Fuel Systems

By: Kevin Chung

              In this article, I’ll explain how fuel systems starts within a car and how the system ends. I’ll first start out explaining the main parts that operate within the system, which are the fuel pump, fuel line, and the fuel filter. Then lastly, the fuel injection. In the last part I’ll explain both the electrical and mechanical fuel injectors in how they work and how they differ from one another.

              A cars gas tank is responsible for holding all the gas used in the fuel system, but if first has to go through some steps before it reaches the engine.

              The gas first enters the fuel pump. The fuel pump is what physically pushes the gas out of the gas tank and into the fuel lines. Some vehicles do have multiple fuel pumps, ant the advantage to have multiple pumps is so that the gas doesn’t slosh from one end to the other inside the tank when the car is making a sharp turn, or is on an incline, helping to keep the fuel pumps dry.

Picture Credit: protecautocare.com

              As the gasoline is pushed out of the gas tank, it goes into the fuel lines. These lines are created from metal and are used to connect the gas tank from the back, to the engine in the front. The reason they run along parts of the vehicle is so they won’t be damaged by the element and so that they don’t get too hot from other components of the car.

              But before the gasoline can reach the engine, it has to go through the fuel filter. Its job is to remove any impurities or particles that are inside the gasoline so that when it enters the engine, it won’t damage it.

              The gasoline finally enters the engine, but it has to enter engine through fuel injectors. A fuel injector is a valve that sprays the pressurized fuel into the motors intake manifold. Where the gasoline will then be mixed to create a combustion to run the vehicle Now there are two kinds of fuel injectors, mechanical and electrical.

              Mechanical fuel injectors work by physically metering the amount of air going into the engine and the amount of fuel that is going into the injectors. This system makes it much harder to calibrate. These systems were used on high performance sports cars and sports saloons back in the 1970s and 1980s. So they’re not really used any more.

              Now most modern cars these days have electronic fuel injectors, which are controlled by a computer inside the car. This kind of method is much more efficient because it provides consumers with better fuel mileage and a consistent performance. If you like this article or you have something to add, please leave a comment and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

Source

Swan, Ian. "How Does the Fuel System Work in a Modern Car? | YourMechanic Advice." How Does the   Fuel System Work in a Modern Car? | YourMechanic Advice. N.p., 24 Nov. 2015. Web. 17 Oct.              2016.