Hello everyone and welcome in this video we're talking about ten reasons why engines lose power over time and a huge
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I've organized this into four categories because internal combustion engines and more specifically gasoline internal combustion engines
really need four things in order for that smooth combustion to occur you need air you need fuel you need compression
And you need a spark
And so we're gonna walk through these different sections and talk about how your engine could start to lose power over time
Based on these four different parameters not working out so much in your favor so getting things started right off the bat with air
Filters, this is something super simple to fix
But you can get air filters that clog up with time as debris gets in there and so this can cause a pumping loss for
Your engine your engine has to work harder to bring in air because that filter is clogged up and it may not be able to
Pull in as much air and so as a result you can't make as much power
Number two is the throttle cable and this relates to cars with mechanical throttle cables this cable can loosen over time
It's a super simple fix to just retighten it it can stretch over time and as a result
You may not be able to open your throttle all the way and of course if you can't open your throttle all the way you're
Not going to be able to get in all of that air and therefore you're gonna be making less power now
That's talking about the intake side of it now
Let's kind of move to the exhaust side of it the air of course has to move through that engine nicely on both sides
So your catalytic converter can get clogged up over time from rich air/fuel mixtures. You know having the engine cold things like that
exhaust particulates can build up in there and you know the same thing can happen with your muffler number four you can have
Deposits build up in there reducing and restricting air flow through your exhaust causing additional pumping losses
And you know also these mufflers
as they age
Some of them can even rust and that internal piping can kind of fall apart and as a result it may not act as efficiently
As it once did number five is fuel injectors
And you know as a result of heat soak as a result of using poor fuel
These can get clogged up with time from particulates within the combustion chamber
Of course if they're clogged up
You know can cause
Misfiring it can cause your air fuel ratios to be thrown off and as a result you're going to be making less power
Also on the fuel side is the fuel pump and these can wear out over time and so you'll kind of notice this
Because on the low end they'll work just fine
And they'll be able to supply fuel and then as you get into those higher rpms with high loads or in you know higher loads
for a long duration
The fuel pump may start to struggle and not be able to meet that fuel demand and so you know you can kind of notice
That if you're going up hills if you're in that high load higher rpm scenario
And you're struggling to get power it may be a failing fuel pump that can't quite deliver that fuel quantity anymore
Number seven is piston rings wearing down, and this is one of those things
That's a bit more challenging
To replace because it requires stripping down the entire engine to get to those piston rings in order to replace them if you were needing
To do that basically a whole engine rebuild but these piston rings will wear against the wall over time and over time as they wear
You can have increased blow-by and as a result you're getting less
Compression so one thing you can really do to help prevent
Your piston rings from wearing is just make sure you stay on top of your oil change intervals to make sure that those piston rings
Are well lubricated,
against your cylinder walls.
Number eight and this one's going to play a big role in how much power you can create
And this is deposits on your valves and more specifically your intake valves so over time
you know especially in direct injection engines
Which don't have port injection where that fuel is being sprayed over the intake valve and constantly cleaning it off
And you have your positive crankcase ventilation system where you're sending oil back through your intake and then on to your intake valves
Or it can start to build up those deposits on it
so this can cause a lack of
Compression because that intake valve may not be able to properly seat in that valve seat and it can also cause
Backfiring you know as you're compressing back in you may be able to squeeze some of that air fuel
Past that intake valve and as a result you know you're not gonna have good compression
You could have backfiring if that
Combustion is able to exit past that valve and of course it also plays a role with your air and fuel as it can cause
Additional restriction for air flow to come by and it can mess with your air fuel ratios
Number nine is spark plugs and these can get fouled up with time from fuel, from oil, from carbon deposits,
And this can cause an inconsistent spark and of course misfiring
So you of course need your spark plugs in good working order in order to make peak power and finally number 10
We're going to talk about knock so as you start to have these deposits
forming
Within your cylinder walls and on your Pistons these deposits can heat up and cause knock and so if you do start to have knock
In an engine the first thing your engine's going to want to do is
Retard the timing so fire that spark plug later and as a result if it needs to do that to
compensate and to make sure you don't have knock you're going to be losing power because it's firing that spark plug later and again a
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