Scheduled Maintenance - Fuel Injection System Service

Description: 
Fuel injection consists of a throttle body to control airflow, the fuel injectors, various engine sensors, an electric fuel pump and a fuel filter. The system is controlled by the car’s powertrain control module (PCM), which makes all decisions for controlling the injection system. Most early fuel injection systems used a throttle-body design, where one or more injectors were mounted on a throttle body, resembling a carburetor. Use of the throttle body system faded away gradually as multi-port fuel injection became more prevalent. Multi-port uses a separate fuel injector for each cylinder, located near each cylinder’s intake valve port. Virtually all engines now use multi-port injection.

Purpose: 
Fuel injection delivers fuel to the engine in exactly the right amount for all engine-operating conditions. Not only does the system provide better control for fuel economy, performance and emissions, it also does away with many of the maintenance requirements of a carburetor.

Maintenance Tips/Suggestions: 
On cars with fuel injection, some carmakers don't recommend replacing the filter at all during the first 170,000 kilometres of "normal" driving. Since "normal" usually constitutes severe driving because of less than normal conditions, it's best to replace the filter every two years or 40,000 kilometres. A contaminated filter can restrict fuel flow from your car’s electric fuel pump, eventually taking a toll on its life. Frequent filter replacements remove all doubt about whether the filter may cause other problems down the road. 

For information and further detail on WHAT these items are, HOW they work and WHY it is important to keep them maintained, please visit Car Care Canada who have provided a series of wonderful diagrams and descriptions.