MPFI vs carburetor tecnology – Multi-point Fuel-

Injection (also called fuel-injection system)

The term MPFI is used to specify a technology used in Gasoline/petrol Engines. For
Diesel Engines, there is a similar technology called CRDI. We will discuss CRDI in a
separate article to avoid confusion.

MPFI System is a system which uses a small computer (yes, a small computer without
keyboard or mouse, its more like a microchip) to control the Car’s Engine. A Petrol
car’s engine usually has three or more cylinders or fuel burning zones. So in case of
an MPFI engine, there is one fuel –injector installed near each cylinder, that is why
they call it Multi-point (more than one points) Fuel Injection.

In plain words, to burn petrol in an Engine to produce power, Petrol has to be mixed
with some air, ignited in a cylinder (also called combustion chamber), which produces
energy and runs the engine. I will not talk of further internal details because it will
make this article for Engineers and not common people.

Before MPFI system was discovered, there was a technology called “Carburetor”.
Carburetor was one chamber where petrol and air was mixed in a fixed ratio and then
sent to cylinders to burn it to produce power. This system is purely a mechanical
machine with little or no intelligence. It was not very efficient in burning petrol, it
will burn more petrol than needed at times and will produce more pollution. But with
the advancement of technology this was about to change.

MPFI emerged an Intelligent way to do what the Carburetor does. In MPFI system,
each cylinder has one injector (which makes it multi-point). Each of these Injectors
are controlled by one central car computer. This computer is a small micro-processor,
which keeps telling each Injector about how much petrol and at what time it needs to
inject near the cylinder so that only the required amount of petrol goes into the
cylinder at the right moment.
So the working of MPFI is similar to Carburetor, but in an improved way, because
now each cylinder is treated independently unlike Carburetor. But one major Key
difference is that MPFI is an intelligent system and Carburetor is not. MPFI systems
are controlled by a computer which does lots of calculations before deciding what
amount of petrol will go into what cylinder at a particular point in time. It makes that
decision based on the inputs it reads.

For the Inputs, the microprocessor (or car’s computer) reads a number of sensors.
Through these sensors, the microprocessor knows the temperature of the Engine, the
Speed of the Engine, it knows the load on the Engine, it knows how hard you have
pressed the accelerator, it knows whether the Engine is idling at a traffic signal or it is
actually running the car, it knows the air-pressure near the cylinders, it knows the
amount of oxygen coming out of the exhaust pipe.

Based on all these inputs from the sensors, the computer in the MPFI system decides
what amount of fuel to inject. Thus it makes it fuel efficient as it knows what amount
of petrol should go in. To make things more interesting, the system also learns from
the drivers driving habits. Modern car’s computers have memory, which will
remember your driving style and will behave in a way so that you get the desired
power output from engine based on your driving style. For example, if you have a
habit of speedy pick-up, car’s computer will remember that and will give you more
power at low engine speeds by putting extra petrol, so that you get a good pick-up. It
will typically judge this by the amount of pressure you put on accelerator.

Fuel injection is a technology used in internal combustion engines to mix the fuel with
air prior to combustion.

As in a traditional carburetor, fuel is converted to a fine spray and mixed with air.
However, where a traditional carburetor forces the incoming air through a venturi to
pull the fuel into the air stream, a fuel injection system forces the fuel through nozzles
under pressure to inject the fuel into the air stream without requiring a venturi.

The use of a venturi reduces volumetric efficiency by approximately 15%, which

results in a reduction in engine power. Thus, a fuel injection system increases the
power that an engine with the same engine displacement will produce. Additionally,
fuel injection allows for more precise control over the mixture of fuel and air, both in
proportion and in uniformity.

The fuel injection may be purely mechanical, purely electronic or a mix of the two.
Early systems were mechanical but from about 1980 onward more and more systems
were completely electronic. By the middle of the decade, nearly all new passenger
vehicles were equipped with electronic fuel injection. The 1990 Subaru Justy was the
last passenger car sold in the United States with a carburetor.

The modern electronic systems that cars are equipped with today utilise a number of
sensors to monitor engine conditions, and an electronic control unit (ECU) to
accurately calculate the needed amount of fuel. Thus fuel injection can increase fuel
efficiency and reduce pollution.

Fuel injection systems may be single point where the fuel is injected using one nozzle,
usually in the throttle housing, or multi point where each cylinder has its own injector
in the inlet manifold. The nozzles may be opened using the pressure in the fuel system
or there may be a solenoid on the injector that will pulse it open and closed in a duty
cycle according to the desired fuel requirement.

Advantage of M. P. F. I.
(1) More uniform A/F mixture will be supplied to each cylinder, hence the difference
in power developed in each cylinder is minimum. Vibration from the engine equipped
with this system is less, due to this the life of engine components is improved.
2) No need to crank the engine twice or thrice in case of cold starting as happens in
the carburetor system.
(3) Immediate response, in case of sudden acceleration / deceleration.
(4) Since the engine is controlled by ECM* (Engine Control Module), more accurate
amount of A/F mixture will be supplied and as a result complete combustion will take
place. This leads to effective utilization of fuel supplied and hence low emission level.
(5) The mileage of the vehicle will be improved.
Motor manufacturers go to extremes to ensure that ECM calibrations provide a 'no
touch' start - no touch on the throttle.

Sensors used on the engine tell the ECM the temperature of the engine and often the
ambient temperature so that the correct start and idle fuelling conditions are set when
you turn the key.

Why would you need to depress the throttle? If your engine has truly 'flooded' after
shut-down then the cause should be rectified (eg: leaky injectors)

Engines fitted with carburetors are supposed to be started without the pedal pressed
too. The instructions are in the owner's manual or on the visor. The main difference is
that you had to depress the pedal once to put in some extra fuel and to set the linkages
to their proper start position. Some models had more specific instructions. Because of
the way carburetors work, starting with the pedal at the floor would lean the mixture
to clear a flood.

A new or well adjusted carburetor engine would start this way. Once the engine gets
old and too many mechanics have adjusted what they don't know how, every engine
ends up with its own special starting method learned through trial and error.

Fuel injected systems could have been programmed to start in many ways. The
method that new car buyers already knew for carburetors was perfectly acceptable.
No retraining was necessary and consumer confidence is enhanced since the new
technology doesn't seem much different than the old reliable technology. Pressing the
pedal was fine though it does nothing. Leaving the pedal up is a signal to the ECM for
it to start normally. Starting with the pedal at the floor is a signal that the ECM should
lean the mixture to clear a flood, just like a carburetor.

The ECM with its sensors and actuators control everything needed to start without
driver input. Model specific sequences are eliminated and engines from every
manufacturer start the same way at any temperature or age. Customers accept the new
technology because it is clearly superior in every way to the old reliable carburetor.

Only a vehicle with a carburetor would require you to press the pedal slightly and in
that instance it is setting the choke releasing the cam under cold conditions if the
vehicle had been driven and reached normal operating temp. the choke would remain
open until the pedal was pressed. If it floods easily it is probably the choke setting or
the choke pull off is damaged or needs to be set. The fuel injection vehicle is different
as stated above the pedal would send a flood condition signal to the computer if
pressed to the floor. The pedal only controls air flow so unlike a carburetor engine the
fuel injection does not spray any fuel into the engine when the pedal is pressed. The
TPS sends a signal telling the computer how open the butterfly valve is and the
computer responds with the proper air fuel mixture. If the vehicle is warm and
running in the closed loop mode. If it is cold and running in the open loop mode it
runs off of preset parameters set in the computer.By pressing the pedal to the floor the
computer goes in to flood mode and only cycles on the injectors at varied intervals to
over come the flood condition. Best to let the system do its job. If a fuel injection
engine requires pressing the accelerator to start you have problems.

REFERENCE:- 1.WWW.GOOGLE.COM
2.WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM
3.ENGG. THRMODYNAMICS BY CENGEL & BOLES