Jim Blackwood
Well-known member
Well guys, it looks like we have a problem. About a year ago I noticed that the sources for the fuel injector for the 1.3L engine had dried up. Now the same appears to be true for the 1.6L 8v engine. Only thing I've seen are ads for a $400 used injector which may be just as bad as the one you pull out, and a rebuild service which won't be able to do anything about the wear.
So for those running the TBI, has your idle yet started to burble? Have you noticed a need to floor it on a hot start yet? If you haven't, you will. Like all mechanical parts the injector has a finite life span and it will wear out. Those are the starting symptoms but it gets much worse, eventually leading to things like hydrolocking the engine and bending rods to say nothing of the poor economy.
What can we do about it?
I wasn't too surprised about the TBI 1.3L, there may not be that many of them worldwide but I was frankly caught off guard by the 1.6L as I'm pretty sure the numbers were a good bit higher. If there truly is no longer a source maybe we should be thinking about approaching the original manufacturer to see what it would take to have a limited production run put out by them. Anybody have any contacts that could lead in that direction?
Jim
So for those running the TBI, has your idle yet started to burble? Have you noticed a need to floor it on a hot start yet? If you haven't, you will. Like all mechanical parts the injector has a finite life span and it will wear out. Those are the starting symptoms but it gets much worse, eventually leading to things like hydrolocking the engine and bending rods to say nothing of the poor economy.
What can we do about it?
I wasn't too surprised about the TBI 1.3L, there may not be that many of them worldwide but I was frankly caught off guard by the 1.6L as I'm pretty sure the numbers were a good bit higher. If there truly is no longer a source maybe we should be thinking about approaching the original manufacturer to see what it would take to have a limited production run put out by them. Anybody have any contacts that could lead in that direction?
Jim