DIY Fuel Injector Tester Made On A Budget. Less than $60

[@DesertRatRacer]

Thanks for checking out the video. I forgot to mention I also got the fuel pump for free also. Any advice on making this better is welcome. Have any questions just ask and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

[@Sunspot-19]

See what happens when ingenuity and imagination get together and blow your mind?

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@Sunspot-19 🤣 no joke, I should do it more often.

[@tracyscott70]

If u build me one I pay u $150

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@tracyscott70 I appreciate the offer, but can’t bite off any more projects like that right now.

[@andrewsvaz]

You're a great genius. Thanks a bunch for sharing. Loved the project.

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@andrewsvaz no problem, Thanks, glad you liked it.

[@1pbean]

That is just downright cool!

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@1pbean I downright appreciate it. 😎🙌

[@Sunspot-19]

Very well thought out.

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@Sunspot-19 thanks, basically went one step at a time and it worked out pretty good.

[@quademasters249]

It's fantastic.

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@quademasters249 I’m Glad to hear. 😎

[@Technically-Matt]

Hey man! Nice work! I'm currently looking for a solution to test all my side-feed fuel injectors. There doesn't appear to be a lot of support for side-feed injectors out there. I have considered a DIY solution as a result. I may consider something like this too. My biggest challenge is I need flexibility to use different stock fuel rails I have for different size side feed injectors. I like how you are able to simply set the glass tubes under the injector, wherever it might be in the rail!

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@Technically-Matt Thanks, yea I’m not too familiar with the side feed injectors. It’s crazy how cheap you can make these for if you can find some good scrap. Good luck with it. If you need help with anything just let me know.

[@Go4BrokeOffroad]

Nice set-up. You could get a solid state relay setup for another $9 and pulse all 4 instead of just the 2.

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@Go4BrokeOffroad thank you, thats a good idea, and just a simple add on. I appreciate the help.

[@246alfa]

Давление на форсунки лучше делать сжатым воздухом, подавая его в емкость с раствором для прочистки или тестирования. Чистку лучше производить на низком давлении, но главное подобрать состав который сможет растворить грязь внутри. В 90% форсунок внутри стоят микрофильтры, перед промывкой нужно их достать. У меня в работе в основном FSI \ GDI и Piezo.

[@DesertRatRacer]

Thanks for the info. I haven't taken any filters out before. I need to give that a try. Why do you say compressed air is better. Wouldn't if function the same with a pump at the same pressure?

[@246alfa]

@@DesertRatRacer Насосом нужно управлять PWM. А воздух легко управляется редуктором, он давит на промывочную или тестовую жидкость делая нужное давление. Для промывки не нужны больльшие давления.

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@246alfa ok, Thank you

[@246alfa]

@@DesertRatRacer Я много стендов сделал, сейчас мою форсунки всей стране. Я не могу показать технологию но Вам могу помочь с усовершенствованием прибора. Главное, не стенды моют и не проверяют, а главное технология промывки и проверки. Если кто то думает,что стенд это главное, он глубоко ошибается. Знания и технология важней всех стендов .

[@Headsup9550]

When you added your own ev6 injector connectors, you could have easily used 4 instead of two. They don't pull enough amps to matter, you'd just have 2 injectors being tested at the time rather than a single. I assume you know this, but I guess I'm curious as to why you didn't just wire four as opposed to two? Please don't take this as a sarcastic comment, I'm genuinely curious, as I've been collecting parts to do a similar project. I've got the parts to assemble an ev1 harness, ev6 harness and multec2 harness and I'll use a Deutsch connector so that they all have a common connector and can be changed quickly and I'll do something to make the rail adjustable in height. I almost guessed your fuel rail origin, but I was thinking it was a Cobra rail. Same engine, same injector, they just mount a little differently.. Lol

[@DesertRatRacer]

I appreciate constructive criticism. This isn't even close to sarcastic. You might be right, I'm not 100% sure on my side. When I was figuring out what to do I searched how many amps a normal injector takes. The general consensus is 4-6 amps at peak and 1 amp sustained. The 12v rails on the power supply I have go to 18 amps. If I use more than 4.5 amps each I could trip the power supply. I might not go over 4.5 amps and be fine, but I didn't want to push my luck. Plus the wires on the injector controller are very thin. I can possibly combine rails on the power supply to split load but I'd need to check it out internally or modify it a little. After your comment I looked at a 97 mustang 4v schematic. The injectors are powered of a 20 amp fuse that controls the whole PCM as far as I can see. But that is factoring for only doing one injector at a time plus other tasks. I looked at the tool instructions again and it says to power with 12v battery or minimum 2 amp supply to run it. So that's making it sound like 1 amp minimum to run an injector, but maybe they're not factoring for peak power. So maybe I should try what you said next time I get it working. Best way to find out I guess. Nice, having the multiple connections will be good. I think this is a cool project to do. Gives you a great tool, and practice with custom mounting fuel rails.

[@JOATJESSE]

It'd be interesting to know how you wired the computer power supply. I have my assumptions but I've been wrong before. Sweet setup. I was looking at buying a unit but the $250 units all seem to have issues leaking and your setup seems to do the job. I will now gather what I have and see how cheap I can also do it for. Here is some constructive comments and suggestions. 1. Pickle jar seems a little difficult to remove. Would a plastic container be less worry and fine for mineral spirits? 2. Maybe using wingnuts for the intake manifold flange would make swapping a little quicker and maintain the ability for different length injectors. 3. Any mods needed for high vs low impedance injectors? 4. Maybe I missed it but a fuel gage could be useful with your adjustable fpr so you can ensure you test base pressure for idle and increased pressure for forced induction systems. 5. Trivial comment is the lumber seems untreated. 6. How about a piece of 1.5 or 2 inch thick foam board knotched (kind of like you knotched the angle iron) for the bottles to stay in place? Cut away the front so you can see all of the glass from dead on but keep it partially circular so the glass bottles don't move. Foam may squeak with the glass if it rattles and could sound annoying...there would be alternatives or ways around it that you're more than capable of figuring out. 7. Do you want a chamber with filter to ensure no crud makes it into the pump and back into the fuel system? Mayne you already have a filter directly off the pump sitting in the bottom of the jar. 8. As you probably know...the 1" line you get with the 1 long burst and 16 shorts is relative to fuel pressure and injector size so it won't always be 1". I imagine you were just pointing out that you played with it to get the combination which brings you to 1" for this specific fuel system at a static fuel pressure. I'm sure I'd have more comments or questions but my bed is calling me. Thanks for the idea and how dare you mislead people who want a $59.99 (with tax included) lego kit with instructions, labeled parts, and a QR code to a video showing assembly....wait...it just can't come pre-assembled? Temu will come to those peoples rescue and the poor quality won't matter since it likely won't ever get used. Oh yeah...sleep. Make it a great day.

[@DesertRatRacer]

Thanks for all the questions I'll do my best to answer them all. As far as I know with the power supply the main thing is just to separate all the power leads you can use. I set mine up putting all the same 12v sources together. Basically separating each 12v rail I believe. I'm still iffy and how that is setup inside, so didn't want to connect different rails together. Then just combined sets of grounds together. There is normally one wire that allows it to turn on so that wire is hooked to a switch. Then the 3v and 5v wires I capped off and there was a few extras I didn't need either. Using the info label on the side of the power supply will explain the wire colors as far as power If I remember right, but I found a schematic online for that power supply or similar that help me figure out the rest. Here is a link to a short Instagram video I did that goes over the basics. instagram.com/p/Ct0RcK_vpzn/ I'm glad you appreciate the setup. I had no idea there was leaking problems with the prebuilt units. Honestly I think this could be done for half of what I spent or less now that I know more. 1. I think the pickle jar isn't too bad. Basically just the connections in the lid and the hose clamp is pretty easy to remove. I honestly wanted to go the plastic route because less chance of breaking but in the time crunch I was in the pickle jar was the best thing I could find. The glass jar is really solid compared to the plastic options, so It has that going for it. Probably could have done a smaller tank and spent less on mineral spirits too. The mineral spirits comes in a #2 plastic bottle I believe but I might need to double check that. There are charts online about how well each material holds up to mineral spirits. 2. Wingnuts would probably work good too especially to speed things up without needing tools. I had zero issue using a deep dish socket though. 3. I'm sure you would need to look at a different electrical controllers then the one I used if you were using low impedance injectors. The electrical setup to those are more complicated then the high impedance injectors I used. 4. Yea I wanted to hook a gauge up to the fpr but didn't find the one I had at the time. I meant to add some pressure to the boost reference on the regulator also to test for pressure change, but completely forgot. Although the fpr main chamber and the fuel rail is all basically one chamber, so the pressure taken at the fuel rail I believe would be the same as the pressure at the fpr. 5. Yea it was just standard 2x4 for the sides. Pressure treated would be better probably, but I was struggling to find nice pieces without cracks. Definitely something to consider if done again. The bottom was part of an old tv tray. 6. The foam board is an interesting option. That or something similar could make the bottles even more secure. 7. The pump had a standard screen on it but I had a standard fuel filter I wanted to use, but didn't realize it was the wrong size for 3/8 line till I was putting it together, So I just cleaned everything really good and hoped for the best. So that's something I want to add in the future as well. 8. Yea fuel pressure will definitely change the flow amount, so that is a good point. Honestly wasn't even thinking about that part. I just set it to 40 psi and ran with it. So if I tested those again with a different pressure the 1in mark reference would need reevaluated. You're welcome for the idea. Lol, I'm going to have to live with the shame of misleading people apparently. I should have stated you will also need a place to work, electricity, basic tools, free time, food to power your body... etc. That's the hard part. Yes, have a good day too.

[@JOATJESSE]

@DesertRatRacer I love the recycling ♻️ aspect of the TV tray, pickle jar, etc. Having the pickle jar with a rigid metal lid is a pretty solid setup instead of flimsy plastic. I was thinking the XL size of peanut butter jar from Sam's or other bulk store but we have those same pickle jars on hand. The comic relief at the end got me laughing. Thanks for all the responses.

[@DesertRatRacer]

no problem, happy to talk car stuff. It’s cool to make or fix something that would be trash to most. The mineral spirits was #2 plastic I double checked. I noticed a protein powder container was #2 plastic in my search, but most food stuff appears to be #1 plastic.

[@jameskim62]

Very Nice !!!!~~~~~~~~

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@jameskim62 thanks, took a little longer than expected to make, but it should be a nice tool to have around.

[@1magnit]

What fluid are you using? Does it flow the same volume as flowing with real fuel?

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@1magnit I’m using mineral spirits. Here is a link below with a time stamp to that part of the video. I had talked to a tech at aeromotive and he said this is what they use to bench test their fuel pumps and knew of others using for injectors. I believe it flows very similar for basic testing like I did in the video, but if you wanted super accurate flow numbers, maybe there is better options, but I’m not really sure. I heard about some other alternatives that manufactures possibly use, but I don’t remember them right off. If you google search what to use you will see quite a few options. m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5rUYaGHa9V9ma8&t=7m39s

[@1magnit]

@@DesertRatRacer I've done back to back tests with real fuel and every other fluid flows a different volume, all less.

[@aaronleiter9009]

Mind posting a link to injector tester you utilized?

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@aaronleiter9009 no problem, it still has the additional 5% off too. a.co/d/hk6Imiq

[@thefallenone7988]

I thought that the big thing was to check on the spray pattern.

[@DesertRatRacer]

Could be used to do a visual inspection of the spray pattern. Check for clogs, etc. I was able to confirm the ones I had were dual come, and they all appeared to be spraying fully and similar.

[@joansparky4439]

dang, was expecting this to be for diesel (180 bar) and not gasoline.. ah well.. nice job anyway

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@joansparky4439 thanks, sorry for the shame. The possible problems from this sketched me out enough. I couldn’t even imagine if it was diesel. 😂

[@stephenharris1450]

Why not just replace spark plugs, coil packs, and injectors after... say around 200k miles? 😢😮

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@stephenharris1450 this is just for testing / trouble shooting items. Main reason I made it right now is I bought those injectors and the regulator used, and wanted to test them before the return window closed. It will be some time before they actually go on the car.

[@Sunspot-19]

Throwing parts at a car is not using diagnostics to determine the cause a run problem. That is expensive and never answers the question, why. Why a problem exists needs answered. 1. condition 2. cause 3. Correct 4. Confirm That is the proper approach for a good repair.

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@Sunspot-19 I can agree with some preventative maintenance, but totally agree with you. Need to diagnose the problem before you just start throwing parts at stuff.

[@Rebel635csi]

“Hey guys I built this 1000whp engine for $50… oh yea I had everything lying around and just needed a few fittings hence price of $50” Seriously???? That’s not how that works my man. That regulator, if it was a China unit is still $40. Misc an fittings even bought on aliexpress are gonna add up to $40 minimum.

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@Rebel635csi yes, seriously that’s how it worked. You can buy used AN fittings and even get them for free, but I explained in the video this could be done with hose clamps. AN fittings were left over in my dads stuff. Also explained in the video the regulator is part of what was being tested, and you could hardline that part if you don’t need to test a regulator. So regulator isn’t part of the test bench price. Technically you need fuel injectors to run the test too, but they’re for the car, and not part of the test bench price either. Intake manifold free scrap from someone I help sell some cars for years ago. Angle iron, measuring tape, strong tie, and hardware free from someone I met that was moving. Glass jars $4, pickle jar… leftover after eating pickles. Felt from inside a safe I got for free. Met the dude to talk about an Rv, let with a truckload of stuff. Fuel line $8 with coupon. Fuel pump and glue for free from a guy having a yard sale, and wanted me to take a bunch of stuff. Fuel rail left over from a Mark VIII I scrapped out for profit over 10 years ago. Funnel free from someone who was giving away car ramps, ended up getting multiple truck loads of stuff for free. Shelf parts / 2x4 free from side of road. Power supply from computer I scraped out and profited from. Grommets, wire, and electrical connectors… Most free or left over from scrapped cars or projects…. The electric control was the most expensive at $23 ish, and that can be made from spare parts too. I counted the cost of the test fluid at $19 ish, which wasn’t necessary for raw test bench price. It’s not hard to find deals or stuff for free if you’re looking for it. I would also assume most people tacking a project like this will have stuff laying around like extra hose clamps, screws, scrap wood, and metal. Can easily get on a local Facebook community page and ask if anyone has a spare / broken intake manifold laying around. Knowing what I know know I could do this for even cheaper. Probably in the $30 range and make something very similar.

[@Rebel635csi]

@@DesertRatRacer I’m not reading that wall of text. If I go and buy something with my Amex points and it doesn’t cost me anything do I get to say “it was free”? No.

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@Rebel635csi You had brought up points that were clearly explained in the video. So I made sure to respond in full detail on everything so it was clear where every part came from, and how it’s possible to get things for free or cheap. I’m not sure why you’re now bringing up credit card points. No where did I factor points into my total spend, but either way I’d count points more in the discount / rebate category that you just receive later. Similar to the $5 discount card I used to buy the fuel line. It wasn’t free but lowered total cost of the Fuel Injector Tester.

[@stevewiley3832]

Anyone doing the type of work on a car where injector flow matters usually has this stuff sitting around. If you haven't swapped a intermittent fuel pump (that would be great for use here), then are you really a "car guy"?

[@DesertRatRacer]

@@stevewiley3832 I agree, all is pretty basic stuff to come across. I am looking forward to testing used pumps before I install on a vehicle, hopefully avoiding some intermittent pumps or similar. 😎🙌

[@246alfa]

Я 15 лет конструирую стенды для чистки инжекторов. Сейчас работаю на давлениях до 270 Бар. Быкладывать технологии как то не хочется. Старые видео можно посмотреть нажав на ник.

[@DesertRatRacer]

very nice.