What Does an Intake Manifold Do?
The intake manifold, otherwise known as the inlet manifold, is one of many crucial components that helps provide your engine with a consistent supply of air. In this article, we’ll cover what the intake manifold is, the issues it can experience, and how a faulty manifold can affect your vehicle.
What Does The Intake Manifold Do?
You can think of the intake manifold as the set of highways that directs air where it needs to be in your engine. It’s responsible for distributing air between each cylinder, and in most cases the air-fuel mixture.
The majority of modern vehicles use injectors to deliver atomized fuel into the intake manifold to mix with the air, whereas most older vehicles will lack throttle body injection. During the intake stroke of the engine, each cylinder will pull the air-fuel mix from the manifold.
The intake manifold sits right after the air filter, cleaning out harmful debris and pollutants before they can reach the engine. Most often these manifolds are manufactured from aluminum or cast iron, but plastic manifolds have become increasingly popular among automakers in recent years.
How Can My Intake Manifold Fail?
Intake manifolds are generally durable components, with zero moving parts and made from long-lasting materials. However, they’re still complex systems with a large role in the operation of your engine, so even the smallest problems can have significant effects on the drivability of the vehicle.
Intake manifolds encounter issues when outside air makes its way into the system. This can occur due to a variety of reasons, most commonly from failure of the rubber gaskets but potentially due to cracks or corrosion damage in the manifold itself. These materials deal with extreme swings in temperature, stretching the surface and allowing cracks to form with time.
Allowing outside air, otherwise known as unmetered air, into the system provides the engine with an excessive amount of air. This completely throws off the air-fuel mixture and ends up delivering far more air to the cylinders than the engine’s computer is aware of. A lack of sufficient fuel delivery is known as a “lean condition”, and can cause significant loss of power and efficiency or even stalling.
In severe cases where the leak has been left to worsen, the lack of fuel in the combustion chamber may prevent the spark plug from igniting the mixture and leading to a misfire and potential engine harm.
Some vehicles have coolant channels integrated into their intake manifolds, meaning damage and leaks may not only cause your vehicle to run lean but can even deplete crucial coolant needed for safe operating temperatures.
Signs of an Intake Manifold Leak
- Poor performance/efficiency from engine
- Engine idles rough or stalls
- Vehicle in Limp Mode
- Coolant loss or overheating (on manifolds with coolant passages)
- Check engine light
- Engines sounds like it’s struggling
Engine Diagnostics in Austin, TX
If your engine is producing unusual sounds and feelings, trust the expert technicians at Edgestone Automotive in Austin for precision vehicle diagnostics and servicing. Our team has the training and equipment to properly care for your vehicle no matter the make or model! Give us a call today or schedule online.