How to Test a Ford Escape Fuel Injector

Problems with your Ford Escape fuel injector can lead to many different problems when it comes to the operation and efficiency of your 3.0 liter Duratec engine. Whether through deposits in your gasoline or old age, your injectors can fail and cause a variety of issues. If they are getting old and starting to leak, or failing to open properly, it can cause an overly lean condition in your Ford Escape, or an overly rich one.

If your fuel injectors are failing and leaking fuel into your combustion chamber, this can trigger a check engine light. The trouble code for this condition is P0172 System Too Rich, and Ford Escape fuel injector issues can also lead to a lean condition. This trouble code is P0171 when your fuel injectors aren’t delivering the right amount of fuel.

Today I’ll be showing you how to test the resistance in your Ford Escape fuel injector to determine which one is bad. Today’s test vehicle is a 2004 Ford Escape XLS 3.0 liter V6, and we’ll be starting with the front bank of fuel injectors.

There are other common symptoms of fuel injector problems, and they range from your Escape not starting or having a rough idle. Misfire can also occur if your fuel injector is acting up, which is recognized as a P0300 OBDII check engine code.

We will be using a multimeter to test the internal resistance of your fuel injector. If you don’t know what a multimeter or voltmeter is, check our guide here for a handy DIY guide that can get you started.

The good news is the procedure to find out whether your Ford Escape fuel injector is bad or not is fairly easy. The bad news is that your intake manifold must be removed to access either bank or sides of your fuel rails and fuel injectors.

This tutorial assumes you already have removed the intake plenum and manifold from the top half of your intake. Once you see the injector rails and harnesses, it’s just a matter of unplugging the connectors from the top of your Ford Escape fuel injector to begin the test.

The fuel injector in your 3.0 liter Duratec engine is a two pin connector, and you’ll be using the multimeter to test the resistance.

How to check your Ford Escape Fuel Injector

To begin all you need to do is switch your multimeter to read resistance, and unplug one fuel injector at a time. With the injector unplugged, gently probe the two pins of the injector to determine the condition of the fuel injector’s internal coil.

When unplugging your fuel injectors, make sure that your wiring connectors are safe and never pull from your wiring. Failure to use care may cause a break in the wiring, and over time these wires can become brittle due to the heat involved under the intake manifold.

The Ford factory internal resistance for your fuel injector is between 13.1 and 14.5 Ω ohms. Once your intake manifold is removed, simply start from one corner and move your way through until you have tested all of your fuel injectors.

One you determine what the resistance of your fuel injector is, write it down and move onto the next. If your test results come up conclusive that your Ford Escape fuel injector tests okay and the internal coil has the right amount of resistance, the next step is to check the wiring and connectors.

If you find one of your fuel injectors out of spec, it’s clearly the problem to your misfire or fuel delivery problems. To replace your fuel injector all you need to do is remove the fuel rail and replace the fuel injector carefully. If you continue to have overly rich fuel problems with your 3.0 Duratec engine, try checking the condition of your fuel pressure regulator or your fuel pump.

You now know how to DIY and test your Ford Escape fuel injector! Have any questions about our How to guide? leave us a message below and let us know!