Car Backfiring Problem

It must have happened to you as a driver at least once to turn the key the engine starts and then almost like coughing smoke the engine starts to tremble and emit loud explosive noises. That is called backfiring and in this article we’ll try to sort out some of the causes and solutions to it. Backfiring is a pretty usual issue that a mechanic encounters. Therefore if you hear loud noises that seem to explode on the end of your exhaust pipe and a lot of smoke coming out, than you have a big problem with your car.

Examining and ruling out usual causes of backfire may help you provide good diagnostics to the problem. The trouble is that there can be many causes and options so it could take some time to run through all the options to fix the problem.

The first thing you can do is examining your carburetor. The carburetor is the component that controls the airflow line to the engine. This enables the engine and the gas to create controlled explosions within the burn chamber that push the pistons and transmits power to the transmission system that enables the movement of your car.

Controls and maintenance is recommended to ensure that the quantity of air and gas are almost equal to make proper controlled explosion bursts. Backfiring engines tell you that the quantity of air in the gas-air mixture may be uneven which lead to powerful explosions that are very noisy and quite dangerous for the engine and pressure chamber. You may even consider taking the carburetor down and heading for a mechanic to do some checks and eventual repairs if necessary, in case proper maintenance has not been done.

Another car part that may cause possible backfiring is the distributor cap. The distributor cap is the “protection helmet” of the distributor which reroutes a high voltage electric current to the spark plugs causing the spark that ignites the gas. A check for cracks or any other kind of physical abuse on the surface or under it is necessary since it may very well be the reason for the possible backfiring.  This is a very pretentious component since it has to “protect” the distributor completely. It’s enough for a hairline crack to not insure complete isolation so be careful.

Next in line are the spark plugs. These are the ones receiving the high voltage current from the distributor cap and create the spark in the burn chamber that ignites the gas and air atmosphere inside. Consider taking them out and give them a good clean, since a dirty plug may not deliver the necessary current to create proper sparks, clearly a symptom of an underpowered vehicle. All you need is a wrench to remove the spark plugs and, first of all, be sure that the pins are at proper distance from the plug’s base. In case of small bits of dirt, clean them up as much as possible, or even have them replaced since a little dirt can create lots of damage.

And the last step of the inspection would be the gasket’s integrity. The gaskets are the ones creating the buffer zones between less than perfect fits of mechanical parts of the engine, they are made from various materials like rubber, silicon or other flexible materials that mold themselves to the shape of the components it’s attached to. And their function is to keep the unneeded gases out and the useful ones in. any damage to it may result in an engine backfiring.

Solve these problems and you’re good to go.

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Post tags: Tags: Car Backfiring Problem, carburetor problem, distributor cap problem, spark plugs