I am not an expert, but I think this is bad.  I just had all of my injectors
serviced at Cruzin Performance
(http://www.cruzinperformance.com/fuelinj.html).  They replaced the cap that
you are missing (the pintle cap) as well as the screen filter that is
retained by the cap.  My guess is that not having the filter is going to
increase the chance that particles will get injected into the combustion
chamber.  I can only imagine that this will also have a major effect on your
spray pattern.  
You might want to think about having Cruzin performance service your
injectors while they are out.  Only drawback is that this is their busy
season.  I had about a 2 week turn around time.

Jake
82 AC Westy

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
Jorge Osorio
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 12:12 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: The lazy Injector

Ok, no Fryeday here this one is serious. I was half way in the process of
replacing the fuel lines when I noticed that one of the injectors on the
passenger side is missing the plastic tip. I also noticed a slight
difference in coloration to his peer. I have not noticed any power loss or
any other symptom associated with firing on three cylinders, however the
question remains. Can this injector work at all under these conditions??

Pictures here:

http://atlas.kennesaw.edu/~josorio/images/injector1.jpg
http://atlas.kennesaw.edu/~josorio/images/injector2.jpg

TIA

Jorge
'85 Westy Weekender
Betsy a.k.a "Plan B"