In gasoline engines, devices such as a carburetor or injector are used to prepare the air-fuel mixture. Their goal is high-quality and timely delivery of the product. However, not all novice motorists know the fundamental differences between the carburetor and the injector installed in the fuel system. To use their advantages with maximum efficiency, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the design of the units.
Individual functionality
To understand how a carburetor works, you need to know how it works. This unit is installed in the fuel supply system to form a mixture of fuel and air in the required proportions and subsequent controlled supply of such a “cocktail” into the combustion chambers. In designs that use a carburetor, the suction of the prepared mixture into the cylinders is carried out due to negative pressure in the intake manifold. Carburetors are becoming less and less common in popular cars now rolling off production lines.
The classic operating principle of the injector is based on an electronic fuel supply system. The prepared mixture is dosed using high-precision electronics. Direct injection of atomized gasoline into the generated air flow is carried out by specially designed nozzles. The final mixture is injected directly into the cylinders. This type of fuel supply is typical for most modern cars.
Alteration of the type of fuel mixture supply
To improve a car operated in urban conditions, conversion to an injector is most suitable. The car owner will have to modify, purchase many parts and kits to achieve the result. At the preparation stage, you should have all the necessary spare parts, disassemble the front part of the car for convenient work.
Draining liquids, disassembling the carburetor, the future injection system and the fuel line are the basis for starting work; it is necessary to check the differences between the units. The VAZ power supply system is changed to an identical injection line; the cylinder head and intake manifold are replaced in most cases.
Carrying out a replacement requires certain skills, a determination of whether a carburetor or an injector is better for the car owner, as well as an approach to work. If you do not have enough experience, tools and training, you should contact specialists at a qualified car service center.
If you have any questions, watch this video, the answer to the question of what is better is a carburetor or an injector:
Comparative analysis of gasoline systems
To identify the fundamental differences between a carburetor and an injector, you need to know that the carburetor's job is to create the rich fuel mixture that the engine needs to perform a specific task. To do this, a prepared combustible volume enters the chamber, independent of the current speed. This negatively affects fuel consumption and creates emissions pollution.
Understanding the difference between an injection engine and a carburetor engine helps to understand the design of a modern injection system. Injection engines are characterized by the supply of a lean mixture with a precise dosage, which is selected by the electronic unit (the main computer in the car).
Important! The most accurate fuel dosage is characterized by economical operation of the vehicle and a minimum level of toxicity of exhaust gas emissions.
Thanks to the built-in injector, cars receive an additional increase in engine power by 10-12% and an increase in dynamic characteristics. When choosing the optimal fuel supply system, it is necessary to take into account that the injector is more demanding of fuel quality than its competitor. Also, modern injection systems are not affected by temperature changes, unlike carburetors, which can overheat in hot weather and can freeze in severe frosts.
Injector advantages
But a number of shortcomings of such sprayers gradually led to the appearance of injectors. It all started with a problem that arose in aviation, when when planes turned over or even deep banks, the carburetors refused to work normally. After all, their method of maintaining a given pressure on the jets is based on gravity, and this force is always directed downward. The pressure of the fuel injection system pump does not depend on spatial orientation.
The second important property of the injector was the high accuracy of dosing the mixture composition in any mode. The carburetor is not capable of this, no matter how complicated it was, and environmental requirements grew every year, the mixture had to burn completely and as efficiently as possible, which was also required by efficiency.
Accuracy acquired particular importance with the advent of catalytic converters, which serve to burn out harmful substances in the exhaust when poor fuel regulation leads to their failure.
The high complexity and associated decrease in system reliability was compensated by the stability and durability of electronic components that do not contain wearing parts, and modern technologies make it possible to create fairly reliable pumps and injectors.
Searching for a compromise option
When deciding whether an injector or a carburetor is better for a motorist, it is necessary to take into account the statistics of passenger cars produced in the world. The trend in the production of carburetor cars is characterized by a decrease, in contrast to the growing trend of the competitor.
One of the main factors is the degree of environmental friendliness of transport, which they are trying to stimulate by raising standards for cars produced in Europe or on other continents. As a result, exhaust gases are cleaner with an injection design. Systems with carburetors have a much more difficult time maintaining high emissions standards.
Knowing the design of both systems helps to understand which engine is optimal in all respects. The earlier one is carburetor. Its name comes from the French word Carburation (mixing). The mixture is prepared directly inside a separate installation, where air and fuel are supplied in a certain dosage. The pre-formed mixture is sucked through the manifold due to the pressure difference.
Reviews from people
Volkov Mikhail
“A friend advised me to install an injector, but I was put off by the fact that fixing it is expensive, so I ended up installing an old carburetor. I regretted it within a week. There is a terrible smell of exhaust gases in the car, there is a constant overflow. In general, I should have listened to the advice. Now my 21 07 has a modern injector.”
Zakhar Magomaev
“I live in a village and a decent service station is far away. I decided to install an injector for myself only for the reason that it can be easily installed; I take care of it and clean it myself. If it were a carburetor, I’m afraid it would be difficult to drive into the city. The option installed in my car constantly has to be cleaned, but I do it myself, without outside help.”
Timofey Zlatoustov
“The car should drive well, and even if investments are needed in it, they should not be permanent. I have never regretted that I installed an injection engine. I've been driving it for 3 years now. Once every 120,000 km. I clean the filter and that’s it.”
Daniil Skolkov
“The injector and carburetor seem to perform the same function, but on the road they behave completely differently. My friend had an old model, which is only installed on ancient cars, but I have an injector. After I switched from mine to a friend’s car, I felt the difference. Firstly, there is a terrible smell in the cabin; it is very difficult to stay in a closed space for a long time. Also, fuel overflow, the % of which is high. My car started the third time and all this time gasoline was supplied in the usual volume. In general, problems begin in these little things. Personally, I wouldn’t trade a proven modern injection engine for anything!”
Positive and negative sides of carburetors
The main advantages of a carburetor are hidden in the following factors for the motorist:
- maximum ease of maintenance;
- relatively low demands on fuel quality;
- You can clean the jets, disassemble the body and carry out diagnostics in a garage.
Vehicles equipped with this device are characterized by high throttle response of the power plant. Changing operating modes occurs quickly, without jerks. Experienced drivers say that such cars are easier to overcome steep descents and travel off-road.
The disadvantages are the following characteristics:
- noticeably higher fuel consumption;
- polluted exhausts;
- sensitivity to temperature changes.
Admirers of such cars are often experienced motorists or young drivers who prefer to repair their cars themselves.
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Pros and cons of injection machines
When choosing gasoline cars with injectors installed in the fuel supply system, the car owner receives the following advantages over analogues:
- with an equal working volume to carburetor analogues, the power of an injection engine will be approximately 10% higher;
- optimal method of gasoline injection;
- the ignition angle is set as accurately as possible;
- a special collector design is used.
In addition to efficiency, drivers note the easy start of the car even during frosts. There is no need for a long warm-up to get off to a fast start. The high degree of reliability is due to the absence of a distributor, which is often the culprit of problems in gasoline cars.
The disadvantages of this design are:
- difficulty of self-repair;
- high fuel requirements;
- high cost of replacing spare parts.
The negative aspects are compensated by a long, high-quality period of operation.
How to distinguish an injection car from a carburetor
If you know what a carburetor looks like, then all you have to do is open the hood and look under it. But if you have no idea about it, then a number of signs will help you identify it:
- a new car sold at a car dealership is 100% fuel-injected;
- look at the nameplate at the rear of the car - for example, it says BMW 525i. This “i” is the designation of an injection car;
- year of car manufacture. Injectors began to be installed on foreign cars in the mid-90s, on domestic ones - from the beginning of the 2000s;
- The air filter housing is mounted directly on the carburetor. If you see air ducts (for example, black plastic corrugated boxes), then most likely you have an injection machine in front of you;
- If the indicators that light up on the dashboard when you turn the key contain a “Check Engine” indicator, then the car in front of you is fuel-injected.
Candles
There is also some difference between the spark plugs of a carburetor and injection engine. Candles differ in gap and heat rating. For engines with a carburetor system, the gap should be smaller, for injection power units, correspondingly, larger. Heat number is a value characterizing the uncontrolled process of ignition of the emulsion from the hot parts of the candle. According to their thermal characteristics, candles are divided into:
- for cold ones (number 20 or more), intended for highly accelerated units;
- to medium (17-19);
- for hot ones (11-14), used for low-power internal combustion engines;
- to unified (11-20).
The heat rating increases with increasing power and volume of the power plant. Depends on the compression ratio: the higher it is, the higher the heat rating should be. It is necessary to select spark plugs based on the requirements of the manufacturer of a particular engine.
