Choosing the right injector shop

We at WitchHunter Performance would like you to use our shop for cleaning and testing your fuel injectors. But if you are in the process of selecting a shop, maybe I can give you a few tips.

1) Probably the most important thing is to find a place the services injectors as their primary business. Any mechanic or auto parts house can purchase a flow testing machine and service a few injectors now and then as the need arises.
The problem is, that they probably haven't serviced enough injectors to properly learn the how to service them properly and the "tricks of the trade".
Although we are not talking "rocket science", here it does take quite a few injectors to know what methods work or doesn't work. Complicating this issue is that there are thousands of part numbers and types, also finding data/specifications on most injectors is near impossible.
Best to let them learn on sombody else's injectors. If they are really incompetent, a inexperienced shop cleaning them make them flow worse and sometimes, can actually damage the injector.

We have serviced hundreds of thousands fuel injectors and that is we specialize in. We probably do more injectors in a week or two than someplace that has a machine in the back room does all year long and only does it part-time.
Each month we service a set or two that some other shop did poorly.

2) Be suspicious of any shop that make outrageous claims, like guaranteeing that your injectors will flow within certain percentage after they are done with them.
Since a fuel injector can not be adjusted to change flow slightly and even new injectors flow can vary, claims like this is a lie. Most likely, places like this are changing the test data to look good. Unfortunately, there are a small number shops that operate like this.

3) A good cleaning job takes time. If you are looking at a place that says they can clean your injectors in a hour or two, that is not a necessarily good thing. If they do, one of two things are probably happening;
They are using a strong solvent for cleaning that can damage the internal seals and / or coil winding insulation. This can take years of of the life of an injector.
Or if they are using the correct type of cleaning fluid, they are just not doing the job completely.

4) A good shop will supply test data, and hopefully meaningful data. Each injector should be marked to match the data to it.
The test report should include at a minimum the following:

Static flow in cc/min or lbs/hr.
Pulsed flow rate. (A very important test)
Resistance
Leak test
Spray pattern

It may be best to pass on any injector shop that doesn't supply test data.

In almost all cases you don't need to pay for a bunch of extra testing at various pressures or duty cycles, etc. By design an injector will flow 30% of the fuel at a 30% duty cycle, 40% at a 40% duty cycle, and so on. The ECU will make correction with any minor variation as that is its function in a closed loop system. Unless there is a very large pressure difference, it all can be calculated.

All that extra testing is just a easy way to charge extra and won't make an engine run any better.

5) Don't pay more for servicing side-feed injectors.

I am always puzzled why some shops charge a very high premium for servicing side-feed injectors for as much as $50 each! The truth is, they don't require anything more than the proper test fixture to do the job. Maybe five or more years ago, parts for some were difficult to source for side-feed injectors... but not anymore.

6) It is always a good idea to check with the Better Business Bureau for complaints and how long they have been in business.

Call the shop up and see if they seem to know what they are doing.