How Do You Know If Your Fuel Injectors Are Clogged?

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How do you know if your fuel injectors are clogged? Well, there are many ways to know that your fuel injectors are clogged, such as unusual vibration, hard starting, etc.

You may use your car for many years without changing the fuel injector, and yet everything would be working fine.

However, the fact remains that fuel injectors can get clogged or fail completely, and when that happens, you’d notice a significant drop in the performance of your car’s engine.

A clogged filter can cause your engine not to function properly due to the inability of fuel to pass through the rails. This can cause serious and costly damage if left to linger for a long time. Hereunder are the common signs that show your fuel injectors are clogged.

How Do You Know If Your Fuel Injectors Are Clogged?

1. Unusual Vibration

Due to the lack of fuel in the gas cylinders, you may notice that your car vibrates when you press the accelerator pad.

More so, there’s the possibility that you’d notice the vibration a couple of times as you drive, even without matching the accelerator pad. This is caused due to insufficient supply of fuel into the engine.

2. Hard Start

When one or more injectors are clogged, your engine may not start easily, and in some cases, it may not start at all. Some people may refer to this as “Engine Misfire.” Well, that’s not too far from what it means.

But when you discover that your car’s engine isn’t starting straightforwardly as it used to, it could be that your injectors are bad, and the engine isn’t getting its meal, fuel.

3. Poor Fuel Economy

The fuel system in modern cars is pretty complex and comprises many components. Fuel injectors are part of the system, and they become clogged or fail, other components get affected too.

This now leads to poor fuel economy; whereby your car tends to consume more fuel than required.

4. Check Engine Light Illuminates

Inarguably, modern cars are highly computerized, up to the extent that drivers get notified on the dashboard about any issue or unusual behavior of any component used in making the car.

The check engine light doesn’t just show up on your dashboard; something must be wrong with your vehicle’s engine (or its component) for the check engine light to illuminate.

Hence, when you see the icon on your dashboard, it calls for attention to be given to your car’s engine.

Apparently, fixing or replacing a damaged engine is costlier than fixing or repairing a clogged filter. That said, you need to troubleshoot and fix your clogged injectors before the issue skyrockets to affecting your car’s entire engine.

Note: Not only clogged fuel injectors can cause the “check engine” icon to illuminate on your dashboard. There are other reasons why the check engine light may come on.

What To Do When Your Fuel Injectors Are Clogged

Basically, all you need to do is to clean out the injectors, and this can be done using specific fuel injector cleaning tools.

The most common way people clean their fuel injectors is by disconnecting them from the fuel pump, and then pour a specific cleaning fluid into the injectors.

However, there’s a way to clean your fuel injectors without removing them; you only need to purchase the run-rite fuel system cleaning tool and cleaning fluid that contains PEA.

You may need a mechanic to help you clean out your fuel injectors if the DIY process looks too technical to follow.

Both dirty and clogged fuel injectors are treated in the same manner.

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Conclusion

So, how do you know if your fuel injectors are clogged? It’s all about being sensitive enough to detect when your car isn’t performing as before.

While some drivers may experience unusual vibrations, some others may experience hard-starts, and others may experience signs that are mentioned here.

However, in summary, clogged fuel injectors reduce engine performance, affect fuel economy, and can lead to more expensive damages if not fixed on time.

More so, if one of your fuel injectors goes bad, it is advisable to change all other ones when you go for a replacement. The cost of replacing one bad fuel injector is not too far what the cost of replacing all of them at once.