How do you change the fuel rail on a 1993 Dodge Ram B250 van?

Answer 1

There are two parts to the fuel rail, the driver's side and the passenger's side. The two sides are connected by a hose that bridges the motor toward the "back" of the motor as you look at it from the top. The following steps will get the fuel rail out for you: 1. Remove gas tank fill cap

2. Remove "doghouse"

3. Remove air cleaner assembly

4. Loosen and remove nuts (2 total) that hold the vacuum and electrical lines above/near the fuel pressure regulator (located at the "back" end of the driver's side fuel rail) the bracket that holds all of these lines won't cleanly move out of your way, but the wiring is flexible enough to move freely for 2-3" as you work

5. Disconnect vacuum running to the top of fuel pressure regulator

6. Disconnect electircal connectors that run from/to just under where the air cleaner sat (3 total) and mostly positioned on the center of the engine or driver's side

7. Take cap off of Schraeder valve (located on the driver's side fuel rail) and release the fuel pressure (make sure you have a rag covering the valve and press with a small screwdriver)

8. Remove plastic "v" clips on both fuel lines that are located just under the fuel pressure regulator (the line that is "higher" is the feeder line, the "lower" line is the return line). You can pop these out by using a small flat head screw driver. Slide the screwdriver in behind the "fat" part of the "v" clip and pry the clip out from the hose. Gently! You don't want the clip to fly out and get lost. It is a critical item since it locks the line in place and prevents fuel leaks due to slippage.

9. Take a shop towel and jam it under the feeder line and next to the engine block, gently slide the feeder line off. You will probably get about 2 cups of fuel out of the line, so be ready. Hook the head of the line off to the driver's side under another wire or however you can get it out of the way.

10. Remove the return line. Hook the head of the fuel line under the spark plug wires that run abound the back side of the engine towards the passenger side.

11. There is a bracket that sits towards the front of the engine and nearer to the driver's side. Remove that bracket. You will need two different sized sockets to get this done (9/16 and 1/2, I think). The two bolts towards the front of the van are 4" bolts (9/16 socket) and the one bolt towards the front of the van is about 1/2" long and uses the 1/2 socket.

12. The fuel rail should be fully exposed on the driver's side. Disconnect the wiring that leads to the top of each injector. You may want to take tape and write "1, 3, 5, 7" on these so that you can quickly reconnect the right wiring to the right injector. Grasp both ends of the rail and gently rock back and forth as you pull upward.

13. Once the fuel injectors release from the block, you will need to remove the fuel injector retaining clips from the top of the injectors and then wiggle the injectors loose from the fuel rail. Don't lose the retaining clips!!

14. The passenger side rail is more exposed and steps 12 and 13 should apply. You may have to loosen the air cleaner assembly on top of the engine block in order to allow movement and give extra room for the passenger rail to be lifted out.

15. Take qtips and dip them in gasoline. Using the qtips, clean the insides of the fuel rail holes and the spots where the injectors sit in the engine block.

16. Installation is the reverse with the following notes:

When installing the injectors, go ahead and replace the o-rings. It does make a difference. Commercial auto stores will sell them for about $2 per injector. Dodge dealerships will sell o-rings for about $15-$20 per injector. The dealer ones look like heavier duty, but I'm not sure if they are any more effective.

Place a light coat of clean, new motor oil on each o-ring (top and bottom of injector) and work in to the fuel rail. You will feel the injector seat in the fuel rail. It is easier to install the fuel injector retaining clips on at this time.

Once all injectors have been installed, position the fuel rail and installed injectors over the holes. Place even pressure on the fuel rail and press the injectors back in to the engine block. You should feel the injectors seat in the engine block. Finish up reconnecting everything.

Make sure that when you are placing the fuel lines back on that you slide the heads as far up as you can. You will see a small ring around the metal hose. That is the place that the "v" clips need to slide over and keep the line from slipping down and causing a leak. Once you place the "v" clips back on, give the fuel lines a pull in a downward motion to make sure that they are completely on and the clips are seated. Good luck!