Crack inside injector bore

Hello everyone!

While fixing a #1 injector seal leak on my 06 T1N I noticed the injector bore seems to have a crack that has formed down the bore. It does not appear to be going into the cylinder and the bore was clean of coolant and oil on removal of the injector. Are there water jackets near the injector bore that I need to be worried about? This van isn't really worth a new head so at this point I am considering my options and open to suggestions. Sorry for the not so great picture I will try to take more.

Thanks in advance.

That's the valve cover, not the head. If it's not leaking with the engine running, it's okay.

Some more pictures with a better endoscope. I agree about leaving it well alone if it isn't leaking, it does look like it is in the head though. I'm willing to risk it if there isn't much going on in this area in terms of water passage and oil passageways. Been searching everywhere for a diagram of water and oil routing inside of the om647 to no avail.

I can't tell where the head and valve cover begin in the photos. If thats the head, I would be inclined to think its a scratch, not a crack. Can you cross gouge it with a pick? If its only a few thousands deep, its a scratch. If its actually a crack, then the head may start leaking coolant at some point.

Injector is back in and everything seems to be running smooth. I think you are right about the scratch, using a different flashlight I got a better visual. Thanks for the input!

My guess is that during the head machining, a large chip got caught in the tool during pull-out, and it made a spiral scratch.

Midwestdrifter said:

My guess is that during the head machining, a large chip got caught in the tool during pull-out, and it made a spiral scratch.

Click to expand...

The seat face looks like it’s been worked on before? It lacks the factory pebble and appears to have a flat ring. I wonder if the bore was damaged by a ham-fisted injector removal...

Glad it’s back together. Happy travels!

-dave