Used to think you had to pull an injector with a slide hammer every time...

Was fighting a stuck injector in a 6.0 Powerstroke last week for like 2 hours. Kept trying to hammer and pry and nothing moved. My coworker Dave walks over, grabs a torch, heats the bore for maybe 45 seconds, and it comes out with my bare hands. I always thought heat would warp something or damage the head but he showed me the service manual actually recommends a localized heat cycle for seized injectors. Been doing it the hard way for 3 years lmao. Anyone else got a trick they fought against using for no good reason?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicebarnes5d ago

My buddy tried the torch trick on a 7.3 IDI and cracked the head right where the injector sleeve sits. Heat expands metal unevenly and that's a risk I'm not taking on a $2000 head. Ford says to use penetrating oil and a puller in the manual for a reason. The 6.0 head is already thin between the injector bore and the water jacket. 45 seconds of torch heat might work this time but if you do it on a head with some miles or corrosion you're gambling. I'll stick to the slide hammer and a lot of PB Blaster even if it takes 2 hours.

emma_young5d ago

My buddy Mike tried the heat trick on his 6.0 and ended up cracking the injector bore on a head that already had 180k miles on it. Cost him like $800 for a used head and a weekend of swapping it out just to save maybe an hour on the job. So I hear you @alicebarnes, sometimes taking the slow way is the smart way even if it hurts your ego.