Understanding Your Common Rail Fuel Injection System
Common rail injectors are a recent and more advanced fuel injection system, particularly in diesel engines. Unlike traditional fuel injection systems that deliver fuel to the engine under low pressure, common rail systems do so under high pressure. The results are low emissions, more engine power, fewer vibrations, less noise, and better mileage. However, just like other systems in your vehicle, your common rail fuel injection system may become faulty down the line. And this usually means reduced engine performance. Therefore, understanding the common problems that affect common rail injectors is crucial because it helps you know what to do regarding repairs and prevention. Here's more on this.
Excessive Smoke
Low emissions are among the top benefits of a common rail fuel injection system. Therefore, excessive smoke is always a red flag. If you notice excessive smoke, especially when your engine is idling, it's usually because of too much fuel. And this is generally attributed to debris in your fuel injection control system and damaged or worn fuel injector parts, particularly the nozzles. Debris in the control system keeps your common rail injectors open, allowing excess fuel. On the other hand, damaged injector nozzles fail to control the amount of fuel being injected, resulting in too much fuel. Therefore, to solve this, always inspect and replace your fuel filters and injector filters regularly. Also, clean the fuel system regularly to keep debris from finding its way into your injectors.
Rough Running
Engines that use common rail fuel injection systems should have fewer vibrations compared to standard injection systems. Therefore, be alarmed if you notice that your engine rattles, knocks, and overall runs rough. Typically, incorrect fuel injection rates and timing or duration are the major culprits here, and these are often caused by clogged nozzles, worn injector parts, missing injector parts, and imbalanced nozzle flow. Solutions to this problem usually entail maintaining clean fuel systems, regular servicing of your injectors, and replacing damaged or worn injectors.
Premature Injector Wear
Common rail injectors are generally made to last. And while they may wear out before their service life based on operating conditions such as your driving habits, excessive wear should be a concern. Your common rail injectors can wear out earlier than expected because of poor quality fuel. Impurities in low-quality fuel can damage your fuel filters. Therefore, pay extra attention to the quality of fuel you use. For the best results, consider ultra-low sulphur diesel and fuel additives, which help restore the fuel's lubricity and reduce wear on the injectors.
Reach out to a professional for more information about common rail injectors.
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