[EricD735i]

Need some help fellas. Have a leak on injector 4 on my 328d. Had been occasionally smelling fumes for a while and finally tracked it to that injector. It had the beginnings of the “Black Death” carbon build up and was a real pain to get out - took a slide hammer tool to do it (do it on a cold engine btw). I bought new BMW seals/washers and hold down bolts. I followed the TIS procedure, cleaned out the injector well, used a seat cutting tool to gently clean the seat and put it all back together, torqued to spec. Still leaks. Did it a second time and really made sure the injector well was clean. Still leaks. Just did it a third time. Made sure the well was super clean and followed a procedure I found on a TDI forum - gave the injector a few gentle taps with a small hammer as I torqued the hold down in steps to seat the copper seal. Still leaks.

I’m stumped. Anyone had issues with this before? Trying to avoid taking it to the dealer and paying my $500 deductible.

[Enabled]

Can you take a picture of the bore? Curious what it looks like.
It should not need tapping, as that risks some injector damage.


All of my injectors on N47 (and family members) released by hand. I wonder what is going on.

[EricD735i]

Took this partway through cleaning, not sure if I’d used the seat cutter at this point. I’ll try to get a better pic next time I pull the injector out in a few days.

[Enabled]

I'm surprised it's giving you that much trouble. I didn't even have to do much to the seating area when I did some replacing. Just a dowel with cloth at the end to catch mostly some dust. Not the official method, but they were very clean. And added some grease to body of injector.

Does the opposite surface on the injector look like it has and signs of not seating properly?

Last time I bought one of those washers, it was a laughable $18 at the dealer. Never even used it.

[AlpineX]

Originally Posted by EricD735i

smelling fumes for a while ...... Trying to avoid taking it to the dealer and paying my $500 deductible.

Raw diesel or diesel exhaust?
If it was a covered component why mess with it beyond basic diagnostic to know you're covered? I only ask because I think it challenges your eligibility for a covered repair.

[plurant]

i wouldn't have used a seat cutter, might have cut too much off the head. I didn't use one and the injector slot on my 20d was very messed up with tar. I'd get new copper seal from another place just to be sure. Did you clean the injector itself ? i had soot on the injector seat where the copper seal goes on, this would have caused a leak.

also you mentioned that you tried to torque down the injector and tap on it with a hammer multiple times, did you change the copper seal everytime ?

[EricD735i]

New bolt and copper seal every time. I’ve got some from FCP and some from the dealer. I’m getting fumes, not fuel. I did’t go crazy with the seat cutter, just cleaned the carbon off down to clean metal.

[plurant]

Originally Posted by EricD735i

New bolt and copper seal every time. I’ve got some from FCP and some from the dealer. I’m getting fumes, not fuel. I did’t go crazy with the seat cutter, just cleaned the carbon off down to clean metal.

did you replace all the seals or only the one you suspected to leak ? i had one that was leaking badly and when i removed the other injectors i could see that they were starting to leak too. The fumes could be comming from another one.

[heynow328D]

Originally Posted by EricD735i

New bolt and copper seal every time. I’ve got some from FCP and some from the dealer. I’m getting fumes, not fuel. I did’t go crazy with the seat cutter, just cleaned the carbon off down to clean metal.

The egr cooler bypass pipe can crack at the bellows. Have you checked the area for soot? I was getting occasional fumes in the cabin for that reason.

[n00bkiller944]

Interested to hear the update!

[EricD735i]

Update is that I give up. Going to the dealer tomorrow morning, will see what they come up with. I’m wondering if the clamp on that injector is faulty or worn, didn’t pay much attention to it as I was focused on the seals.

[n00bkiller944]

Originally Posted by EricD735i

Update is that I give up. Going to the dealer tomorrow morning, will see what they come up with. I’m wondering if the clamp on that injector is faulty or worn, didn’t pay much attention to it as I was focused on the seals.

As much as we love working on our cars, sometimes, your time and sanity makes giving it to a professional the cheapest option. Let us know what they say the culprit is.

[Oxford80]

did you get to the bottom of this?
I'm having a similar issue

[bulletguy]

Originally Posted by Oxford80

did you get to the bottom of this?
I'm having a similar issue

Would love to hear where you ended up with this.
Have similar problem with mine.
Appreciate your response.