REFERENCE
Fuel Injector Cross-Reference
How to read the number stamped on a fuel injector, and how to confirm the correct replacement before you spend the money.
“Cross-reference” is often used loosely to mean “any part with the same number.” In practice, three different numbers live on or around a fuel injector, and only one of them should be trusted when you're standing at the counter deciding whether to buy.
Look up a part number
Enter the number stamped on the injector, on the OEM box, or the number your parts book returned. The lookup queries our live catalog and returns only products we actually stock — no invented interchanges.
The three numbers that live on a fuel injector
1 · Manufacturer number
The number the injector maker prints on the body
Bosch, Denso, Delphi, Siemens/Continental, Hitachi/JECS and Keihin each stamp their own part number on the injector body itself. It identifies the exact hardware — bore, flow rate, spray pattern, electrical spec, seat design — regardless of which vehicle it eventually ended up in.
Example format ranges: Bosch tends to start with 0280…, Denso is usually numeric with a dash (23250-XXXXX when re-stamped for Toyota), Hitachi/JECS often shows up as FBY… or FBJC…. Those are patterns, not rules.
2 · Vehicle-OEM number
The vehicle manufacturer's own part number
The number in the vehicle service manual, on the dealer parts invoice, or in the vehicle-manufacturer parts catalog. It is different from the manufacturer number even when the physical hardware is identical, because the vehicle maker assigns their own SKU to the injector they source.
A single physical injector may carry one manufacturer number and be sold under three or four different vehicle-OEM numbers depending on where the vehicle maker used it.
3 · Interchange number
A reference back to another equivalent number
A listing that says “interchanges with X, Y, Z” is claiming those numbers refer to a functionally equivalent injector. Sometimes that is correct. Sometimes the listing is inherited from a supplier who never verified it.
Treat interchanges as a lead, not a guarantee. Confirm against year / make / model / engine before you buy.
Why visually identical injectors are not always interchangeable
Two injectors that look the same from the outside can differ in ways that matter:
- Flow rate — same physical size, different orifice; the ECU will over- or under-fuel a mismatched injector and set trims or misfire codes.
- Spray pattern — single-hole, four-hole, twelve-hole, air-shrouded; picked by the vehicle maker for that combustion-chamber geometry.
- Electrical impedance — a low-impedance (peak-and-hold) injector on a saturated driver is a fast way to fry the ECU.
- Connector type — Bosch EV1 vs EV6 vs USCAR/EV14; visually similar and non-interchangeable without an adapter harness.
- Seat and tip geometry — port-injection injectors are not GDI injectors regardless of what the counter person says.
Rule of thumb
Numbers that match on paper are the starting point of a cross-reference, not the end. The confirmation is:
- Correct year / make / model / engine / trim
- Same injector type (port vs. GDI)
- Same electrical class
- Same flow rate at rated pressure
- Same connector, or a documented adapter
Where the numbers actually appear
- On the injector itself: laser-etched or stamped on the body, typically on the side near the connector. May require wiping with a rag to read.
- Vehicle-OEM box or dealer label: the number your dealer will quote you.
- Service manual / OEM parts catalog: the definitive vehicle-side number for a specific engine and trim.
- Repair-database listings (AllData, Mitchell, etc.): usually both the manufacturer number and the vehicle-OEM number.
Related resources
Shop
New AURUS injectors
OE-equivalent new injectors, assembled in Glendale, California.
Shop
Genuine-OEM remanufactured
Bosch, Denso, Delphi, Hitachi/JECS, Siemens, Keihin remanufactured to spec.
Diagnose first
Bad-injector symptoms
Confirm the injector is actually the failure before you cross-reference a replacement.