M42 - Fuel Injector Pictures, How dirty is too dirty?

[wake74]

After fighting the lower manifold (318ti) and the infamous squid all afternoon (why would anyone run all the engine cables through the intake, so much for German engineering) in an effort to swap the temp sender, I was able to take a look at my injectors. I never did get the squid all the way off, but I think I can now move my lower manifold enough to do the temp sender plus the plastic coolant.

I have no fuel injector DIY experience, as all previous toy cars were old fashion carb type cars. Are these too dirty to reinstall? I see Rock Auto has GB refurbished ones for $28 ea (Pelican $44) , but new ones are about $100.

See below pictures, I find it odd that #1 and #4 look clean, and #2/3 are pretty dirty.

Any thoughts? Anything I can do to clean these up a bit myself (Pelican has a DIY guide on their site), or I am looking at either replacement or sending them out to pro-cleaning service?

Thanks!

Glenn

[Slowered318]

My guess is that 2 and 3 are extra dirty because of the infamous valve cover to intake oil vapours. I just pulled my injectors today and all 4 look as dirty as yours, it really shouldn't affect the performance as the pintle part looks to be clear. Maybe you should send them out to be cleaned and flow tested anyways and get new seals. While you're waiting you can clean the intake manifold and all the other components. I planned ahead and ordered refurbished injectors (slightly different style in my case), I'm pretty excited to see how she runs.