem as posted and same troubleshooting methods

Here is the installed injector sleeve prior to removing...

http://www.uscom.com/%7Ehoot/cars/duramax/gmc/headgaskets/thumbnails/DSCN4599.jpg









The tool that pulls it out...



http://www.uscom.com/%7Ehoot/cars/duramax/gmc/headgaskets/thumbnails/DSCN4600.jpg









The injector sleeve (on the side) with locktite sealant applied...



http://www.uscom.com/%7Ehoot/cars/duramax/gmc/headgaskets/thumbnails/DSCN4613.jpg



http://www.uscom.com/%7Ehoot/cars/duramax/gmc/headgaskets/thumbnails/DSCN4610.jpg







Don't listen to MAC.... he only knows how to break... I mean ... fix transmissions. Geez... he can't even focus a camera http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley24.gif http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley2.gif



It's not the o-rings, it's the bottom, tapered portion of the sleeve's seal
that can leak combustion gasses. The applied locktite and the installed
injector is what applies the pressure to keep compression gasses from
passing into the area between the o-rings and the tip. That's coolant
country. LLY does not have these sleeves. The injectors alone seal on the bottom of the hole.






Edited by: hoot

Update:


The compression test pointed to one sleeve (don't know which cylinder). GM is replacing it under warranty. Funny thing is after the test showed a pressure drop on a single cylinder, the tech still suspected a head gasket problem (and still does). So they'll have the new sleeve in Monday, and pressure test again to see if it holds.


I would think any type of head gasket issue would present noticeable drivability issues, however other than the symptoms I mentioned above, the truck drives fine.


Doug

If you take it apart, do the whole friggin job. Both head gaskets and
all the sleeves. That's whats called preventative action and common
sense. Somethin GM lacks.
Edited by: hoot

I asked about the other 7 sleeves, and was told a single failure doesn't mean there are integrity issues with the others. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley5.gif


They also said if it were a head gasket they may not cover it due to seeing my big head wastegate actuator. This is my first service of this type with my local dealer, and I'm not too impressed by thier technical troubleshooting.


If it goes beyond the single sleeve, I'll probably take it elsewhere for service and if necessary pay the added cost to replace the other sleeves.


One step at a time I guess.


Doug