Fuel injectors replace or clean?

[Buggyman]

I am replacing the head gaskets in my 2000 3.0 Flex fuel motor. Machine shop called and said the exhaust valve seats were trashed but the heads were not cracked and passed a pressure test. He is going to rebuild them.

My question is what I should do with the fuel injectors, the lower intake manifold was full of buildup crud from the injectors and has taken a few days to clean them out really good. The injectors have 250,000 miles on them and came from the original 98' 3.0 that was in the truck. The engine, to my knowledge, was getting really poor MPG and was running really rich, from the looks of the manifold, looks like they were running wide open.

I really can't afford to replace all 6 with Motorcraft injectors right now. What are your thoughts/opinions on aftermarket injectors? Should I try to clean these or send them off or am I better off just replacing them?

Thanks for any advice!

Philip


Pictures of intake before and after cleaning.

 

[Terry]

You can have them rebuilt or even buy rebuilt ones. They fully test and clean them. It is a lot less money.

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[RonD]

Yes, ^^^ +1

Having injectors rebuilt and tested runs about $25 each, so $150 for 6, but it can be less.
Shops that do this often have finished injectors ready to go, so you can walk in with your old injectors and walk out with the rebuilt injectors, or leave yours to be rebuilt if time isn't a factor.

3.0l Flex Fuel engine/computer needs larger injectors than 3.0l gas only, so make sure you get the Flex fuel injectors if you do an exchange.


At the intake end of a fuel injector is the pintle, this can be part of the injector housing or a cap on the end of the injector.
The pintle is the part that can get dirty, it's job is to Spray fuel to get best air/fuel mix.
If it is dirty then fuel will drip not spray, so not a good air/fuel mix, this causes carbon build up on the back of intake valves and in cylinder, also slightly lower MPG