Renault Trafic/Vauxhall Vivaro diesel injector blown out of cyl head...

sxturbo said:

the engines in these vans are prone to the injectors seizing in the head also prone to the hold down bolts to snap and seize, and there are specialists that have the very expensive equipment to remove them. Sometimes the heads even break under the hydraulic pressure required to remove the injectors.

anyway back to the stud, warm it as mottie said and try to use a stud extractor etc.

or you can purchase this tool https://www.darwendiesels.com/injector-removal-tools/17663-m9r-injector-bolt-kit.html

the tightening torque is 35nm, its usually good practice to replace the bolts also when replacing injectors

Click to expand...

sxturbo is spot on.We have/had a fleet of these vans and we've had injector problems on a couple of them. Garages are reluctant to touch them unless we replace the whole cylinder head because of the problem with injectors seizing in the heads and the studs snapping. Drilling them out is apparently often the only option and might be why your garage is reluctant to respond too quickly.

We've end up selling one van for peanuts and scrapping another because the repair cost was so prohibitive.

Thanks for all your replies, hints, and tips.
The trip seems to be on hold at the moment because the owner is negotiating with the recovery insurance co. to have the van recovered back to the UK.
Please don't rush in an argue his case for him, he bought all the bells and whistles with his European recovery cover, but at the end of the day the small print has bitten him in the bum.
We had: 1. Recovery 10 miles (albeit to a garage that wasn't interested in doing the job). 2. Two rooms overnight in a hotel. 3. Hire car to get us to the airport. 4. Five BA flights Munich to Heathrow. 5. Hire car from Heathrow to get us home.

The small print puts a £2500 limit on a single claim, so he's arguing that their decision to recover us to an unsuitable garage had repercussions that meant more money was spent getting us home than necessary, and so on. If he is successful in his argument they'll recover his van to his home, and all will be much easier - if not then it's 1400 miles of action, followed by 14 days of house arrest when we get back.

As the Geeeermans would say, 'What's the wurst that could happen?'.

Over and out, for now.
MM

I always thought European recovery was vehicle taken home if unable to be repaired within a certain time as long as the recovery costs didn’t cost more that the vehicle? I’m sure that’s what I’ve had each time I’ve took out an insurance on my bikes when we did Euro trips. Keep us updated on this.

Can't he just arrange for another garage in the area to recover it from this garage and fix it?

I would want to try welding a nut on the end of the stud, that has always worked for me, but never an injector stud. The heat will swell the stud up in the head and then shrink as it cools, helping free it up.

I have not given this option much thought, but might it be possible to somehow drive it home with just three cylinders, by disconnecting the dud injector?

35nm is a fair old torque for an M6 bolt!.

If they used Red (permanent) threadlock on then you will have to heat the bolt before removal.

What make molegrips did you use?, Irwin have a decent range.

Are you sure it’s not an 8mm bolt with a 10mm head.

Edit: Looks like it is. https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/1843815877...GOtIoAuxRk11vMCDmwzUxqv5fDmQBYVhoCD7YQAvD_BwE

Update: Sorry to disappoint, but the trip won't be going ahead. Insurance Co have agreed to recover the van to the owners' home town, up near Inverness(!). I have to confess a little disappointment myself, though the fear of failure (ie not being able to get the stud out, or finding all four injectors have been nicked off it along with its cargo of tools, wine and beer) kind of tempered that enthusiasm.

So we'll never know the outcome to this; the owner is surprisingly uninterested in anything mechanical, so may give very little detail.

THE END.

To be fair it sounds like you've dodged a bullet there!.