| Fuel Basics |
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Part of your car’s engine called the fuel injection system (pictured) mixes the appropriate amounts of gas and air and sends it through intake valve system to the cylinders. Fuel injection systems must be smart. When you push harder on the car’s gas pedal it must know exactly how much gas to pull from the tank and how much air it must pull in from outside the engine. It must then mix the two and shoot them into the engine at the exact moment the mixture is needed by the cylinder. There’s a valve system involved as well, and the valves, injectors, and even the fuel pump are controlled by a computer—that you’ll learn about later. Car Words A fuel injection system injects the required amount of fuel at each cylinder for burning. A carburetion system mixes fuel and air for all cylinders in the carburetor and then distributes it to each cylinder through the intake manifold. Fuel injector systems replaced carburetors on most cars about 25 years ago. Carburetors did the same thing—intelligently mixed gas and air. Today’s fuel injectors just do it better. Obviously, you don’t want bugs and other contaminants in the air that your engine breathes. Fortunately, cars have air filters through which the air must pass. Changing air filters will be part of car care.
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Engines live on fuel. In most cases, fuel means a precise mixture of gasoline and air. Some vehicles run on diesel (a lower grade petroleum product) and air.
