“The carburetor is called the ‘Heart’ of the automobile, and it cannot be expected that the engine will act right, give the proper horse-power, or run smoothly if its ‘heart’ is not performing its functions properly.” –Edward Cameron, The New York Times, 1910
What is a carburetor?
Gasoline engines are designed to take in exactly the right amount of air so the fuel burns properly, whether the engine is starting from cold or running hot at top speed. Getting the fuel-air mixture just right is the job of a clever mechanical gadget called a carburetor: a tube that allows air and fuel into the engine through valves, mixing them together in different amounts to suit a wide range of different driving conditions.
How does a carburetor work?
In summary, here’s how a carburetor all works:
- Air flows into the top of the carburetor from the car’s air intake, passing through a filter that cleans it of debris.
- When the engine is first started, the choke valve can be set so it almost blocks the top of the pipe to reduce the amount of air coming in (increasing the fuel content of the mixture entering the cylinders).
- In the center of the tube, the air is forced through a narrow kink called a venturi. This makes it speed up and causes its pressure to drop.
- The drop in air pressure creates suction on the fuel pipe, drawing in fuel.
- The throttle is a valve that swivels to open or close the pipe. When the throttle is open, more air and fuel flows to the cylinders so the engine produces more power and the car goes faster.The mixture of air and fuel flows down into the cylinders.
- Fuel is supplied from a mini-fuel tank called the float-feed chamber.
- As the fuel level falls, a float in the chamber falls and opens a valve at the top.
- When the valve opens, more fuel flows in to replenish the chamber from the main gas tank. This makes the float rise and close the valve again.
How to know if your carburetor is failing?
- Hard starts – you may need to hold the key in the start position for several seconds
- Roaring, vibrating, or rough running when idling
- Decreased fuel economy
- Stalling or rough running while driving
- Leaking fuel
How to buy a good quality carburetor?
- Choose a carburetor with good throttle response.
- Check the warranty. MaXpeedingRods supports 2 years warranty for any manufacturing defect, which is able to making sure that your warranty has you covered for up to 100,000 miles.
- Buy a carburetor that is easy to tune.
MaXpeedingRods supplies top-quality carburetors across a large selection of vehicle makes, including, but not limited to: Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Chevrolet, Volkswagen and more. Click here to get a quote for a carburetor replacement. (Use code:Blog to get 10% discount)