Sputtering sounds from the engine compartment are not what you want to hear or feel. That sputtering also means that beyond poor engine performance, you’re also hearing bad gas mileage in action. MotivWerks has these suggestions for why your car engine is sputtering.
Faulty Sensors
Your car’s engine has a couple of sensors related to airflow in and out of the engine. These sensors help your car’s computer to keep the fuel to air mixture accurate. The mass airflow sensor and the oxygen sensor need to both be functional in order to make that happen.
Failing Fuel Pump
The fuel pump moves fuel from the gas tank along through fuel lines to the fuel injectors. When the fuel pump stops working or isn’t working as well as it should, you’re not getting fuel where it needs to be for combustion to happen. That’s going to leave the engine starved for fuel and it will cause sputtering.
Dirty Fuel Injectors
The fuel pump sends gas to the fuel injectors, where they spray the correct amount of fuel into the engine cylinders for combustion. Air and fuel mix, then are hit with a spark at the exact right moment for the fuel to combust and cause the engine to keep running. If your fuel injectors are dirty or clogged, they can’t spray properly and the mix is off, which you notice as sputtering.
Clogs in the Fuel Filter
Gas has sediment and other debris that never needs to get to the inside of your car’s engine. That’s why there’s a filter that is designed to trap those impurities and keep them from traveling through the fuel lines. If the fuel filter is clogged, however, that means that some of that stuff you’re trying to keep out of the engine might just make it through. It displaces some of the gas your car needs and it burns differently than gas does, both of which can cause sputtering.
Failing Spark Plugs
Lots of what happens to cause sputtering involves the fuel and whether the fuel is getting to the engine cylinders, but there are other factors, like the spark. And if your spark plugs are going bad or aren’t working at all, that means that you’ve got no spark when you need it. That’s when you can end up with sputtering again.
You don’t have to put up with engine sputtering at all and worse, it’s not great for your engine. MotivWerks in Chambersburg, PA can help. Give us a call and we’ll determine what all is contributing to your engine sputter problem so that we can offer you a complete solution.