-> I scored a sweet deal on some used 24 lb/hr injectors. They're kinda -> grungy though. Got any idea where to find an ultrasonic cleaner for -> cheap? Maybe beat up a dentist? :-)Excellent!
The best price I've seen as at a "Service Merchandise" store a few years ago, somewhere around $150. I passed, though I've wished I'd gone ahead and bought it.
You can clean the outside of the injector with gasoline or 'mineral spirits' paint thinner. Coleman fuel would probably work well also. The usual injector-cleaning method feeds fuel backwards while cycling the injector to break any deposits loose. If you have or can borrow an extra fuel pump you can use a pair of alligator clips or (preferably) an injector connector, available from Pep Boys or the junkyard. You can cycle the injector with a pushbutton switch and a car battery. This tries to break off stuff behind the pintle and in the filter screen inside the injector. Supposedly the filter screens are removeable, though I've not had any luck getting them out without destroying them. Commercial testers buzz the injector at different frequencies and pressures, but just cycling it while running fuel backwards will do a useful job.
Be careful when attaching the fuel line to the injector; use a good worm drive hose clamp, and it'd be a decent idea to put a plastic bag or something over the injector and use a return hose to the solvent supply. If the hose pops off the injector you don't want it spraying fuel all over the garage.
If any of the O-rings are snagged Ford has replacement O-ring kits, though those might be NAPA/Pep Boys items nowadays.
You can tell if there are deposits on the pintle or seat area visually, by the deformed spray cone. You can test for equal volume from all injectors by spraying into a Coke bottle using a stop watch. The injector shouldn't leak when closed. The little plastic caps Ford likes are a mystery to me; of the bucketful of injectors I have, only the Ford marked ones have the caps. I *think* replacements are available from Ford, but aftermarket ones usually don't use them at all, as far as I know.
A pump, battery, and bucket is pretty low tech, but it'll do everything you need. It'll even tell you the flow rate if you use a stopwatch a container of known volume, and a pressure regulator.
If you decide not to do it yourself, some larger repair shops, particularly
those specializing in emissions repair, have their own injector cleaning
stations now. The equipment is widely available now, not like the old days
when shops had to fabricate their own equipment. The prices from the boutique
shops reflect the bad old days.
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