E

lectronic fuel injection

(EFI) drove carburetors
out of new-car produc-
tion for good about a
decade ago. Yet we can
actually trace EFIs roots
back way before thento the systems
developed by Robert Bosch in the late
60s and early 70s for Volkswagen and
other European carmakers. (A lot of the
original engineering work was done by
the Bendix Corp. in the U.S. as far back
as the 1950s.) The earliest Bosch instal-
lations were the D-Jetronic and L-
Jetronic systems, and we can still find
their operating principles at work in ve-
hicles for the 2001 model year.
Domestic carmakers adopted elec-
tronic fuel injection extensively on
bread-and-butter production cars in
the early 80s: Ford in 83, GM and
Chrysler in 83-84. Japanese manu-
facturers also jumped on the EFI
bandwagon in the late 70s and early
80s. Today, EFI is the universal stan-
dard for almost all the worlds cars
and light trucks.
Engine Requirements
Havent Changed
The four-stroke, Otto-cycle, internal-
combustion engine is about 125 years
old, and its operating principles havent
changed in all that time. Otto-cycle en-
gines need different ratios of air and
fuel for their various operating condi-
tions, and these air/fuel ratios are mea-
surements of the amounts of air and
gasoline consumed by weight. Thus, an
air/fuel ratio of 15:1 means 15 pounds
of air to 1 pound of gasoline. (Measured
by volume, that would be about 9000
gallons of air to 1 gallon of gasoline.)
Air/fuel ratios for four-stroke gaso-
line engines can range from about 8:1
at their richest to about 18.5:1 or 19:1
at their leanest. If the ratio gets outside
this range, the engine wont run. The
best ratios for maximum power are
about 12:1 to 13.5:1. The best fuel
economy occurs at 15:1 to 16:1. For to-
days engines, emissions control is the
primary goal, so the air/fuel ratio used
is a compromise between lowered
emissions and good power and econo-
my. That translates into 14.7:1, better
known as stoichiometry.
Basic System Parts
Every fuel systemcarbureted or fuel-
injectedhas basically the same gener-
al parts or subsystems: a fuel storage
tank, a pump and lines, filters, an air in-
let and filter, an intake manifold and
throttle body, fuel-metering compo-
nents (carburetor or injection nozzles)
BY KEN LAYNE
ELECTRONIC
FUEL INJECTION
29 August 2000
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and evaporative emissions controls. Add
one other important item for an EFI
systeman air-measurement device,
which well get to in a minute.
The operation of an Otto-cycle en-
gine is defined by pistons going up
and down inside closed cylinders and
the opening and closing of intake and
exhaust valves synchronized to piston
movement by a camshaft. This me-
chanical motion lets the engine pump
in air for the combustion process and
expel the spent exhaust. The amount
of air the engine ingests is regulated
by the drivers foot on a pedal thats
connected to a mechanical throttle
valve. This fundamental fact of air
control is common to both carburet-
ed and fuel-injected engines.
Give It Air, Give It Air!
In a carbureted engine, different areas
of air pressure exist in different parts of
the carburetor and in the intake mani-
fold. These differences in air pressure,
known as a pressure differential, work
directly on the gasoline in the float
bowl and on the ends of the discharge
nozzles to meter fuel from the carbure-
tor into the intake airstream. The
amount of air being pumped by the en-
gine directly controls the amount of
gasoline being delivered by the carbu-
retor. Carburetors are elegant in their
simplicity, and they worked great for a
hundred years. Todays requirements
for greater emissions control and fuel
economy, however, require greater pre-
cision in fuel metering. Electronic con-
trol by a digital computer and fuel in-
jectors provides that precision.
An important fundamental differ-
ence between an EFI system and a car-
buretor is that in a fuel-injection system,
fuel is shut off behind injection nozzles
where air pressure cant get to it. Fuel
still must be metered in specific ratios
with intake air, however, so the EFI sys-
tem needs some way to measure the air
electronically. Basically, there are only
three ways this is doneair pressure
measurement, air volume measurement
and air weight, or mass, measurement.
Speed-Density
Led the Way...
The earliest Bosch D-Jetronic systems
were based on electronic sensors that
measured air pressure inside the intake
manifold. The primary measurements
used to regulate fuel metering were
manifold pressure and engine speed
(rpm). This kind of EFI system came to
be called a speed-density system, because
fuel control was based on engine speed
and air pressure (density) in the manifold.
Air pressure is calculated as manifold
absolute pressure (MAP), which is the
difference between atmospheric pres-
sure and the low pressure in the mani-
fold that we traditionally call vacuum.
If the computer knows the speed of the
engine and the pressure in the mani-
fold, it can calculate the weight of air
that the engine is pumping and meter
fuel accordingly. MAP-sensor-based
speed-density systems are still among
the most popular EFI systems in pro-
duction for the new century.
...Followed By Air Volume
Measurement
In the mid-70s, Bosch introduced an
EFI system that had a sensor to mea-
sure air intake by volume. This was the
L-Jetronic system (L for luft, or air
in German), which used a sensor with
a movable flapper valve installed up-
stream from the throttle in the air in-
take. The sensor flap moved in propor-
tion to the intake airflow and drove a
potentiometer that provided an input
signal to the EFI computer. These sys-
tems are commonly called airflow-con-
trolled systems, and have been used by
Ford and a number of Asian and Euro-
pean manufacturers. Because the com-
puter knows airflow volume and the
speed of the engine, it can calculate
the weight of the intake air ingested
and meter fuel accordingly.
Why Not Just Weigh the Air?
In both speed-density and airflow-
controlled systems, the computer
must calculate intake air weight
based on measurements of pressure
or volume. These methods work pret-
ty well, but the system could work
with even more precision if it could
weigh the air directly. Thats how
mass-airflow (MAF) systems work.
MAF sensors come in several vari-
etiesheated-wire, heated-thick-
film-resistor and air-turbulence (Kar-
man vortex) devices. All use sophisti-
cated electronic measurement meth-
ods to actually count the molecules of
air taken in. Because molecular mass
is equivalent to the weight of any ob-
30 August 2000
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What looks like a bread pan (upper left) full of resistors and transistors doesnt
even qualify as a computer. Its a control module for a Bosch D-Jetronic sys-
tem from the early 70s. Early controllers evolved into powerful digital comput-
ers like the Chrysler PCM (upper right) and the two GM PCMs (bottom).
ject (including air) on the earths sur-
face, measuring air mass is equivalent
to measuring weight. The computer
can then calculate air/fuel ratios di-
rectly and precisely by weight.
Mass-airflow EFI systems are the
most accurate fuel-control systems,
but theyve also been some of the
most troublesome because of their
electronic sophistication. Fortunately,
most of the bugs that existed in some
systems a dozen years ago have been
fixed, and MAF systems look like
theyll become the standard air-mea-
surement systems of the future.
From Diversity to
Uniformity
Fifteen to 20 years ago, carmakers built
about equal numbers of port-fuel-in-
jected (PFI) and throttle-body-injected
(TBI) systems. PFI systems came in
several varieties of single-fire and dou-
ble-fire designs with various injectors
grouped together. The injector group-
ings and whether each group fired once
or twice for each four-stroke cycle made
it complicated to keep track of different
EFI systems. To complicate life even
more, TBI systems had either one or
two injectors that fired continually and
either simultaneously or alternately. All
of this variety has gradually gone away
as manufacturers have progressed to a
uniform kind of PFI system, with each
injector fired sequentially in the cylin-
der firing order. There are several good
reasons for this trend, which has made
service procedures a lot simpler.
TBI systems were basically electronic
carburetors. In short, engineers basical-
ly chopped off the airhorn and float
bowls and replaced them with one or
two solenoid-operated injection nozzles.
Gasoline squirted out of the injectors,
through one or two venturis in the
throttle body, and into the intake
airstream. The fuel was atomized and
vaporized, then mixed with air in the
manifold, just as in a carbureted engine.
TBI systems were an economical
and effective transition from carbure-
tors to fuel injection, and worked bet-
ter with electronic feedback control
than carburetors did, but TBI systems
shared some of the carburetors weak-
nesses. Air and fuel mixing in the
manifold was uneven and hard to con-
trol for very hot or very cold opera-
tion. Uneven fuel distribution through
the manifold runners was still a prob-
lem with TBI systems, as it had been
with carbs. For these and other rea-
sons, TBI was pretty much phased out
of production by the early 90s.
In the middle to late 80s, engine
control computers took a major, but lit-
tle-advertised, step forward. Computer
processing speed and data bus capacity
(processing capacity) increased signifi-
cantly. Engine control modules could
process more information and issue
more output commands faster than
ever before. This made sequential fuel
injection possible. Previously, fuel-injec-
tion controllers could not work fast
enough to change injector pulse width
and timing from one cylinder to anoth-
31 August 2000
The evolution of MAP sensors: The early and unreliable Bendix unit (left) from
the early 80s gave way to the common GM analog MAP sensor (top center).
Ford MAP sensors (right) send a variable-frequency signal to the PCM. Many
of todays MAP sensors plug directly into the intake plenum to eliminate vac-
uum hose failures (bottom center). Chrysler was one of the first to use these.
The 45 angle of the electrical connectors on the two injectors at the bottom
identify them as high-pressure units. Low-pressure injectors (top) typically
have electrical connectors at angles other than 45.
er. Therefore, grouped, or gang, firing
was the rule in early port injection sys-
tems, even though sequential firing is
more desirable.
Fortunately, these advances in com-
puter technology occurred as emissions
limits were being tightened once again.
Clean Air Act revisions of the early 90s
and the demanding onboard diagnostic
requirements of OBD II made it virtually
mandatory that fuel metering be con-
trolled and varied right at the intake valve
for each power stroke. This can be done
only with sequential port fuel injection.
Troubleshooting Basics
The sequential port EFI systems in cur-
rent production vehicles are backed up
by powerful onboard diagnostic capabil-
ities to help you pinpoint system prob-
lems. Even the older port and TBI sys-
tems of 15 to 20 years ago had engine
control modules (ECMs) that provided
trouble codes, self-tests and serial data
streams to help your troubleshooting.
The ECM controls fuel metering based
on the combinations of several input
signals. This means that many problems
with sensors and
mechanical engine
operating factors
can manifest them-
selves as symptoms
in the fuel system.
Basically, though,
problems in the fuel
system itself fall in-
to just two categor-
iesair-control or
air-metering prob-
lems, and fuel-de-
livery problems.
Old-fashioned
intake air leaks, or
vacuum leaks, will
upset EFI fuel con-
trol just as they did
on carbureted en-
gines for almost a
hundred years. You
can pinpoint intake
leaks audiblyjust
listen for themor
by spraying sus-
pected leakage
points with a soapy
water or window-cleaning solution.
Propane also works well.
Among the most common fuel-me-
tering problems are dirty or restricted
injectors and incorrect fuel pressure.
Clogged or otherwise dirty port injec-
tors were a greater problem in the
mid-80s than they are today. Gasolines
of that era didnt have the detergent
additives needed to keep the tiny noz-
zle orifices clean. Detergents that
worked well in carburetors didnt cut it
(literally) in port fuel injection nozzles.
The gasoline companies recognized
this problem quickly, and within a few
years, the incidence of clogged injec-
tors was greatly reduced.
Improved gasoline additives and
subtle but important reengineering by
the carmakers also reduced another
early port injection problemde-
posits on the backs of intake valves.
Early PFI injectors delivered fuel at
the ends of intake ports and were
aimed almost directly at the backs of
the valves. Deposits tended to form
that severely restricted intake airflow.
Repositioning injectors slightly so that
fuel tended to bounce off the valves,
along with revised gasoline additives,
reduced this problem. Although
clogged injectors and intake valve de-
posits arent as common as they once
were, dont take them off your check-
list for EFI troubleshooting.
Fuel pressure has to be among the
top two or three things to check first
for EFI troubleshooting. Most injec-
tion systems have a test port with a
Schrader valve where you can con-
nect a fuel pressure gauge. Some sys-
tems, however, require that you tap
into a fuel line with a T-fitting con-
nected to your test gauge.
Port injection systems are usually
considered high-pressure systems, op-
erating in the 30- to 50-psi range. Al-
though a few high-pressure TBI sys-
tems have been built, TBI pressures
are usually lowerin the 10- to 20-psi
rangebecause the fuel has more
time to atomize and vaporize in the
manifold. Precise fuel pressure is crit-
ical for all EFI systems, so dont guess
about the specs.
Electronic fuel injection has been
in the mainstream of automotive engi-
neering for about 20 years now. In the
future, look for systems to get simpler
and easier to troubleshoot because of
improved onboard diagnostics. Also, if
you understand EFI in the context of
an engines basic air/fuel require-
ments, your service work will get a lot
easier and a lot more basic.
For a free copy of this
article, write to: Fulfillment Dept.,
MOTOR Magazine, 5600 Crooks
Rd., Troy, MI 48098. Additional
copies are $2 each. Send check
or money order.
32 August 2000
Answers to Previous
Assessment Quiz
(Lab Scope, May 2000)
1-A 2-D 3-A 4-C 5-D
6-B 7-C 8-B 9-D 10-C
EFI systems use vane airflow sensors (top left), MAP sen-
sors (center), hot-wire or hot-film MAF sensors (right
top and bottom) or Karman vortex MAF sensors (bottom
left) to measure or calculate intake airflow. All of them
provide information that lets the PCM calculate the
amount of fuel required by the engine.