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Methodology for the repair of Denso Common Rail solenoid injectors

Article  in  Eksploatacja i Niezawodnosc - Maintenance and Reliability · January 2014

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 Article citation info:
Stoeck T, Osipowicz T, Abramek KF. Methodology for the repair of Denso Common Rail solenoid injectors. Eksploatacja i Niezawodnosc – Main-
tenance and Reliability 2014; 16 (2): 270–275.

Tomasz Stoeck
Tomasz Osipowicz
Karol Franciszek Abramek

Methodology for the repair of

Denso Common Rail solenoid injectors
Metodyka naprawy wtryskiwaczy elektromagnetycznych
układów zasilania Common Rail Denso*
This paper presents the problems of Denso Common Rail solenoid injector verification and repair. Due to conscious policy of the
manufacturer who does not offer spare parts or special tooling, their servicing comes down most frequently to external cleaning,
internal rinsing by the thermo-chemical method, and testing on test benches. Based on the analysis of failures and malfunctions
being most frequently observed, own methodology for the repair process have been presented, specifying the successive stages of
disassembly and final assembly. A possibility of effective fuel metering correction has been demonstrated, which is presented on
the example of injectors in a 2.2 HDI engine of Citroën Jumper II delivery van.
Keywords: compression-ignition engine, injectors, repair, adjustment.

W artykule przedstawiono problematykę weryfikacji i naprawy wtryskiwaczy elektromagnetycznych Common Rail firmy Denso. Ze
względu na świadomą politykę producenta, który nie oferuje części zamiennych i specjalistycznego oprzyrządowania, ich obsługa
sprowadza się najczęściej do czyszczenia zewnętrznego, płukania wewnętrznego metodą termochemiczną oraz testowania na
stołach probierczych. W oparciu o analizę najczęściej spotykanych uszkodzeń i niesprawności, zaprezentowano własną metodykę
procesu naprawy, z wyszczególnieniem kolejnych etapów demontażu oraz montażu końcowego. Wskazano na możliwość efektyw-
nej korekty dawkowania, którą pokazano na przykładzie wtryskiwaczy silnika 2,2 HDI pojazdu Citroën Jumper II.
Słowa kluczowe: silnik o zapłonie samoczynnym, wtryskiwacze, naprawa, regulacja.

1. Introduction [2, 3, 8, 10]. Therefore, the verification of respective parts is similar,

The Common Rail injectors are the most sensitive, i.e. damage- focusing in particular on evaluation of the wear of: needle, nozzle
able, elements of the fuel delivery system of modern car engines [7, 8, tip, guide plunger, control unit (valve, body, mounting). Figure 1 also
10]. This is chiefly due to exceptionally difficult operation conditions presents the elements which are taken into account when injector ad-
which may include, among others, high pressure and temperature, bal- justment is needed, i.e. pressure spindle (full load fuel charge) and
listic phenomena, turbulent fluid flow, etc. Defects appear as a result calibration and needle washers (pilot fuel charge and idle run fuel
of the normal wear of needle and nozzle assemblies and actua- charge, respectively).
tors, occurring usually after the time of longer operation or use
of considerable intensity. There are also defects being induced
by erosion and cavitation, in particular in the vicinity of nozzle
holes and control valve seat [1, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13]. In some cases,
however, hugely accelerated processes take place, leading to
premature damages. Failure wear, being also called pathologi-
cal wear, may occur due to the use of fuels with inappropriate
physicochemical properties (viscosity, density, water and sul-
phur content) and those being contaminated, for example, with
the filings from faulty high-pressure pump [2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12].
The external damages, resulting from the improper assembly
and disassembly of injectors being performed inconsistently
with the recommendations of manufacturer or without special-
Fig. 1. A diagram showing Denso solenoid injector
ist tools, e.g. slide tampers, hydraulic instruments, bench vices,
repair kits, torque wrenches, etc., are a separate group.
The principal objective of this study was to provide a cognitive,
factual evaluation of the repairability of Denso injectors, considering
2. Research objective the given assumptions, i.e. lack of access to spare parts and neces-
The Denso solenoid injectors are characterised by the design and sity to determine guidelines for respective disassembly and assembly
the principle of operation being similar to the Bosch first-generation stages. These processes required an adapter to be prepared for un-
products which have been comprehensively discussed in the literature screwing and screwing a nozzle nut which, due to wrench sizes, is not

(*) Tekst artykułu w polskiej wersji językowej dostępny w elektronicznym wydaniu kwartalnika na stronie www.ein.org.pl

270 Eksploatacja i N iezawodnosc – Maintenance and Reliability Vol.16, No. 2, 2014

 S cience and Technology

provided with the tooling being used when servicing injectors made 4. Test scope and methodology
by other manufactures. The second objective, of an utilitarian nature,
was to make an attempt to determine a method for the correction of Tests were conducted according to an own methodology adopted
fuel charge, the value of which was not within acceptable limits dur- which included three successive implementation stages (Fig. 2).
ing the tests being performed.

3. Test object and test bed

The test object were Denso solenoid injectors which had been
removed from a 2.2 HDI (High Pressure Direct Injection) engine
of Citroën Jumper II delivery van with the mileage of 148 thousand
km. It is a four-cylinder, 16-valve compression-ignition engine with
a maximum power of 88 kW, with Common Rail direct fuel injection
system. The repair of injectors was conducted on laboratory stands
at VASCO Co. Ltd in Mierzyn near Szczecin, co-operating with the
Department of Automotive Engineering of the West Pomeranian Uni-
versity of Technology (ZUT) in Szczecin. The following tests were
used in this process:
• test benches (Diesel Bench CRU 2 Zapp, Diesel Tech DS2
Zapp),
• FL150/70 microscope with a camera for recording digital im-
ages on a PC-class computer,
Fig. 2. Methodology for the repair of injectors being analysed
• MIC-40700 LCR meter,
• Flexbar IP54 digital micrometer,
• ultrasonic cleaners (Elma Elmasonic S 10 H, Carbon Tech Ul- The steps included in respective stages match the standard Bosch
trasonic Bath S15/C2), procedures. The basic difference is the third step of repair introduced
• GRS Tools POWER HONE diamond grinder, by the manufacturer, basing on the equipment and instrumentation
• vices and injector disassembly and assembly kits, dedicated solely for own products. A distinctive feature of the current
• torque wrenches. technology in operation is earlier adjustment of injectors in order to
obtain correct results on a test bench. The methodology being pre-

Table 1. Examples of the most frequent external damages of Denso injectors

Type of Type of Possible

part defect causes
Incorrect assembly on or disassembly from engine (too strong tightening of
Cracking
the mounting yoke, no lubricant, wrong tools selected)
Deformation Incorrect assembly on or disassembly from engine; grinding of the surface is
Main
of shape required to aid injector mounting
body
Long-term operation of engine; fuelling with poor quality fuels or those with
Contamination, coking high level of vegetable component; combustion of lubricating oil due to
scavenge phenomena
Deformation
of shape Incorrect assembly on or disassembly from engine (tightening the injection
High pressure connector
Thread pipe nut with too high torque, strong impact)
damage
Damages to plastic housing Incorrect assembly on or disassembly from engine
Damage Incorrect assembly or disassembly (tightening with too high torque, wrong
Control to nut tools selected)
solenoid Damage to electrical con-
valve Incorrect assembly or disassembly of feeder cable plug
nection
Damage to overflow pipe
Incorrect assembly or disassembly
and connector
Nozzle tip
Overheating; unauthorised cleaning
damage
Long-term operation of engine; fuelling with poor quality fuels or those with
Contamination, coking high level of vegetable component; combustion of lubricating oil due to
Nozzle scavenge phenomena
Nozzle tip
Long-term and intensive operation of engine, fuelling with poor quality fuels
burning
Deformation Long-term operation of engine; fuelling with poor quality fuels; high com-
of holes bustion temperatures; erosion and cavitation processes

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 S cience and Technology

Table 2. Preset test parameters when measuring injector delivery rate

Set value of injection fuel Set value of return fuel

Type of fuel Injection Injection time
charge charge
charge Pressure [MPa] [μs]
[mg/skok] [mg/skok]
Full load 160 910 47,74 ± 6,93 32,90 ± 32,90
Emission (half-load) 80 720 18,28 ± 4,20 25,00 ± 25,00
Idle run 25 710 3,90 ± 1,84 15,00 ± 15,00
Pilot 80 320 1,84 ± 1,22 15,00 ± 15,00

sented is a classic approach based on the long-standing workshop and and entering them into the memory of test benches in order to carry
laboratory practice but being possible to use in a much broader scope. out the measuring stage.
It assumes a correction of fuel charges only after the results of initial The washing of injectors in ultrasonic cleaners was carried out so
test stage have been obtained. Furthermore, successive stages may be that control solenoid valves were not immersed in the cleaning fluid.
modified as required, enabling the repair of solenoid injectors of dif- This is because the plastic housing may soften and insulation may be
ferent types and manufactures. In the case of the Denso products, it damaged. Duration of this process did not exceed 30 min. Next, the
was necessary to make an adapter for nozzle nut. injectors were dried and purged with compressed air.
The procedure of initial test was started checking the solenoid coil
4.1. Stage I resistance and inductance and its fault to frame. This testing should
First of all, the injectors were prepared to initial test. After their be treated as a supplementary (additional) one because inspection
removal from the engine, the injectors were evaluated by visual as- of injectors on test benches includes within its scope basic electrical
sessment and completeness check of components. Examples of ex- measurements. It should also be noted that defects of the element un-
ternal damages, detectable in this stage, are summarised in Table 1. der discussion in Denso products have been occasionally encountered
Next, theirs were identified, reading the numbers on the main body during several years of practice, which does not find confirmation in

Table 3. Examples of the most frequent internal damages of Denso injectors

Type of part Type of defect Possible causes

Scratching or deformation Too large half-ball travel; poor fuel quality and fuel contamination; improper
of valve seat filtration; presence of solids (faulty pump); erosion and cavitation processes
Scratching of valve spindle Poor fuel quality (lubricating ability) and fuel contamination; improper filtra-
surface tion; presence of solids (faulty pump)
Control valve unit
Damages to the surface of Poor fuel quality and fuel contamination; improper filtration; presence of
valve body and mounting solids (faulty pump); erosion and cavitation processes
Corrosion of the surface of
Poor fuel quality (sulphur and water)
valve body and mounting
Surface scratching or sei- Poor fuel quality (lubricating ability) and fuel contamination; improper filtra-
Guide zure tion; presence of solids (faulty pump)
plunger Surface
Poor fuel quality (sulphur and water)
corrosion
Seat Poor fuel quality and fuel contamination; improper filtration; presence of
deformation solids (faulty pump)
Worsening of the needle
and nozzle assembly coop- Abrasive wear as a result of natural processes
eration
Nozzle
Surface scratching or sei- Poor fuel quality (lubricating ability) and fuel contamination; improper filtra-
zure tion; presence of solids (faulty pump)
Pressure face corroding Poor fuel quality (sulphur and water)
Long-term and intensive operation of engine; too high temperature of
Contact zone overheating
operation
Worsening of the needle
and nozzle assembly coop- Abrasive wear as a result of natural processes
eration
Damage to needle cone
Poor fuel quality (lubricating ability) and fuel contamination; improper filtra-
Surface scratching or sei- tion; presence of solids (faulty pump)
Needle
zure
Surface
Poor fuel quality (sulphur and water)
corroding
Long-term and intensive operation of engine; too high temperature of
Contact zone overheating
operation

272 Eksploatacja i N iezawodnosc – Maintenance and Reliability Vol.16, No. 2, 2014

 S cience and Technology

the assessment being presented in the paper by Kuszewski and Us- tightening should be done with torques amounting to 10–15 Nm and
trzycki [11]. 45 Nm.
In injector measurements made on testers, the following initial Inspection of the injectors on test benches was carried out in a
tests were carried out: similar way to that for the initial test. Owing to that, a comparison of
• electrical test „eRLC” (Resistance, Inductance, Capacitance), the test results from before and after the repair was possible. Next, the
except the capacitance being checked for the products with pi- injectors were assembled on the engine, the operation of which was
ezoelectric elements, assessed during a test drive.
• leakage test „LKT” (Static Leak Test),
• nozzle opening pressure test „NOP” (Nozzle Opening Pressure), 5. Results and discussion
• volume test „iVM” (Injector Volume Metering) for respective fuel
charges, the parameters of which are summarised in Table 2. Evaluation of the injectors did not show any external defects or
missing components. After the preparation stage, initial tests were per-
4.2. Stage II formed, the results of which are summarised in Table 4 and Figures 4
and 5. Electrical measurements excluded a failure solenoid coils, while
To unscrew nozzle nuts, a special adapter was made, using a 30 no fault to frame in them was found in the supplementary test (outside
mm hexagonal iron (Fig. 3). This was a necessary condition to carry test bench) These findings were consistent with the guidelines being
out disassembly because adapters for injectors of other manufacturers presented by other authors [8, 9]. In the leakage tests, no fuel leaks on
have different dimensions. injector tips were found, while fuel overflow delivery rates were mini-
mal. Also the nozzle opening pressure was positively evaluated. Any
failures in this respect would induce an immediate termination of the
test stage, disqualifying a given injector from further tests.
Table 4. Results of the initial tests for the Denso injectors being analysed

Electrical test „eRLC” Nozzle open-

Injector Coil in- Leakage test ing pressure
number Coil resist- „LKT” [MPa] test „NOP”
ductance
ance [Ω] [MPa]
[μH]
1 0,54 181 81,80 16,00
2 0,72 184 82,70 18,50
3 0,55 179 90,30 15,50

Fig. 3. An adapter enabling nozzle nut to be unscrewed 4 0,72 179 86,80 16,00

When unscrewing the nut, a torque of 150 Nm should not be ex- The analysis of fuel delivery rate in the „iVM” test showed that
ceeded because the sealing surface may be permanently damaged and idle run fuel charges for injector 2 and 4 were too small, amounting to
the pins locating nozzle position against a fuel feed hole may be shorn. 1.78 mg/stroke and 1.94 mg/stroke, respectively. The results pointed
After this step, an access to the following elements was gained: nee- to the worsening of the needle and nozzle assembly co-operation,
dle, lower spring, needle washer, spindle ,and guide plunger. It should which became apparent only when setting low pressure on a tester.
be noted that any resistance occurring when removing the latter from Malfunction of this type is one of the most frequently detectable de-
the main body is evidence of permanent seizure and impossibility to fects, being also encountered in the products of other manufacturers,
repair the injector. but it is usually observed in the injectors of engines with a relatively
Before disassembling the upper part, scribing markings were low operational mileage. In such cases, a change in the initial stress of
made, locating the original position of control solenoid valve against a lower spring is required, which reduces the lift of needle at low pres-
high pressure connector. The unscrewing of nut enabled the following sure and in consequence the charge of injected fuel. The correction of
elements to be removed: valve shim and spring washer, upper spring, fuel charge is conducted by reducing needle washer thickness.
and half-ball valve. Access to the body and mounting, co-operating The process of disassembly was carried out for all products being
with the latter, required a special triple-bit wrench to be applied. analysed, mainly to wash and carefully verify their components. It
All parts, except solenoid valve, were rinsed in ultrasonic cleaners can, however, be simplified in the situation when only idle run fuel
and then dried and purged with compressed air. Their evaluation and charge adjustment is assumed, which requires the nozzle itself to be
verification was done by the visual method (organoleptic assessment), unscrewed and taken to pieces. Due to the fact that needle washer
as well as at high magnification of laboratory microscope. A sum- replacement is not possible, its butting face was ground off on a GRS
mary of the most frequent internal defects, detectable in this stage, is Tools POWER HONE grinder. An assumption was made, like in the
presented in Table 3. Possible correction of fuel charges should take case of Bosch injectors, that thickness reduction by 0.1 mm would
place after last stage, before assembling the injectors and carrying out allow obtaining an increase in fuel delivery rate by about 1,5 mg/
the main tests. stroke. The size of fuel charges in the products being positively evalu-
ated was also taken into account i order to obtain relatively similar
4.3. Stage III injection parameters. Therefore, the thickness of needle washers in
injectors 2 and 4 was reduced from 1.33 mm to 1.27 mm. Before as-
In the first instance, upper parts of the injectors were assembled, sembling, evaluation of all parts was made in a microscopic examina-
preserving the reverse order to disassembly. The tightening torque for tion, focusing in particular on the needle and nozzle assembly and
the valve body should not exceed 75 Nm. The mounting of half-ball actuators. No internal damages were detected.
is important so that its flat surface is outside the seat. It must also be The findings of main tests show that adjustment of the injec-
remembered that the original position of solenoid valve coil against a tors being repaired produced advantageous results (Figs 6 and 7).
high pressure connector is to be preserved. Threads for solenoid valve An increase in idle run fuel charges by a predicted value of 0.75 and
and nozzle nuts should be lubricated with white mineral oil and their

Eksploatacja i N iezawodnosc – Maintenance and Reliability Vol.16, No. 2, 2014 273

 S cience and Technology

Fig. 7. Differences in fuel injection and fuel return charge according to injec-
Fig. 4. Results for injected fuel delivery rate according to injection pressure tion pressure in the injectors being repaired
obtained from the initial test for the injectors being analysed
An intermediate effect on other fuel delivery rates was observed,
in particular reduction of the fuel amount on most overflows. In in-
jector 2, this effect occurred only with the full load, while for other
fuel charges (emission, idle run and pilot fuel charges) the increase
was negligibly small. In this respect, the repair process should be also
positively assessed because excessive amount of fuel on the return
might manifest in difficulties in starting the engine, its spontaneous
stoppage, and observable loss of power at different load ranges. In the
products being analysed, these problems should not be found. The test
results being obtained on test benches and the verification of parts, in
which other causes were excluded, e.g. damages to valve unit, loss of
internal leak-tightness, nozzle hole plugging, is evidence of this.

Fig. 5. Results for fuel return charge according to injection pressure obtained
from the initial test for the injectors being analysed

Fig. 8. Histogram of Denso solenoid injector repairs

Figure 8 presents the histogram of Denso solenoid injector re-

pairs in VASCO Co. Ltd which were performed in the time period
of October 2012 – February 2013. The data referring to the products
being acknowledged operational represent the unimodal distribution,
being characterised by a moderate right-side asymmetry. The obtained
results indicate a high efficiency of this process with mileage to 200
thousand km but in most cases a correction of idle run fuel charge
was necessary. Considerably less observations are grouped within the
Fig. 6. Results for fuel injection and fuel return charge according to injection ranges being found at the end of the series. This is because the repairs
pressure obtained from the initial test for the analysed injectors after become groundless with no spare parts, while the cleaning itself and
repair adjustment brought selective benefits only. As a consequence, it was
decided to limit acceptance of the injectors from motor-car engines
0.76  mg/stroke. This means an improvement in the co-operation of
with high operational mileage for repair.
needle and nozzle assembles because needles in both products stopped
to be blocked when setting low pressure. As a result, more fuel will
go to given cylinders of the drive unit, while the rotational speed will
not be lowered.

274 Eksploatacja i N iezawodnosc – Maintenance and Reliability Vol.16, No. 2, 2014

 S cience and Technology

6. Conclusions The proposed procedure methodology specifies the scope of ac-

tivities to which attention should be paid during the repair process.
The results of own study show that the repair of Denso Common Also, an adapter of own design has been presented, the making of
Rail injectors may be conducted but its efficient depends on many which allowed disassembling the nozzle unit. The obtained results
factors. A crucial issue is the initial condition, and more specifically have broaden the scope of Denso solenoid injector servicing, which is
the type of malfunction being found, which - with lack of spare parts usually reduced to external washing, internal cleaning and testing on
- may exclude a given product. This refers in particular to the needle test benches. However, it is noteworthy that, out of consideration for
and nozzle assembly and actuators, including control valve unit and the aforesaid limitations, correction of respective fuel charges is pos-
guide plunger. The workshop practice shows that application of the sible for motor-car engines with a relatively low mileage, so for those
substitute parts being found on the market is not is not indicated be- with no serious internal damages.
cause, in respect of their quality, they decidedly fall behind the origi-
nal elements, leading to accelerated (pathological) wear. A relatively
numerous group is also external damages, developing frequently when
disassembling or assembling the injectors which is performed without
the tooling required or not observing the servicing procedures.

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Tomasz Stoeck
Tomasz Osipowicz
Karol Franciszek Abramek
West Pomeranian University of Technology
The Department of Automotive Engineering
Piastów 19 St., 70-310 Szczecin, Poland
E-mails: tstoeck@wp.pl, tosipowicz@zut.edu.pl, kabramek@zut.edu.pl

Eksploatacja i N iezawodnosc – Maintenance and Reliability Vol.16, No. 2, 2014 275

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