Treat your car's engine and drive home for Tet with peace of mind
After many years of use, the car can become weak, slow to accelerate, consume more fuel, and sometimes lose throttle while driving - a phenomenon commonly known as engine failure. This can affect your safety on long trips or lead to expensive repairs when the entire engine needs to be overhauled. So what are the causes and how to fix it?
Clogged fuel injector
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Difficulty accelerating is a clear sign of engine failure. You press the accelerator pedal all the way down but the car only accelerates slowly, which is dangerous when you need to pass the car in front, especially on the highway. The first thing to think about is checking the fuel injectors.
After several years of use, the injector will be contaminated with coal dust from the combustion chamber or dirt in the fuel tank, leading to clogging, affecting engine performance.
According to recommendations, injector cleaning should be done periodically about every 15 thousand kilometers.
Dirty air filter or broken spark plug
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Before the air is taken into the combustion chamber, it must pass through the air filter to filter out dirt, sand, and insects to prevent engine damage. Over time, these impurities accumulate and clog the air filter. At that time, the amount of air taken into the engine will not be enough, the ratio of gasoline to air will cause excess gasoline. The exhaust smoke is often black and the car consumes much more fuel than when it was first purchased. For cars, car owners should periodically replace the air filter after 50,000 kilometers.
In addition, poorly functioning spark plugs that do not completely burn the gasoline-air mixture also cause fuel consumption and reduce engine performance.
Clogged exhaust pipe
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The exhaust system of a car consists of two main components: the muffler and the catalytic converter. The muffler is responsible for reducing the noise emitted. Meanwhile, the catalytic converter is used to cut down on polluting emissions such as carbon monoxide (which is produced when fuel is not completely burned).
Like the air filter, the catalytic converter will clog over time. At that time, the car engine has to use more energy to push the exhaust gas out. The clogged exhaust pipe also creates back pressure back into the combustion chamber, reducing power and affecting the durability of the engine.
The combustion chamber is not sealed.
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Engine performance depends largely on the fuel compression process in the combustion chamber. If the vehicle is not regularly lubricated with engine oil, it will result in the details such as cylinder bore and piston rings being quickly worn out, causing the combustion chamber to not be sealed, the compression ratio is not enough to reduce the engine's capacity.
Oil from the engine room also seeps into the combustion chamber through the gap, so the car consumes oil very quickly. The most obvious sign is white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe, the car is sluggish when driving on the road.
To avoid this situation, you need to maintain your vehicle and change the oil regularly according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
The car's clutch slipped.
In addition to clogged fuel injectors, another cause of sluggish acceleration is a slipping clutch. Worn friction discs prevent engine torque from being transmitted to the wheels.
Operating in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City requires the driver to constantly cut the clutch, change gears, and decelerate, so the life of the clutch is also lower.
Sensor error
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In addition to engine and transmission errors, users must also pay attention to the sensors equipped on the vehicle.
The camshaft position sensor and crankshaft position sensor will provide information to the central processor to calculate the most appropriate fuel injection timing. If these sensors are faulty, it will cause the engine to suddenly die, accelerate poorly or display the Check Engine light.
