The rapid transition to the use of injection engines left its mark on the technical requirements for the car's fuel supply system . The need to maintain pressure in the fuel rail at a constant level required engineers and designers to create a special device responsible for this parameter. It became the fuel pressure regulator. Thanks to its inclusion in the fuel system of a modern engine, nozzles stably and without interruptions fulfill their main task.
Traditionally, fuel pressure is maintained at three atmospheres. Based on this figure, they also calculate the performance of modern injectors. In addition, the fuel pressure regulator is able to change this value depending on the indicator of the pressure level on the intake manifold. This explains the presence in its design of a special rubber hose for taking excess fuel back to the tank.
If we consider the classic aspirated, you can trace the dependence of the amount of fuel supplied on the degree of rarefaction of air in the manifold, resulting from the closing of the throttle. In a turbocharged engine, the fuel pressure regulator carefully monitors that the fuel pressure increases in proportion to the increase in pressure created in the intake manifold.
Often, it is this link in the fuel chain in the event of a malfunction that has a huge impact on engine performance. For example, when the valve does not “hold” the pressure regulator, the fuel, if necessary, does not enter the engine, but is drained back to the tank. In addition, after the engine is turned off, the pressure in the system will be relieved instantly, and will not remain at the operating indicators. We will have to drive the engine for a long time before the fuel nozzle receives enough gasoline, and we hear the long-awaited rumbling of the engine.
In the “dead” state, the fuel pressure regulator creates no less problems for the vehicle owner. Excess fuel has nowhere to go except to enter the cylinders. Of course, the combustion mode is violated, and the ECU will react to unburned gasoline. As a result, a series of signals will follow to reduce the nozzle opening time, but this will not last forever (just before the sensor fails).
Faulty fuel pressure sensor can be prevented during regular maintenance of your car. When choosing a service station, you should pay attention to the availability of appropriate equipment. Performance check "by eye" will not give the desired results. By the amount of fuel being drained from the nozzle “into the bottle” we can only judge the operability of the fuel pump, but not the normal functioning of the regulator. Even a master with extensive experience is not able to visually determine the normal performance of a modern car. For a full and high-quality service to their customers, the service station owners have to fork out for expensive equipment, which not everyone does. Most of the repair shops continue to work the old fashioned way, reckoning on trifles, they not only cannot guarantee the declared quality of service, but sometimes they hardly inflict their customers' cars.
It does not hurt to pay attention to the quality of gasoline poured into the tank of your car. No one is safe from refueling at remote gas stations with dubious fuel quality. But do not take risks, turn to trusted refuellers, remembering the Russian proverb. So far, in the domestic auto world, not only greed is punished, but also inattention and unwillingness to delve into the basic principles of the work of an iron horse.