Blue injectors in a 1998 T5

[cmblackburn]

Hi all!
I recently had my #3 injector fail electrically at 252k miles, so I purchased a used set of blues from a 99 C70 T5 with low miles, thinking they would be a direct upgrade.
To my dismay, I immediately noticed the "blues" do not have a second ridge in them for the fuel rail clip to hold.

I asked around and my problem seemed unique, since most people who have upgraded to blues seem to have done it on a M4.3 850 without the "fuel pulsation dampener" on the bottom of the rail, and the rail itself was fine without the clip. The early 98 4.4 fuel rail seems different than the rest.

The clip would not go on with the injectors fully seated on the rail. It is my understanding that the ME7 equipped T5's that these injectors came in have a more shallow spot for the injector to seat in, allowing them to be fully seated in the rail and the clip to hold the first ridge.
I wiggled the injectors up enough to get the clip in, noting that they aren't fully seated in the rail, but the car went back together with no issues and I have been closely monitoring for leaks to which I have none in 250 miles.
I'm still nervous about the injectors not fully being seated in the rail though- I thought about modifying the clip so it only holds the pulsation dampener, and seating the injectors fully in the rail, but I was wondering if anyone has ran into the same issue and could shed some light on it.
I've looked through countless posts and asked *shudders* Volvospeed to no avail... May as well ask the real Volvo forum

[misha]

O rings are there to prevent fuel leak.Clips are there to keep them in place.
Since the fuel rail is bolted to intake manifold,there is no chance that injectors would be "launched" from rail when it is under pressure.
If there are no leaks than it would be ok.Problem will appear when you need to remove them because they might and will stay in manifold when you try to pull the rail,causing the remaining fuel from rail to spill.

However,fuel pressure damper could be launched from rail,spilling the fuel under pressure and set the car on fire because there is nothing to hold it securely but o ring.

Other than that,your car might run a bit richer because of possible different fuel flow capacity of blue injectors.I gues that blue ones from ME7 have higher flow.

[cmblackburn]

I'm not worried about them popping out, just the fact that they aren't bottomed out in the fuel rail.
I should've clarified, I installed the retainer and put the tines into the (only) grooves on the blues-meaning they aren't fully bottomed out on the fuel rail- my worry is the dampener popping out if I don't install the retainer because it is only held in by the retainer, and the injectors not being seated enough to properly seal the way I have it.

Flow rate is actually the same between the blues and whites, the 99 and newer cars run 3.8 bar fuel pressure vs 3.5 bar, adding up to the 350 vs 395cc. They do have a better spray pattern, though.

[misha]

Can you bolt on a fuel rail properly,like it's supposed to be,with new injectors seated like that?

FPD is your biggest concern,since you can fry the car if it pops out.Injectors will not go anywhere from their place.

[cmblackburn]

It's been on the car and fine for 200 miles. I'm soon taking on a 1600 mile trip (next weekend)- I'm thinking about modifying the bracket so it only holds the FPD in and seating the rest of them.

[tryingbe]

Non issue. Injectors do NOT need to be bottom out at the fuel rail.