A carburetor is a part of an engine that combines air and fuel for better fuel combustion. In effect, the carburetor is what makes the engine run. Or, it was until a certain point. The technology of fuel injection was developed and found to be a better choice than the carburetor.
In the United States, the last automobiles that had carburetors were in the 1990s. Although Australia continued to offer some vehicles with carburetors into the 2000s, most other countries has stopped using them at some point in the 1990s.
Many motorcycles are still designed with carburetors. The motorcycles had some throttle problems with the early versions of the systems for fuel injection. Also, carburetors were a lower cost alternative for motorcycles, at least in the beginning. However, even motorcycles have begun to switch to systems with fuel injection, now.
Of course older automobiles still have carburetors. And, some specialty cars are still designed to use carburetors. These may include stock racing cars.
Most carburetor systems have a single carburetor. However, some carburetor systems were modified to include multiple carburetors. The carburetor works on Bernoulli’s principle. With this principle, the speed of the air determines the amount of pressure involved. The pressure, in turn, determines how much fuel is drawn into the system. One disadvantage of a carburetor system was that it could “flood” the engine, making it unable to start for a little while. The most upgraded versions of carburetors addressed this problem. However, systems with fuel injection began to eliminate that problem, completely.
Beginning in the 1990s, systems with fuel injection began to replace carburetors in automobiles. Fuel injection is a way of introducing fuel into an engine with combustion that occurs internally. The difference is found in that pumps that inject fuel pump the fuel through a tiny nozzle. Carburetors uses suction to pull the motor fuel within the stream of air.
There are many benefits of using the fuel injection system. Engines with systems for fuel injection have more reliable engine starting than engines that use carburetors. Systems with fuel injection do not require as much maintenance as carburetor systems. One of the best benefits for vehicle owners is that the systems with fuel injection offer better fuel efficiency. This contributes to lower fuel prices, overall.
During the time they were being used extensively, carburetors were a wonder of technology. They allowed people to quickly move from one place to another in the comfort of their vehicle. As with most technology, they have now been replaced for the even more impressive fuel injection technology.
