Trucks & Trailers - Duramax injector replacement

Anyone had this done lately and paid out of pocket? Changing out all 8. Truck would just randomly puke oil out at night. Took it in twice but no leaks. Finally figured deisel was leaking into engine oil from the injectors causing an overflow. Dealer gave me an est. of $4500, but said he would take of 10-15% on parts and labor. Guess I'm looking at $3750-4000. Seem ok?

Not no, but hell no. Injectors can be bought for $1,000-$1500. The job can be done in a day, easy. Lets say $100/hr. $800 in labor. I'd call around to some shops that specialize in diesel engines. I have a powerstroke and found a shop that was opened by two veteran diesel techs. They charge about half of what the dealer charges in labor.

I'd say you can get them replaced for $2k.

Check on youtube for the video walkthrough.

You are talking 2001-2004 LB7 right? If so there will be significant labor costs since the injectors are buried under the valve covers but a dealer will always be higher then a private shop. As suggested I would check around other then a dealer if I was you.

2003 truck. And we don't have any "diesel specialists" here. Hell, the Ford dealer broke an injector while replacing in one of Dad's trucks and didn't know it, so there were pieces floating around in there causing more damage. Small town.
I checked on-line and it looked like cheapest for a set w/ warranty was going to be around 2K. Dealer told me about 2 days worth of work.

You probably won't find any much cheaper then this guy-

http://www.merchant-automotive.com/duramaxlb7fuelinjector.aspx

see this thread on a popular diesel site; http://www.dieselbombers.com/chevy-gmc-duramax-01-04-lb7/25030-replacing-duramax-lb7-injectors-01-04-tips-hints.html

This guy posted a step by step with pictures, a list of the parts you need and a list of the tools you'll need. I did mine a little over 2 years ago and followed his thread. It takes time and it's real work, but I'll do it again when needed. I think it cost me about $1600 to do mine back then. I would imagine the price of injectors has come down a bit since then.

Injectors alone are easily going to cost $1700. Buy good injectors or you will be changing them sooner rather than later.

Here is another company that has a good reputation: http://lincolndiesel.webs.com/home.htm

This is not an easy job. Those injectors are deep in the heads and it requires the removal of a lot of parts and you will need to buy a lot of parts to install those injectors.

$3500 would be a good price for good injectors and the related parts installed.

Good Luck.

Not no, but hell no. Injectors can be bought for $1,000-$1500. The job can be done in a day, easy. Lets say $100/hr. $800 in labor. I'd call around to some shops that specialize in diesel engines. I have a powerstroke and found a shop that was opened by two veteran diesel techs. They charge about half of what the dealer charges in labor.

I'd say you can get them replaced for $2k.

Those $1000-1500 injectors will most likely need to be replaced in a few months again, so avoid them at all costs. Buy ONLY BOSCH remans from a BOSCH dealer. Last set I did cost the guy $2700 for injectors, t-stats, coolant temp sensor, and the labor to swap em out. I could have done it cheaper, but he was in a hurry so I had to buy the injectors from a dealer. It will take an honest 8-10 hours to do the job right, so keep that in mind, and BOSCH remans can be had for around $1900 or so for genuine BOSCH units with seals.

I got my injectors from a GM dealer for ~$1600. They are Bosch re-builts. Have never seen any advertised or found any doing a search for less than that. Where do you get 8 injectors for $1,000?

Not to de-rail thread, but was curious at what mileage are you seeing the injectors need replacing? I just had by '08 in to have a small leak in the fuel/water sensor fixed (causing it to take long to crank) and I had the injectors cleaned- I have 55k. Just wondering what the life expectancy on them is.

Not to de-rail thread, but was curious at what mileage are you seeing the injectors need replacing? I just had by '08 in to have a small leak in the fuel/water sensor fixed (causing it to take long to crank) and I had the injectors cleaned- I have 55k. Just wondering what the life expectancy on them is.

This is a known problem with '01-'04 LB7 motors. It does not effect later models and as far as I know, I've never heard of an '05 + model needing injectors.

I have 162k on mine. Apparently gm did an ext. warranty to 7 yrs but that has expired by now. Seems like he is doing ok by me if it gets done for 37-3800 dollars

No way am I gonna tackle it myself. I can take your house down and build it back, but engines aren't my thing, LOL.

Yes, they extended it to 200,000 miles or 7 years. I've had mine replaced twice under warranty and once by me. Looking around and listening to others with these trucks, injector life seems to vary widely. Mine only last about 80,000 miles each time but my brother has a 2003 and his went 130-140,000. Of course he almost never tows and barely a week goes by that I'm not towing something1-3 days of the week. May have something to do with it... I don't know.

Reading your earlier post's about this I felt lucky in that regard, going to 160+ thousand. We have about a 10K tractor I pulled pretty regular for first 5 yrs of truck, and all the boats so I do a fair amount of towing myself. This truck has just taken a toll on my wallet the last 6-8 months. Transfer case at a little over 2k, front end basically rebuilt ~2500, now this at 3700-4000. Basically the value of the truck. Sure as hell can't afford a new one so I guess I'll stick w/ this one a few more years - hopefully w/ no more major repairs.

I had 2001 Silverado and had to replace injectors at 200,000. It cost about 4,000. I put another 250,000 with no problems. I no longer have truck but hear from a lot of guys that they usually have to be replaced around 200,000.

Most injectors will fail within 40,000-50,000 miles. Takes alot of work to replace them, but I did it alone in one day. Engine bay looked like half of the motor was missing when I was done removing parts to get to the injectors. Also replace fuel rails, as they usually get rusty inside. Do this soon one way or another, oil contaminated with diesel will was away the cylinders and you will burn the motor sooner rather than later. Expensive ordeal, I dropped $2500 and that was at cost and calling in favors at local Bosch shop...

I'd love to see where you guys are comming across injectors for these engines that aren't built by Bosch...I thought so. The job is pretty in depth 4k might be a little high I'd expect to pay around 3 or so. It's not just the injectors you need, there are some other one time use things in there such as crush seal connector tubes and such.

Not no, but hell no. Injectors can be bought for $1,000-$1500. The job can be done in a day, easy. Lets say $100/hr. $800 in labor. I'd call around to some shops that specialize in diesel engines. I have a powerstroke and found a shop that was opened by two veteran diesel techs. They charge about half of what the dealer charges in labor.

I'd say you can get them replaced for $2k.

You can't compair a Powerstroke to a Duramax when doing injectors. book is like 9 or 10 hrs on an 2001-2003 on a Duramax. Can it be done quicker? I am sure it can, but I perfer to do it slow and steady and torque all the little bolts the proper way and make sure all the parts are cleaned. Best price on injectors may not be the best injector to put in. I love the ones that people replace the tips on and clean them and sell as rebuilds. :rofl:

If you have a crankcase full of diesel fuel drain the oil and fuel out and fill back with oil. You don't need to change the filter yet. Just don't drive it until you figure out what to do. Diesel Fuel is not friendly to all the rubber seals and gaskets.

Should be done today. I will post up what it cost me here.
This may be a stupid question, but is there any reason why I can't hook to the boat tomorrow, such as a type of "break-in" for them?

Should be done today. I will post up what it cost me here.
This may be a stupid question, but is there any reason why I can't hook to the boat tomorrow, such as a type of "break-in" for them?


Nope, not at all.

Picked it up this afternoon. $3880 all told. Had them fix parking brake, do a full service and detail. Got my truck back. No more surging at idle, no more black smoke with the skinny pedal and running fast as sh!@t again. Im happy and thanks to all wh
o replied.

You can't compair a Powerstroke to a Duramax when doing injectors. book is like 9 or 10 hrs on an 2001-2003 on a Duramax. Can it be done quicker? I am sure it can, but I perfer to do it slow and steady and torque all the little bolts the proper way and make sure all the parts are cleaned. Best price on injectors may not be the best injector to put in. I love the ones that people replace the tips on and clean them and sell as rebuilds. :rofl:

Good ole pensacola remans, cheap price but aint worth the hassle. Book time is 12 hours customer pay, 8.5 hours warranty last time I checked. I know I did the last set I did in an 02 and it took me 8.5 hours including doing a return rate test to verify what the problem was(took me 6 hours to do them in my BURB though), and I am very thorough in doing things clean and torquing.

when out of warrranty its all about reputation... yes its labor intensive , but the quality of the work itself will determine the longevity of the your ride much less the satisfaction.


rather push a chevy than drive a ford anyday

I had a 01 and went through four sets in 130k. I now have a 06 LBZ and there is a night and day difference. I would trade up if you can. Dam new trucks cost 55g's now.

I had a 01 and went through four sets in 130k. I now have a 06 LBZ and there is a night and day difference. I would trade up if you can. Dam new trucks cost 55g's now.