Nowadays, the technology on engines is becoming more and more sophisticated. The air flow meter is one of the many sensors in the engine and it is an indispensable component of the electronically controlled engine intake system. Next we will talk about the working principle of the air flow meter, its role and what are the effects of damage?

A, the role of the air flow meter

The installation position of the air flow meter is located between the air filter and the throttle on the intake hose. Many engines currently have air flow meters that can provide intake pressure signals and intake temperature signals. Together with the water temperature sensor, the throttle position sensor and the front oxygen sensor, the air flow meter signal provides the ECU with a reference signal for adjusting the fuel injection quantity, and the ECU combines the signals from these sensors to calculate the optimum fuel injection quantity. So the air flow meter is still very useful.

Second, what are the effects of damage to the air flow meter

Since the role of air flow meter is so great, so if the air flow meter damage will cause what bad effects on the engine?

1. air flow meter signal abnormal

When the air flow meter anomalies, often accompanied by the wrong indication of the amount of injection, directly leading to the amount of injection and the engine does not match the actual working conditions of the phenomenon. Over time, this will lead to carbon build-up in the engine cylinders, increased fuel consumption, increased pressure on the three-way catalytic converter and even damage, bogging down the engine when accelerating, slowing down the power boost and accompanied by the phenomenon of "cannon".

2. Air flow meter signal disconnection

In addition to signal abnormalities, there is also a fault in the air flow meter is a signal disconnection. Compared to the case of signal abnormalities, the signal break is less impact on the engine.

The reason is simple, the engine ECU control injection is not only to rely on the signal of the air flow meter to adjust the amount of fuel injection, as mentioned above also mentioned the throttle position sensor, water temperature sensor and other sensor signals can be used to control the amount of fuel injection. So when the air flow meter signal is disconnected, the computer ECU will automatically react and no longer use the air flow meter signal as a reference signal. So it will not have much effect on the fuel injection of the car.

However, when you press the accelerator pedal, the throttle opening increases and the vacuum level of the intake manifold changes, but because the air flow meter signal is disconnected, the intake pressure cannot be detected, resulting in an inaccurate fuel injection for a short period of time (before the ECU isolates the air flow meter signal), which in turn leads to an inaccurate engine air-fuel ratio, affecting the engine's power and fuel economy.