What is Fuel Injection?
Many people have heard of fuel injection, and understand that the presence of fuel injection means power. Still, not many people know exactly what fuel injection is, and how it works. Here are some basics of fuel injection, including a few facts about various fuel injection systems.
The reason for fuel injection in engines is to do away with the need for carburetors and supply the fuel directly into the cylinders of into the intake manifold. This intake manifold is found ahead of the cylinders in most fuel injection engines. The amount of gasoline that is supplied via this method is monitored by electronic sensors that ensure that no more than the correct amount is supplied to meet the speed required. As long as the electronic sensor is working properly within the electronic fuel injection system, the chances of the automobile engine choking or flooding are almost non-existent.
There are some variations on the actual components of fuel injection systems. For example, throttle body fuel injection systems will have the actual injectors located in the throttle body housing, where they supply the fuel to the intake manifold first. Single point systems provide the fuel directly to the cylinders from a single injector, while multi-port fuel injection systems will use a ratio of one injector for each cylinder in the engine. While there is some disagreement about which variant of fuel injection process is more efficient, just about all fuel injection supporters believe that any of the methods will provide a superior fuel and air mixture than the use of a carburetor.
In order to make sure that the fuel properly mixes with air and also reaches the combustion chamber efficiently, a pump will provide pressure to the injectors. The electronic sensor uses the pressure of the pump to help regulate the amount of fuel that is injected into the cylinders at any given time. The pressure pump responds directly to the amount of pressure applied to the gas pedal, which will then engage the electronic sensor and ensure the pump is using the proper amount of pressure to deliver the correct amount of fuel to allow acceleration or maintenance of the speed desired.
While engines using fuel injection tend to have less operational issues than those utilizing a carburetor, the process for isolating and repairing a fuel injection problem can be more costly. Still, the benefits of engine efficiency, coupled with a more economic use of fuel make the fuel injection system very attractive to many automobile owners. As fuel injection technology continues to be refined, the incidence of engine trouble will probably decrease even further.
Written by Malcolm Tatum
