(Last Updated On: November 25, 2017)
Engines are very simple yet powerful machines. We all know that internal combustion engines burn fuel to produce power that moves your vehicle along. But what about the byproducts of the internal combustion process? They stay in your engine and if they are not properly taken care of they can affect the performance of your vehicle.
Today we are using certain types of engines in our vehicles known as Direct Fuel Injection Engines which came into wide use by the vehicle manufacturers back in the 80s. They replaced the carburetor based engines, even though the carburetor based engines were not very efficient in terms of fuel economy or the power they had their advantages but we are using DFI engines now which are efficient both in terms of fuel and power.
DFI engines have a drawback and that drawback is the fuel deposits in the form of carbon in the engine. Carburetor based engines worked with the process of spraying tiny droplets of gasoline from behind the valves into the intake manifold which used to wash away any fuel buildups soot or carbon and the engine worked fine. The DFI engines do not work like that, Direct Fuel Injection Engines spray fuel direct into the combustion chamber because of the performance improvement but this performance improvement comparatively to the carburetor engines come at a price.
Carbon Buildup
Carbon deposits in the engine are a result of oxidized fuel molecules that can no longer soluble in the fuel polymerize over the time and form carbon deposits, not only this but the exhaust ventilation system also introduce the fumes from other compartments of the engine into the intake and can cause carbon deposits as well.
The main concept of the fuel was the detergents added into fuel are supposed to clean the engine valves as well but they perform well to a certain point and no beyond that.
What Does Carbon Buildup do to Vehicle’s Engine?
The carbon deposit in your vehicle’s engine can do a lot, apart from making the engine dirty the performance of your vehicle is also affected. The timing of the engine is disrupted, the idle of the engine is all shaky and produces a lot of vibrations, fuel economy is poor along with the acceleration. All of this can simply lead to unpredictable engine failures.
The engine itself experiences premature damage and the carbon buildup in the intake manifold just doesn’t let the air enter the engine smoothly and consistently which will lead to sudden engine performance misses while driving.
How to Deal With Carbon Buildups?
Cleaning the carbon buildups in the DFI engines can be a messy job not the most complicated but the time consumption and mess is just not worth it. The manifold has to be removed and cleaned along with the engine valves with a chemical solution. But what is better than a messy job? Prevention. Just use a good fuel injector cleaner that suits your engine and you will save a lot of time by using it. To find out more check Fuel Injector System Cleaner.