Shoutout to the old-timer who showed me how to clean a injector cup properly

I was working on a 12-valve Cummins swap at a shop outside Portland about a month ago. This guy named Jerry, must have been 70 years old, walked over and watched me struggle with a stuck injector for 10 minutes. He didn't say a word, just pulled out a worn-down flathead screwdriver and tapped the cup a certain way that broke it free. Then he said "you gotta work with the metal, not against it." Has anyone else had a random older mechanic drop some simple tip that saved you hours?

2 comments

2 Comments

seana148d ago

Hold up, wait. Jerry was SEVENTY and still wrenching on a swap in someone else's shop? That's wild, most guys that age are long retired or just messing with their own stuff in the garage. Must have been a beast in his day if he's still out there getting his hands dirty on a random Cummins job. Honestly kind of respect that hustle, even if maxp68 has a point about old tricks not always working on new stuff.

maxp689d ago

Man that's a great story but honestly I gotta push back a little here. Old timers are great and all but half the time they're stuck in their ways and the "tap it right" trick is just luck. Jerry probably broke just as many injectors as he freed over the years but nobody talks about those. Plus modern injectors are way different than what they grew up with, that old school method can crack a new style cup if you're not careful. I've seen guys waste hours beating on stuff that a simple puller would have popped off in 60 seconds. Not saying Jerry was wrong but the whole "grandpa knows best" thing gets overhyped on forums like this. Sometimes the new tools actually work better.