Signs My Fuel System Is Clogged
You can start to have some serious problems with your car, SUV, or truck if the fuel system gets clogged. Specific parts that are susceptible to clogging in the system include the fuel filter, the fuel injectors, and the fuel hoses. If you take a look at the service schedule in your owner’s manual, you should see that the fuel system needs to be cleaned every 30,000 miles. This is also the point at which the fuel filter is replaced. Following are signs that your fuel system is getting clogged and needs immediate servicing.
Difficulty Starting the Car
You probably don’t need us to tell you that it will be hard to start your car if the fuel system is clogged. It makes perfect sense that the vehicle will not want to start because the fuel will have a hard time getting to the combustion chamber. Unfortunately, if the clog is severe enough, your engine will not start at all. As the fuel system starts to get clogged, it will get harder and harder to start your car.
Problems With Misfiring
You may not have realized that the engine uses a steady stream of fuel to keep running. Consequently, if there is not enough fuel in each cylinder, the cylinders will start to misfire. This means a cylinder will skip firing in the sequence because it does not have enough fuel in order for ignition to occur. Consequently, you will hear your engine hiccup and feel your vehicle shake with each misfire.
Problems With Rough Idling
In fact, the engine is going to idle roughly and make your vehicle shake all the time. In severe misfiring cases, the engine may stall. If the clog is pretty bad, you may not be able to get the engine started again. You need to have the fuel system cleaned in order to restore the study fuel supply.
Problems With the Fuel Pump
Finally, as if the clog was not bad enough, a clogged fuel system will damage the fuel pump. The fuel pump is located in the fuel tank where it draws the fuel out of the tank and into the engine. If the fuel hits a clog, the fuel pump will try even harder to push the fuel through.
Unfortunately, this overworks the fuel pump motor and it will start to squeal or whine. In addition, the overworked motor can burn out prematurely, so call our shop today to set up a service visit if your fuel system needs to be cleaned.
