Found the fuel leak,its an injector...:(

[diesel4me]

Finally pinpointed the diesel leak in my '82 pickups 6.2..the rearmost drivers side injector weeps ever so slightly from the seam between the two halves of it,takes maybe 20-30 seconds for it to form a drop,that falls directly onto the hottest part of the exhaust manifold (of course!)...after a 5 mile drive,you'll see smoke coming out from under the hood...I thought at first it was brake fluid dripping from my master cylinder,that too weeps from the rear where it bolts on,but of course,that would be too easy a fix......................................................................................................Since my injector lines are crusty and the hex where you'd put a wrench to unscrew it from the injector goes is pretty rotten,I doubt it will loosen without stripping,or worse,breaking the line itself...I am going to try using J-B Waterweld putty on the seam after a good wash with brake cleaner and pray it will seal it up and last thru the winter,because I'm not up to replacing the injector lines now,though I do have some spares,and a parts engine I can rob an injector from..I dont have a 30mm deep socket either..............................I'm wondering if anyone else had an injector leak there,and if they were able to epoxy it and get by for awhile???.............................................................................................I'm getting sick of the 6.2,its been a good engine,but I dont like being a diesel mechanic--gas engines I'm more familiar with and I'd actually prefer one over a diesel,with fuel so costly now,and I'd also not miss the hassles of cold starts,busted off glow plugs,etc...If I knew someone with a carbed straight six I'd trade them straight up...but the truck is to the point its not really worth putting an engine in,or doing all the work to the 6.2.....with my moms health getting worse,my days here living with her are numbered and I'll likely not need a plow truck after she is gone,plus I'm about broke and cant afford to have anyone esle fix it for me....................................................................................................................................................................................................................I have a J-code intake I could swap into the 6.2 along with the injector lines,but it also needs the oil pan replaced,both exhaust manifolds are rotted to death,and the oil cooler lines are the next thing that'll rot thru and leak...it'd be a hell of a lot easier to repair all that with the engine OUT,but I cant do it now,I feel like I have cracked ribs just from leaning over it under the hood for 30 minutes the other day....figures this would happen right when I need the truck most to plow......anyone else think the J-B will work on the injector ,at least temporarily??..

 

[tRustyK5]

Well...it won't leak worse Bob. Really, what do you have to lose trying it?

I had an oil cooler line develop a pinhole during a wheeling trip. 60+ psi through the pinhole started a nice underhood fire my daughter still talks about.

We cleaned the area with brake kleen, JB over the pinhole, then a piece of heat shrink tube over that. I drove it like that leak free for another two years.

 

[diesel4me]

Rene,your right,I have everything to gain and only 10 bucks to lose on the J-B Waterweld and brake cleen to do it I suppose...the putty worked well on my rotted oil pan ,but lately its been weeping a quart a week or so out from under the puttied area...time to wash it off again and apply more putty I guess...its costing me more for motor oil & brake fluid lately than diesel ,since I must top all the fluids off daily before I drive it--and both cost 5 bucks a pop...............since this leak doesn't appear to have any pressure behind it,I think I have a fair chance of the J-B Weld working,at least for awhile....was thinking about using "Seal-All" or some fiberglass resin ,or maybe some type of Locktite I read about that seeps into threads and seals up leaks...but I assume diesel will eventually eat away at anything I use and it'll be temporary at best..............................................................................................................................................................................................I hate having to jerry-rig things up in hack fashion,wish I had the money to just get it fixed RIGHT so I could trust it this winter--nothing sucks worse than driving something with patched up things you know might fail at any moment.........sucks not being able to do things myself like I used too,with my sight and back being a constant discouragement....especially when I have the parts,an engine hoist and most of the tools to do the job with...maybe I should get a 5 gallon pail of J-B Weld and coat ALL the rotted parts on the truck with it.....

 

[yellowK20]

I have an Injector I could send you, are they course or fine thread injectors

 

[tRustyK5]

Hey Gus, his problem is the injector lines are pretty crusty, and the hex's are nearly round. To swap the one injector he'd probably wreck two to three injector lines as well. Ideally 8 injectors and a new set of lines would fix things...but even so he has no 30 mm deep socket.

I am sure I have 8 lines here, might even have 8 injectors...I gotta dig some and I'll post up what I have. Maybe between the two of us we could hook Bob up with what he needs to fix this right?

 

[tRustyK5]

I have an Injector I could send you, are they course or fine thread injectors

The Sub is an 85, so should be fine thread...

 

[diesel4me]

The truck with the leaky injector is my 82 K2500,not the '85 Burb...the Burb has 2 dead batteries and wont start now even with a jump,last time I had it running was around the first of september...its tranny is not right,it loses reverse eventually after driving some,and wont shift into OD,plus it'll need brake lines and other work to be driveable...its not registered or insured so I haven't done a dam thing with it since buying it 3 years ago.....Iceman was kind enough to send me a used oil pan and at least one set of injector lines awhile back,and I also have a 1987 6.2 with a busted crankshaft from a friends C-30 ramp truck that has a set of less rusty injector lines than mine are I could use in a pinch,also has all 8 injectors too,and it ran fine up until the crank snapped one day.....................................................................................................I also scored a GM replacement oil pan off it thats rust free,but was stoved in badly when the engine was dumped where I found it--I pounded it back out with a block of wood and a hammer ,but have yet to feel well enough to try installing it this year--now is no time to attempt it either,with snow coming any day now....................................................................................................One thing that might bone me if I end up having to put a used injector in ,is the fact my truck is an '82,but the engine is not the original one and I dont know what year it is--with my luck its an 82 with the course thread injectors,and the ones I have from the '87 6.2 are fine thread..I managed to pull the injector out of the parts engine using just a big adjustible wrench!--cant use it on the one IN the truck though--if it comes to replacing it I'll have to borrow a 30mm deep socket...........................................................I hate those stupid fuel return lines and clips,I have to go buy some of those little clips and some diesel rated 1/8" fuel line,if there is such a thing..I do have the correct GM kit to replace them in the Burb's glove box,but I want to save them for that truck,it'll need them too most likely--I read on a google search some guys have used tygon fuel line for chain saws without the clamps and had no issues with it.....................................................................................................

 

[yellowK20]

I can send you the rear most injector lines for the drivers side too

 

[tRustyK5]

i have no coarse thread injectors...just plenty of lines if need be.

If you want/need help let us know Bob. Might have some of those rubber return lines around here...

 

[diesel4me]

I appreciate the offers,I'll let you know how I make out with it...its epoxy time first,if that fails,then I'll have to cross that bridge later on and try replacing the injector and see if the line survives or not.....................................................................................................my friend said he'd try Indian Head gasket shellac,I remember using that stuff on an old AFB carter carb that had a weepy fuel inlet after the threads got boogered on it...that was the only stuuf I tried that wasn't washed away by the gas after it hardened!..he calls it weld in a bottle!..I'm not sure if it'll hold up to the temparatures there though..I will try the J-B putty first...

 

[2INSANE]

Did you get it fixed?

I had the same issue with that injector. On my 84 truck, it was the rubber nipple cap on the far end that always leaks after 2 years. I guess the diesel eats threw the rubber after awhile...

On my 84 m1009 it was just a matter of tightening the injector and metal hose line a tad to get it to stop leaking.

 

[diesel4me]

Its "fixed" for the moment,like yours,that stupid rubber "cap" on the extra return line nipple must have been the "leak".when I touched it the top of it felt cracked and it fell apart when I was attempting to putty up the injector body .................................................................................................................I ended up getting some 1/8" Tygon fuel line hose usually used on chain saws and weed eaters at a mower shop,used that to make a new cap by instering a machine screw into it,and I also used a hunk to join the rearmost injector to the one just in front of it,as I broke off the original old rubber line going to them--the tygon is good stuff,its not too hard to get it on those tiny nipples and it wont pull or blow off easily,even with no clamps--good thing,because you aint getting anything NEAR that rear most injector to install those teeny clamps--I had to fold up the inner fender well just to SEE it,never mind get at it to put that hose on it!.....................................................so far no leaks,I hope it stays dry till spring,because I know if I even TOUCH that injector line,its going to crumble,by the looks of it....most of the others are no better off either....I'm hoping I wont have to install the spares I have until the winter is over....

 

[2INSANE]

Its "fixed" for the moment,like yours,that stupid rubber "cap" on the extra return line nipple must have been the "leak".when I touched it the top of it felt cracked and it fell apart when I was attempting to putty up the injector body .................................................................................................................I ended up getting some 1/8" Tygon fuel line hose usually used on chain saws and weed eaters at a mower shop,used that to make a new cap by instering a machine screw into it,and I also used a hunk to join the rearmost injector to the one just in front of it,as I broke off the original old rubber line going to them--the tygon is good stuff,its not too hard to get it on those tiny nipples and it wont pull or blow off easily,even with no clamps--good thing,because you aint getting anything NEAR that rear most injector to install those teeny clamps--I had to fold up the inner fender well just to SEE it,never mind get at it to put that hose on it!.....................................................so far no leaks,I hope it stays dry till spring,because I know if I even TOUCH that injector line,its going to crumble,by the looks of it....most of the others are no better off either....I'm hoping I wont have to install the spares I have until the winter is over....