How to Test Fuel Injectors with a Multimeter
In my article below, ill teach you how to test a fuel injector with a multimeter.
Fuel injectors are vital to controlling the air-fuel ratio. A bad fuel injector can cause issues such as cylinder misfires, poor engine performance, harmful emissions, and bad fuel economy because of the impurities in the fuel. It is crucial to test fuel injectors regularly.
Quick steps to test fuel injectors with a multimeter:
- Find the fuel injector
- Lift the cover that protects the two prongs of the fuel injector
- Set the multimeter to resistance mode
- Place the two leads of the multimeter on the two prongs
- Check the resistance with vehicles designed resistance value in manual
I’ll go into more detail below.
3 Steps To Testing Fuel Injectors With a Digital Multimeter
If you think for a moment testing a fuel injector is a difficult task, you are dead wrong.
With three simple steps, you can accurately test the fuel injectors. I will explain those three steps extensively in this section. So, let’s get started.
Step 1 – Identifying the Fuel Injector
First, you must locate the fuel injector.
Most people face difficulties when identifying the fuel injector. Honestly, finding the fuel injector is very easy. Open the hood. Then get the vehicle’s manual. Usually, a vehicle has similar numbers of fuel injectors to cylinders. That means if your vehicle has four fuel injectors, it has four cylinders.
Fuel injectors locate within the intake manifold. Confirm this from the vehicle’s manual.
These injectors connect to the fuel rail. So, lift off the fuel rail from the engine. Now you can see the fuel injectors on the fuel rail.
How to Remove Fuel Injectors from Your Vehicle
If you are planning to test injectors, first, you should learn how to remove them from your vehicle. Even though checking fuel injectors without removing them from the engine is possible, it is easy to separate the fuel rail. So, here is how you can do that.
1: First, make sure the vehicle is cold. Using a hot vehicle can cause fire from fuel leaks. Then unplug all the fuel injector connectors. (1)
2: Loosen the bolts connecting the fuel rail and the fuel line. If there are hidden bolts, don’t forget to loosen them too.
3: Finally, lift off the fuel rail.
Step 2 – Setting Up Your Digital Multimeter
For the injector test, set up the multimeter for the ohm test. Most of the multimeters have the Ω symbol on the selector switch area. So, turn the switch to the Ω symbol.
Then insert the black lead into the COM port. And insert the red lead into the port that displays the Ω symbol. Now your multimeter is ready for the ohm test, aka resistance mode.
Step 3 – Compare the Resistance Values
Now remove all the covers that protect the two prongs of each fuel injector.
Place a red lead on one prong and the black lead on the other prong. Check the multimeter and note down the ohm value. Apply the same process to the other fuel injectors.
Then check your vehicle’s manual for designed resistance value. If you cannot find it in the manual, do a quick search on the internet or contact the manufacturer. Now compare the design value and the test value. If the two values are the same, the fuel injector works properly. If the values show a noticeable difference, you are dealing with a bad fuel injector. (2)
Keep in mind: If the design value is 16.5 ohms, the test value needs to be 16-17 ohms.
Importance of the Fuel Injectors
Before starting the testing process, we must understand why we are doing this injector test. Here is a brief explanation of fuel injectors and their importance.
Fuel injectors primarily act as a device that supplies pressurized fuel to the engine. After some time, these fuel injectors might get damaged or stop working forever. The main reason for this is the impurities in the fuel. Additionally, mechanical and electrical problems might be the reason for a bad fuel injector.
Either way, a faulty fuel injector can affect your vehicle in a very negative way. A damaged fuel injector can affect the overall performance of the engine and your vehicle. Therefore, keeping your fuel injectors in top-notch condition is crucial.
Take a look at some of our related articles below.
- How to test a fuel gauge with a multimeter
- How to test a capacitor with a multimeter
- Multimeter symbols chart
References
(1) fuel – https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/fuel
(2) internet – https://www.britannica.com/technology/Internet
Video References
Scotty Kilmer
ChrisFix