Your car’s fuel injectors are a crucial piece in the fuel system, but they can have problems that affect your car’s performance. Here’s what Gulf Breeze Automotive wants you to know about how your car’s fuel injectors work and what you can do to help them to keep working.
What Do Fuel Injectors Do?
Fuel injectors are a big part of your car’s fuel system. The fuel pump takes gas from the tank and sends it through the fuel filter via the fuel lines. Once filtered, more fuel lines carry the gas to the fuel injectors where a stream of fuel is converted to a fine mist and sprayed into the combustion chambers within the engine. That’s where air and spark meet up with the fuel and create the boom that the engine needs in order to keep running.
Clogged Fuel Injectors Are a Problem
There are a couple of big issues you can run into with fuel injectors, and the most common one is for one or more of the injectors to get clogged. When this happens, you might hear some new sounds in the engine, called misfiring. You might also feel vibrations when you hit the gas pedal. Also, you’ll start to notice that your car’s gas mileage isn’t as good as it was. If the problem is really severe, you’ll see the check engine light.
Failed Fuel Injectors Are a Bigger Problem
It’s a much worse problem if your fuel injectors fail completely. When this happens, you might have some of the same issues as with clogged fuel injectors, such as misfiring or engine stalls. Typically, you’re not going to lose all of your car’s fuel injectors at the same time, so you’re probably not going to have issues with even starting the car. If you are unlucky enough to have all the fuel injectors go bad at the same time, you’re probably going to have a hard time getting the engine to run at all.
Preventative Maintenance Can Protect the Fuel System
The best way to avoid any type of problems with your car’s fuel injectors is to start paying attention to preventative maintenance. That’s a good idea with all of the parts of your car’s fuel system, too. Double-check your car’s manual for information about what types of maintenance are recommended and when you should have those services performed.
If you suspect that your car’s fuel injectors or something else in the fuel system is not working right, give us a call. Gulf Breeze Automotive in Gulf Breeze, FL can help.