If your fuel injector is faulty, you may notice inconsistent power, misfiring, or a loss of fuel economy. Your check engine light might appear as well. Here are some common symptoms your fuel injector may be the culprit:
- Your engine misfires. If there isn’t enough fuel during ignition, your engine will misfire. Your fuel injector might be dirty, clogged, or not opening properly.
- You smell fuel. If a fuel injector leaks or doesn’t close properly, you might notice a strong smell of gasoline while driving.
- There’s a loss of fuel mileage. Faulty fuel injectors deliver gasoline droplets instead of the mist, which ultimately eats your fuel economy. Either your fuel injector doesn’t close or is leaking excess gasoline
When one fuel injector fails (especially on a vehicle with higher mileage), you should replace all the injectors with a full new set. That’s because one worn out fuel injector means the other injectors have been subjected to the same extreme wear and. tear. Plus, if you only replace the worn-out injector, you risk creating fuel imbalance, because high mileage injectors have unmatched spray patterns that increase fuel consumption whereas new injectors have evenly matched spray patterns that increase fuel economy.
Although fuel injectors are individual, they are designed to work as part of a team with the other injectors. So, if you’re wondering if you can replace just one injector or all, the answer is almost always to replace them all.
Typically, the labor to replace one or all of them is the same. Most are attached to a common fuel rail in-line that needs to be removed to service one or a multitude of injectors. Another important thing to consider is that on some vehicles the intake or plenum will need to be removed to replace an injector which will have a much costlier labor rate to replace so it’s a good idea to replace them all at the same time.
In the long run, the most cost-effective repair is to replace the full set of injectors.
This video is sponsored by Standard Motor Products.
