You’d be surprised how important your carburetor is to your vehicle’s engine. It mixes the air and fuel your combustion engine needs to start and run. It also regulates the air/fuel mixture’s ratio to make certain it’s always exact. Finally, it controls your car, truck, or SUV’s engine’s speed. If the carburetor isn’t working as it should be, you’ll notice these four signs.
Engine Performance Issues
Because the carburetor mixes the air/fuel combination, it can affect your engine’s performance if something is wrong. A carburetor that pushes to much fuel into the mixture will cause the engine to run “rich.” A rich engine will burn more gasoline. If the carburetor pushes too much air into the mixture, the vehicle’s engine will run “lean,” and this makes the engine sluggish and reduce its power.
Black Vehicle Exhaust
When the engine is running on a rich air/fuel mixture, it will also release black vehicle exhaust. This is because the engine is burning the excess fuel being pushed through by the carburetor. This is frustrating not only from the bank account standpoint – you’ll fill up more often because your vehicle is slugging gasoline – but also from the emissions standpoint. Your car could fail its emissions test.
Backfires
The opposite of a rich air/fuel mixture is a lean one and the lean air/fuel mixture will make your vehicle backfire. It can also cause your automobile to overheat because the engine has to work harder to perform. Lean air/fuel mixtures can also damage your engine, as the engine is not getting enough gasoline. If you hear your vehicle backfire, bring it in right away for an inspection to correct the problem.
Hard Starts
Finally, the air/fuel mixture is crucial to start your vehicle’s engine. If the mixture is off, you’ll have a hard time starting your car, truck, or SUV. This is because the spark plugs cannot ignite the air/fuel mixture like they’re supposed to. You might find your vehicle is difficult to start when the engine is cold but start up just fine when it’s warm, or it may be difficult to start no matter what.
If you are in Ardmore, OK, We can inspect your vehicle’s carburetor to see if it’s causing engine performance and/or emissions issues. If it is, we can adjust it or replace it, depending on the extent of the problem If the carburetor isn’t the problem, we’ll find out what it. Contact us today for an appointment or stop by our shop.
