On June 1, 2023, one of the owners of the N43 series engine purchased a “new” injector for the dealer in Germany. Yes, the injector does not look new and the remark of the new owner that it is refurbished though, is very appropriate. He sent me some images of this injector.
It is not a secret anymore to anybody that the “new” injectors are now the ones that are refurbished. But I noticed some other suspicious nuances.
First – it looks like someone has cleaned the injector. Has the manufacturer started to act like this? As far as I have seen – no, the injectors from the manufacturer/refurbisher still arrive dirty and rusty. I have described that the dealers themselves have started to clean the injectors (read here). But at this time, the new owner of the injector did not voice any objections, so – the injector has been cleaned “before”.
Second – check the manufacturing date! The injector was manufactured precisely 7(!) months ago!
I understand when/if the injector “travels” from the manufacturer to the buyer in one or two months. But SEVEN? No, I don’t believe in that! There are still huge backorders of the injectors; no way they can be in the warehouse for SEVEN months! Even more – the injector does not have to travel around the world – the manufacturer is located close to Germany.
Both previously mentioned nuances indicate to me – with a huge possibility, the injector is not only refurbished, but it is also used! You would argue – how would that be possible? Why not? It IS possible! There are even several options.
First. The injector was installed in any engine by this same dealer, who now sold it. After some time (test drives by customer + several weeks waiting line for the repeated “diagnostics” + some more repair attempts), it became clear that the problem was not solved, or it even reappeared. After the claims from the car owner regarding unjustified repair costs, the injector was taken out of the engine, cleaned, and put on the shelve. None of the employees would cover the expenses of faulty repair or diagnostics! Faulty diagnostics – it’s every day at the dealership. There are many reasons: no injector data/INPA data available; TIS defines incorrect repair sequence; the dealer does not analyze live data (the manufacturer performs it in PUMA case, which is not opened without an exceptional reason), etc. One more possibility is that the injector has been replaced during warranty time, but the dealer did not believe that exactly this injector is the culprit of the problem (but it has been replaced because, for example, TIS says – all injectors of the current bank or even all injectors of the engine have to be replaced).
Second. The injector was returned by some good customer or cooperation partner. A good customer – a customer who is allowed to return the purchased spare part. Cooperation partner – this can be both another dealer or some seller outside the dealer network. Of course, returning such spare parts with very limited availability is strange, but managers and warehouse workers, who daily handle hundreds or even thousands of spare parts and orders, are not interested in some specific nuances and can not remember them all.
The most important in this story: we don’t know if the injector was returned to the warehouse due to faulty diagnostics or if it really had some problems. Or – the problem appeared when the customer, for example, used the wrong type of fuel or added some fuel additives.
So, in addition to the already known problem (gambling with the quality and longevity of these refurbished injectors), there is a new dimension – the unknown “life” of the injector for half a year.
I would not purchase such an injector and would ask to exchange it for a “new” refurbished one.
So that my statements are not without justification, here:
As we see, this injector has been manufactured on the 21st of March, 2023. TWO months ago. And it already has traveled further distance than till the German dealer. This injector was sent to Poland; from the Polish dealer’s warehouse, it was sold/sent to the Online seller. And that has happened in two months. This is a logical timeframe, in my opinion. This time I believe that that injector has arrived from VDO. And is “newly” refurbished.
