Colorado Injector Problems

Status
Not open for further replies.
V

vossman

Joined
Oct 13, 2005
Messages
32
Location
Oklahoma City
Need some advice... I have a 2006 Colorado 2.8 4 cylinder with about 43,000 miles (I affectionately call it the [censored] now) that I have run nothing other than top tier fuel in, run Chevron Techron Cleaner through about every 8-10K miles (4 times per my records) and in October had severe difficulty getting it to start when cold or driven just a short trip and restarted.

Took it to the dealer and they put a can of BG 44K in and said that would clean it up. Drove it on a 500 mile highway trip with BG in the tank. Next day the vehicle wouldn't even start. Had to tow it to the dealer!!! They diagnosed it as severely clogged injector and used some sort of pressurized cleaner through the fuel line to clean it. This was at 39,000 miles. Been running top tier fuel since, and have run a 20 oz. bottle of Techron through it since.

Now having similar difficult start up problems (won't fire, then acts flooded). Should I bother taking it back or just replace all the injectors? RockAuto.com sells injectors from a different manufacturer so I would opt for those. Help!
 
I would let GM handle it under warranty and I would make my frustration know. GM injector issues are NOT a new problem. This is actually one reason I wont own another GM product. Maybe start using the 44k or redline sl-1 on your own. I personally have not had very good luck with techron, but have with both redline and BG products.
 
top tier fuel, and records of your adding fuel cleaner, it seems to me its time for the dealer to step up and replace the fuel injectors.

If you have warranty, if not replace them yourself as you planned
 
My 98 sits for months at a time and I've never run into any injector issues.

I do run fp60 and tend to dose with a mix of stabil and 2- stroke oil.

Squeaky clean emissions too...
 
I've called GM and battled through their so-called customer service and the answer they finally gave me was to "contact your dealer". So I guess I will do so. I've had multiple warranty repairs on this vehicle of all sorts, so tired of GM's lack of quality. And I'm leery of replacing junk GM injectors with junk GM injectors and want to avoid future headaches. The optional injectors on RockAuto are made by Standard Motor Products (www.smpcorp.com) Does anybody know anything of their products?
 
Originally Posted By: DieselTech
I would let GM handle it under warranty and I would make my frustration know. GM injector issues are NOT a new problem. This is actually one reason I wont own another GM product. Maybe start using the 44k or redline sl-1 on your own. I personally have not had very good luck with techron, but have with both redline and BG products.



I have NEVER heard of GM having injector problems other than the early 90's poppet nozzel system which really doesn't count as a MPI setup.
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
If you have 43,000 on it and have never replaced the fuel filter, replace the fuel filter first and drive it. It might be the only problem.



Good idea. I think the op may have gotten some real bad gas to cause that much problems. I mean, after the BG44 treatment that may have disapated some of the crud only to reform and clog again.
 
there is no replaceable fuel filter on the Colorado. I believe it is part of the fuel pump assembly (this is per the GM dealer) There isn't an external one anywhere and no part #.

SrDriver, I did try in earnest to trade on a very similar new Tacoma, they will give only $7000 for mine (at that time 38,000 miles) and around 10 grand to trade. The Toyota dealer said, "well, we can sell it, but you know, it maybe isn't the most reliable vehicle". I agree completely. Thought I had the bugs all fixed on it, but apparently not.

I wouldn't wish this heap of GM junk on anyone, and all I've ever driven is small Chevy pickups. This one is by far the poorest quality. Seems to have been purposely built cheaply and with quality control all but ignored.
 
another question... if I remove the injectors, is it feasible or even possible to have them bench tested to find the culprit (assuming its just one) and then replace or should I just swap out all 4? Cost of 4 new injectors $400-ish.
 
Last edited:
Techron is a quality product with PEA being the primary active ingredient. PEA is the only truly effective gasoline detergent at both eliminating carbon build up on various fuel system parts without leaving its own residue behind. Nothing else beats PEA as a gasoline detergent.
 
I would not replace the injectors just yet. Injector flow can be easily check on the car by the dealer. SMP injectors wouldn't be better than the OE ones anyway. Some of the Colorados had a TSB for bad exhaust valve springs that could cause misfiring and needed a new head. I think you need to find a good Chevy dealer and have them fix the problem.
 
I too, would push on the dealer to fix under warranty. but I wouldn't spend much cash on them. As far as the Toyota salesman, I have been in sales, and I consider it in poor taste to cut on others' products.

to answer your question about fuel injector testing, I have not used this place, but here is an example of a service that may help: www.cruzinperformance.com
 
Like GMBoys said, that's the first FI issue I've heard of w/ a GM product in ~20yrs. I've also not heard of a single issue with the Atlas/Vortec 4cyl in the years they've been out.

Joel
 
My dad's Canyon (GMC version of Colorado) with the 5cyl is a 2005 with 77k miles and....tada!..ZERO issues.Been a great truck. But anything mechanical can have problems..
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I think you need to find a good Chevy dealer and have them fix the problem.


This is key! If your present dealer isn't capable go somewhere else.
 
If it still runs, You could try two cans of SeaFoam gas treatment into a full tank of gas.

One of our vehicles acted up and the Chevy dealer said the fault code showed one of the cylinders was miss-firing. They said it was the fuel injector. They said they could use a fuel injector cleaner on it, but a much lower cost method was to use SeaFoam in the fuel.

We use two cans of SeaFoam to a full tank of gas in the 2001 impala. After that tank it ran fine for about six months and then acted up again. We used the SeaFoam again and it came around again. Second time it lasted a little less than six months. We used SeaFoam on it again and it came around again.

Then as part of preventative maintaince I had the fuel filter replaced at 36,000 miles. That was over a year ago and the problem never came back. I think the problem was the fuel filter all the time. I think SeaFoam will clean up fuel injectors, but I also think it will clean up enough passage ways in a marginal fuel filter to allow enough flow flow so the problem it was causing goes away for a few months.

I would try the SeaFoam. And I would think fuel filter as a possible problem with any vehicle with over 36,000 miles.
 
GM had issues with the epoxy or something on the injector coils wearing off some time ago. Gasoline alone was enough to wear the epoxy off and then they would basicly short and fail. Those where early MPI injectors. Have no idea about the modern MPI systems but I can tell you they where not a big quality control isue or warranty issue when I worked in quality control. Trust me as a long time Toyota owner working in quality control for GM was frustrating!!!! No one ever wanted to hear about it!!!! They wanted you to lie and blow sunshine up their butt's!
 
BTW are you sure your vehicle does not have a fuel filter? On our impala the fuel filter is not under the hood. It is under the vehicle about a foot back from the fire-wall, it is big for a fuel filter, almost the size of a small oil filter.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom