I thought they would look pretty clean -- at least as clean as my old spark plugs. Not the case at all.

The B21F runs strong on the road, but over a year and a half of ownership, cold and -especially- warm starts have deteriorated. The engine still fires right away, but putts/lopes/dies unless I rev the engine up to maybe 1100-1200 rpm. Pulling out of hillside parallel parking sucks. No problems when I'm moving, though, and the warm idle is decent. Sounds like leaky seals from what I've heard, and new injectors seemed like a good thing to get out of the way, too.

I finally started on this project today. In stark contrast to their plastic-sheathed, ziploc'ed replacements, all four old injectors were coated with the same kind of gunk that accumulates (just a little, though) in the hose to the flame trap. Looks like oil-soaked sawdust. Since I couldn't think of a way to clean out the equally gummy ports, I went ahead and put in the new injectors/seals anyway, trying not to dislodge this junk back into the cylinders.

That went okay, I guess -- the car runs and all. Around the block it's noticeably more responsive, but it's stumbling just as bad on startup. I've got a can of Techron to try out too, for what that's worth. Mainly though, I'm just wondering how that black crap got in there, and what I can do about it.

What worries me too is that, last time I replaced the air filter, I came across a hole in the back of the air intake hose right where it enters the air-fuel mix unit. I settled for a shoddy fix with a bread bag and some wire, which appears to be holding up until I find a replacement. But am I perhaps now seeing where all the dust I've ever driven through ended up?? i.e. stuck all over the injectors?

So here are a few questions for the BB, in case any of you can offer this newbie some further guidance:

- How clean should the injectors on a well-kept 240 be expected to appear? How about a not-so-well-kept 240?
- Now that I've sucked who knows how many miles worth of unfiltered air into this engine, are its days necessarily numbered?
- Also, what about the retaining bracket shown in the Bentley manual, 240-14? None of my injectors have it. They are all screwed in through the rubber cylinder head insert alone. Thus there is some play at the base of the injectors, although I guess the seals hold. Is this legit or not?

Just wondering if I'm looking at a mountain or a molehill here. I've been happy enough to put time and money into this car, but I'm pretty well taken aback by those mucky injectors. I could keep at it, fixing up/upgrading the suspension and various other plans, or I could just drive this one as is and enjoy it while it lasts and keep an eye out for a rust-free runner to look after better, now that I'm starting to know what I'm doing with these cars.

Thanks for any and all advice,
Tim C., Minneapolis, aka Someone claiming to be lazy. (No, I didn't even bother getting those new injectors pre-cleaned.) 1980 245dl m46 hauler/cruiser, cracked windshield, mystery odometer, birch-veneer cargo bed.