Hey guys, ts v6 here

Had my injectors ultrasonically cleaned 2 months ago, and my mechanic tells me their blocked again, he showed me them and I don't get it, can bad petrol cause this? Or do I need to start digging around pumps/tanks etc?

Change the fuel filter, perhaps? Cut the old one open, have a look at what sort of crud is coming up from the fuel tank.

No need to open it.
Give the filter a good shake with the ends blocked, thumb and second finger, than slap the inlet end against an open palm.
It helps if try to lose as little fuel as you can when unplugging it.
If the filter has done it's job the fuel will be grey/ black and and all the dirt will end up in your palm.
Replace it. If the fuel is fairly clean, just shake and darin and reinstall it .


This was the procedure in the last Merc shop I worked in.
Every 10km service.
We would disconnect the filter and give it the above test to see whether it was worth replacing.
The boss was into preventive maintanence.

Also is the engine burning oil?
Might be worth checking the spark plugs.

Nah engines not burning a single drop, after the last incident mal fixed it all up and despite him saying it would probably burn a little it hasnt used any and I been checking once a week some times twice and nothing lost.

But thanks for the tips on filter, think ill just replace it and be done with it, every time I come accross a problem I find it easier to buy new genuine parts rather then try to fix existing ones - having said that its certainly an expensive route on such an old engine

Not a prob replacing it but when you take the old filter out, do that test to see what colour the fuel is. This may be a clue as to why your injectors are blocked.

What I should have mentioned before is , after doing above test, stick the inlet side in your mouth and blow.
All being good the air should flow through and you will be left with " petrol lips".
Cheers. :)

Injectors blocked can be a vague comment. Are they blocked on the inside where the fuel flows thru the small filter thats in them or are they getting the ends dirtied up with crud and muck from a dirty air intake and crancase blowby from the PCV system?
Normally not too much gets past the main filter. Is there a hole in it maybe? Vee

The boss was into preventive maintanence.

Thats what a service schedule is for ie:change things as required by the manufacturer.. That prevents untimely failure. Vee

Still don't know exactly what's wrong with it, gonna get it checked out monday and see whats actually causing it but gonna replace fuel filter just in case, cause that's my nature - I see a possible problem I fix it before it is a definite problem

Thats what a service schedule is for ie:change things as required by the manufacturer.. That prevents untimely failure. Vee

Yes of course your right about service intervals but with a 40,000km interval for the fuel filter it doesn't hurt to check it every 10,000km.

You don't know where the car has been, the quality of the fuel or the condition of the tank.

That's real preventive maintenance.

Likewise giving the air filter element a good shake out.