In the event that you are informed of unusual signs on your car, you are right to be concerned, because a car represents a huge annual budget and unexpected breakdowns don’t reduce the costs. So what if you feel as if you have a leaking injector on your Nissan Xterra? You most likely figured it out thanks to black/oily drips along your engine motor, or a troubled idle, or unconventional black smoke. These three manifestations are the main indicators of a leaking injector. As this failure can lead to more severe engine concerns on your car, we decided to write this article to help you ensure the failure of a leaking injector and handle it correctly. To do so, we will first take a look at the circumstance of gasoline injectors and then at those of diesel injectors Nissan Xterra.
Leaking injector on my petrol Nissan Xterra
It is essential to know that the injectors on petrol and diesel engines are different, the reality is, the difference in combustion between these two types of engines makes the injection different. The essential difference lies in the pressure undergone by the injectors, on a petrol engine it will vary between 3.5 bars for indirect injection and 120 bars for indirect injection.
Leaking injector on a petrol Nissan Xterra: The different leaks
It should be said that injector leaks on a Nissan Xterra equipped with a petrol engine are pretty rare. This is resulting from the much lower pressure in the petrol intake systems. However, there are two types of leaks:
- Leakage from the top of the injector:
It is plausible that you have a leak from the top of the injector, this is the component that is attached to the fuel rail, an O-ring will be involved in this. - Leak injector of the lower part:
At last, you may suffer a leak coming from the lower part of the injector of your car, this one will appear from the junction with the engine and not with the rail as seen before.
Leaking injector on my diesel Nissan Xterra
Unlike petrol engines, which have spark combustion, diesel engines run on compression. This combustion system creates very high pressure in the engine, as do the injectors. On these models, the pressure is more than 10 times higher than on the direct injection of car petrol engines, reaching 1800 to 2000 bars.
Leaking injector on diesel Nissan Xterra: The different leaks
In the circumstance of leaking diesel injectors on your Nissan Xterra, there are three several types of leaks:
- Leakage from the injector inlet:
In cases like this, it is an inlet pipe that will deform after a while, in most cases the leak will be at the clamping point. - Injector return leakage:
As its name indicates, this leakage relates to the management of the fuel return in the injector, this time the injector that leaks on your Nissan Xterra will be a consequence of an O-ring or its plastic tip that leaks. - Injector base leak:
This injection leak is one of the most bothersome, it is the junction between the engine and the injector nose that leaks at a copper seal, you should experience an air noise and a compression loss. - If after verifying you have oil leaking but it does not come from your injectors, we recommend you to read this article on the existence of oil leaking on your Nissan Xterra.
Leaking injector on my Nissan Xterra, how to fix the leak
And to finish, we’re going to take a look at how to fix a leaking injector on your car. Frequently a leak is linked, as we have seen prior to this, to a worn seal as a result of the pressures suffered. But think that the pressure in the circuit is enormous, specifically on diesel engines. So you will have to take some precautions:
- Lower the pressure before any work is done…
- Masking you to avoid the risk of fuel spillage
- NEVER work on a running diesel engine injector.
Relating to the repair part of your leak, it will very often be limited to changing the seals that have failed:
- Find the source of the leak
- Dismantle the injector in question
- Change the corresponding seal kit
- Reassemble the assembly and tighten with a torque wrench in respect with the manufacturer’s standards.
In all situations, these interventions are not inevitably difficult, but if you have the slightest doubt in the treatment of your injector that leaks on your Nissan Xterra, we recommend you to get closer to your mechanic to avoid any bad handling that could severely harm the condition of your Nissan Xterra.
In the event that you have any further questions about the Nissan Xterra, do not hesitate to consult our Nissan Xterra category.
