Back to all

Direct Fuel Injection Update from Tuffy Joliet (South Plainfield)

September 3, 2017

For those of you in Joliet, Illinois who pay attention to these things, you may have been hearing about the new direct injection engines and want to learn more about them. Some deliver the power of a V8 with the economy of a V6.

For example, in one family of engines the conventional V6 makes about 250 horsepower. The direct injection version of the same engine makes over 300 horsepower and gets essentially the same fuel economy. The turbocharged version makes over 350 horsepower.

So what are the differences from a conventional engine?

The core difference is in the fuel injection system. The system most vehicles use now is called a port injection system. The fuel injector squirts fuel into a port just outside the cylinder where it's then drawn into the engine with the air.

With a direct injection system, the injector squirts the fuel directly into the cylinder. The gain in power and economy come because fuel injected directly into the cylinder during the combustion cycle is burned much more efficiently.

First, the fuel is squirted in at hundreds of times more pressure, so it's atomized much better and burns cleaner and stronger. The other big advance is in electronics. Faster engine management computers can control the additional precision required to manage direct fuel injection.

Fuel injectors are precision instruments. They have to deliver a precise amount of fuel at exactly the right time. The design of the engine also dictates a particular spray pattern for the fuel. If a fuel injector is dirty or gummed up, it can't do its job as well. That means less power and worse fuel economy for your vehicle and can lead to damaged fuel injectors.

Replacing fuel injectors at Tuffy Joliet (South Plainfield) isn't cheap. Direct injection injectors are even more expensive because of the extremely high-pressure they use. Same thing for diesel fuel injectors; we're talking mortgage payment-range to replace a set of diesel injectors.

A professional fuel system cleaning from Tuffy Joliet (South Plainfield) gets out the gum and varnish in the whole system, including the fuel injectors. Keep those injectors clean and they'll last a long, long time.

Tuffy Joliet (South Plainfield)
2031 SR 59
Joliet, Illinois 60586
815-436-1829

More articles from Tuffy Joliet

U and your U-Joints (Lubricate U-Joints)

July 27, 2025

If your vehicles power goes to the rear wheels, then you have something called U-joints in the drivetrain. U-joints are connectors that allow the rotating power from your vehicles engine to deliver its power through a driveshaft to make the rear wheels rotate. You need U-joints because the surfa... More

Strutting Your Stuff (Shocks and Struts)

July 20, 2025

Ever wonder how your vehicle is able to move over bumps, potholes and other irregularities in the road and you hardly feel a vibration in the cabin? Its your shocks and struts doing the hard work along with the rest of your suspension and tires. They keep the ride smooth and are important for yo... More

A Hot Mess (AC System-Compresser)

July 13, 2025

Air conditioning used to be a real luxury in a vehicle, but now it's standard in most. Your vehicle's air conditioning system is built to last a pretty long time, but like anything mechanical, sometimes it fails. It helps to know a little about how the A/C works. There's a compressor that press... More