I replaced a fuel injector and apparently the lower o-ring didn't seat. It idled poorly for a few seconds and died with a loud poofing sound. I tried to restart it and it sounded like a dead battery cranking just a little. Then I realized what happened.

I pulled the sparkplug and cranked it to evacuate the cylinder. I shot 2 wads of fuel 10 feet in the air. I reinstalled the injector with a new lower o-ring, more vasoline on it, and some in the rail pocket this time. The injector actually came with 2 lower o-rings almost as if this frequently happens.

The car restarted and ran crappily for about 30 seconds, but finally straightened itself out. I took it around the block and it seems to be running good without unusual sounds now. I even floored it to see if it would grenade with more power.

Has anyone else had a fuel injector lower o-ring fail to seat after reinstallation? Does anyone think I may have damaged or reduced the life of my engine? After an injector replacement, should you run the engine with that sparkplug out and new fuel injector disconnected for a few seconds to be sure this doesn't happen in the future?

Thanks.

 

No it's good. Fuel compresses water doesn't

 

You are probably right that I didn't damage the motor since it was producing almost no power. I'm still paranoid about possibly reducing its life.

Fuel vapor does compress easily. But the incompressability of liquid fuel and water are virtually the same. Either one has the potential to do catastrophic damage to an engine. In fact, that is why drag race engines sometimes grenade, they are always operating at the edge of hydrolocking on fuel.

 

I doubt you did any damage. Drain the oil and look for metal particles.