Tried to save a buck on a 6.0 Powerstroke injector and it bit me hard

So my buddy's truck was down with a dead injector, and I figured I'd help him out. He was looking at the price of a Motorcraft one and almost choked, so we went with this cheaper brand I found online, 'DuraMax Pro' or something. Got it in, truck fired up and ran... for about 20 miles. Then it started sounding like a bag of hammers and dumping raw fuel into the cylinder. Pulled it back out and the solenoid coil was already cooked, and the spray pattern looked awful. I felt like a real jerk for trying to cut corners. Lesson learned the hard way: on something that critical, you just can't cheap out. It cost us more in the end for the tow and the proper part. Has anyone else had a brand new part fail that fast on a high-pressure system?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_alex1mo ago

Wait, it only made it 20 miles before it completely blew up? That's insane, even for a cheap part. I've seen off-brand stuff fail early, but that's like it was built to self-destruct. Did it even look like a real injector when you pulled it, or was it just a hunk of junk metal?

alexf991mo ago

Did you check the O-ring before you put it in? I've seen cheap ones crack and cause a leak that blows the whole thing.

taylor.brooke14d ago

But come on, a leak from a bad O-ring "blows the whole thing"? That seems a bit much. It might spray some fluid and make a mess, but total failure from just that one seal feels like an overstatement. @the_alex has a point about parts being built to self-destruct, but even then, a single cracked ring is usually a small part of a bigger problem. More likely it was already a junk part and the O-ring was just the first sign.

wendym871mo ago

Yeah, some of those knockoff parts are basically just for show. I had one that looked fine on the outside, but the inside seal was already crumbling straight out of the box. Makes you wonder what they're even made of, right?