A study of the spray of a standard, five-hole, valve-covered-orifice (V.C.O.) nozzle for D.I, diesel engines has been carried out, several pictures of the spray coming from each hole have been taken using the back-light photography technique. Injected volume and duration, supply pressure, spray penetration, angle, and diameter, and flash delay from start of injection have been measured; each spray depends strongly on the needle lift. The causes of such differences have been attributed to the different inclination of the hobs, the asymmetric feeding condition of the holes (due to the eccentricity between needle and nozzle), and the microdefects caused by the drilling operation.