Reinstalling Fuel Rail

As title implies.. having issues getting the fuel rail to slide back into place.

Tried a 'variety' of lubricants on the o-rings, but the rail refuses to slide back into place. Even took a hammer and gave it a few hardy smacks across where the bolts hold it into place to see if I could even get it started, but no luck. Reason it was taken off was to clean valves and injectors while I hunt down a lean issue. New seals/o-rings when reinstalling.

Any advice?

 

Your only option is to apply more even force try not to damage the O rings

 

I'll give it another go on my next day off. Spent the last two hours putting all the ass I had into it and didn't really feel the desire to smack it much harder with a hammer due to obvious issues that may occur. Maybe someone else will chime in with a cheeky way of getting it done.. at least.. I hope.

 

A little coat of oil on the orings and give it all your weight on the rail, trying to keep it even across the width of it so as to not bind anything up. I don't remember it being too difficult; I felt much more uneasy about pulling the rail off without breaking something.

 

I did this the other day. I used a dry silicone spray lubricant (it's seriously magic) on the orings and pushed on both ends. It's kinda hard to get enough leverage to push it at the right angle but after a few minutes of messing with it I got it pushed on enough that I could get the bolts to thread a little. I then tightened each of the bolts just a few turns at a time so that they would get pushed on evenly, and made sure I used the torque wrench for the last little bit to make sure I had it just right.

 

I’ve done it a few times. My approach was to get it in enough so that the bolts will just catch on the threads. Then I’d meticulously tighten the bolts in the specified pattern but only a little at a time (maybe 1/2 turn) to make sure the rail went in evenly. I’d keep checking the orings to make sure they weren’t getting pinched or deformed. It was tedious but it worked perfectly.

 

Are the injector bores corroded? I see issues like this on the DI LS engines.

 

Just stopping by to say I'm somewhat of a twat..

I wasn't sure how anyone was able to get the bolts to even start without having the rail halfway pressed into place.. after messing with it again I stopped, looked around, and decided to organize the mess of bolts I had. Somewhat common thing to do when you work on cars is to organize them by size, so you get a better idea of where the bolt came from.

You have three bolts, A bolts, and then you have 5 bolts, B bolts -- pretty common that all three A go in one spot, and all 5 B go in another.

To cut to the chase, I had practically hidden my fuel rail bolts from myself. Got hot, took my shirt off and threw it over the valve cover, which is where I had placed my fuel rail bolts to keep them separate from my manifold bolts-- which is what I originally grabbed to try to get them started and why I was here asking for help on how to even get it started.

To further cut the story down.. got my valves clean, EGR stuff cleaned, smoke tested and fixed the one leak I found -- replaced MAF -- No more lean.

Thank you for the help guys! It's been appreciated.

As a side note and to avoid making another thread.. anyone know a link to grab a new TB bolt? Following a guide on reassembly and it advised 10 ft/lb-- well, that was to just a little to much. Broke one, found correct torque specs and continued on my way. So, here's to taking stuff apart again next days off and replacing that bolt.

 

Don't know specs on throttle body bolt but dealership is probably your best bet

Edit: here's a diagram with part numbers https://www.jimellismazdaparts.com/...jection-Throttle-Body/1888831/L35M13640A.html

 

Remove bolt > take to hardware store > find sufficiently matching bolt