A stubborn injector line on a 6.0 Powerstroke taught me a new trick

I was helping a guy in a shop in Tulsa with a high-pressure oil leak. He had been fighting a stuck line for an hour. He told me to 'heat the fitting, not the line, with a small torch for ten seconds, then tap it with a brass punch.' It came loose right away. That little tip saved me a ton of time on a job yesterday. Anyone got other tricks for stuck high-pressure fittings?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.drew18d ago

Heard that trick before, it really does work like a charm. Honestly, I've also had decent luck just letting the engine get fully up to temp before even trying, sometimes the heat cycle is enough. Makes me wonder how many hours I've wasted over the years just cranking on cold fittings.

carr.willow5d ago

Ever snap a line trying that cheater pipe method @craig.reese mentioned? I'm with you on the heat cycles, but sometimes you just need that extra force.

craig.reese18d ago

Torres.drew has a point about heat cycles. A trick I don't see mentioned is using a line wrench with a cheater pipe, but you have to be careful to support the fitting so you don't twist the whole rail. That extra leverage has saved me from rounding off fittings before.