Name : Md.

Zishan
Roll no. : AUE/2007/44
Topic : Multi Point Fuel Injection
system
 What in an MPFI?
You must have seen cars with specifications which mention words like MPFI and CRDI or
CRDE. To an automotive engineer or enthusiast, it means something, but for a common man, it
may not make much sense.

In this article I will talk about MPFI in simple English so that a person who is not an automobile
engineer can also make sense of it.

MPFI means – Multi-point Fuel-Injection (also called fuel-injection

system)
The term MPFI is used to specify a technology used in Gasoline/petrol Engines. For Diesel
Engines, there is a similar technology called CRDI. We will discuss CRDI in a separate article to
avoid confusion.

MPFI System is a system which uses a small computer (yes, a small computer without keyboard
or mouse, its more like a microchip) to control the Car’s Engine. A Petrol car’s engine usually
has three or more cylinders or fuel burning zones. So in case of an MPFI engine, there is one
fuel-injector installed near each cylinder that is why they call it Multi-point (more than one
points) Fuel Injection.
In plain words, to burn petrol in an Engine to produce power, Petrol has to be mixed with some
air, ignited in a cylinder (also called combustion chamber), which produces energy and runs the
engine. I will not talk of further internal details because it will make this article for Engineers
and not common people.

Before MPFI system was discovered, there was a technology called “Carburetor”. Carburetor
was one chamber where petrol and air was mixed in a fixed ratio and then sent to cylinders to
burn it to produce power. This system is purely a mechanical machine with little or no
intelligence. It was not very efficient in burning petrol; it will burn more petrol than needed at
times and will produce more pollution. But with the advancement of technology this was about
to change.

MPFI emerged an Intelligent way to do what the Carburetor does. In MPFI system, each cylinder
has one injector (which makes it multi-point). Each of these Injectors is controlled by one central
car computer. This computer is a small micro-processor, which keeps telling each Injector about
how much petrol and at what time it needs to inject near the cylinder so that only the required
amount of petrol goes into the cylinder at the right moment.

So the working of MPFI is similar to Carburetor, but in an improved way, because now each
cylinder is treated independently unlike Carburetor. But one major Key difference is that MPFI
is an intelligent system and Carburetor is not. MPFI systems are controlled by a computer which
does lots of calculations before deciding what amount of petrol will go into what cylinder at a
particular point in time. It makes that decision based on the inputs it reads.

For the Inputs, the microprocessor (or car’s computer) reads a number of sensors. Through these
sensors, the microprocessor knows the temperature of the Engine, the Speed of the Engine, it
knows the load on the Engine, it knows how hard you have pressed the accelerator, it knows
whether the Engine is idling at a traffic signal or it is actually running the car, it knows the
air-pressure near the cylinders, it knows the amount of oxygen coming out of the exhaust
pipe.

Based on all these inputs from the sensors, the computer in the MPFI system decides what
amount of fuel to inject. Thus it makes it fuel efficient as it knows what amount of petrol should
go in. To make things more interesting, the system also learns from the drivers driving habits.
Modern car’s computers have memory, which will remember your driving style and will behave
in a way so that you get the desired power output from engine based on your driving style. For
example, if you have a habit of speedy pick-up, car’s computer will remember that and will give
you more power at low engine speeds by putting extra petrol, so that you get a good pick-up. It
will typically judge this by the amount of pressure you put on accelerator.

So the cars of today are really intelligent, well not as intelligent as drivers but fairly intelligent
to keep pollution under control and saving the fuel.

MPFI Systems can either be: a) ‘Sequential’ i.e. direct injection into individual cylinders against
their suction strokes, or b) ‘Simultaneous’ i.e. together
 MPFI structure and working :
M.P.F.I. means Multi Point Fuel Injection system. In this system each cylinder has number of
injectors to supply/spray fuel in the cylinders as compared to one injector located centrally to
supply/spray fuel in case of single point injection system.

Stage(1)

Stage(2)
Stage(3)
 Stage(4)

Advantage of M. P. F. I.:
(1) More uniform A/F mixture will be supplied to each cylinder. Hence the difference in power
developed in each cylinder is minimum. Vibration from the engine equipped with this system is
less. Due to this the life of engine components is improved.

(2) No need to crank the engine twice or thrice in case of cold starting as happens in the
carburetor system.

(3) Immediate response, in case of sudden acceleration / deceleration.

(4) Since the engine is controlled by ECM (Engine Control Module), more accurate amount of
A/F mixture will be supplied and as a result complete combustion will take place. This leads to
effective utilization of fuel supplied and hence low emission level.

(5) The mileage of the vehicle will be improved.

Other Technologies:
We come across different terms like say, CRDi, DiCOR, MPFI etc in the engine type attribute
whenever we read any car specifications and approximately 85% of people don’t know about it.
It’s not a must to know about these things but still it will let you understand about the car more
precisely. The following are the various engine technologies to know about:

CRDi (Common Rail Direct Injection)

This engine technology was invented by Robert Huber from Switzerland and was applied
primarily by Fiat Group. As the name suggests, there is one common rail for all cylinder where
fuel is compressed whereas in older engines, there is a separate rail for each cylinder. This
conversion of separate rails to one rail greatly reduced the amount of fuel consumption and
emissions which the engine produced. This technology uses a microprocessor to control the
various operations like fuel injection, quantity of fuel injection, timing of valve opening and
closing etc.

The whole process happens like this; fuel is passed in a single rail for compression. After
compression the resulting fuel is injected to each cylinder according to the piston position which
is indicated by the various sensors placed. The amount of fuel and timing of fuel injection is
calculated by the microprocessor resulting in better fuel economy and less harmful emissions.
Older engines used mechanical parts to control the opening and closing of valves that resulted in
more sound and less efficiency. The sound is also greatly reduced in CRDi engines.

This technology is currently applied in diesel engines only. Various companies use this
technology with different names and slight variation in the working of engine.

CRDe, DiCOR, DDIS, Turbojet etc are all of CRDi pattern. Different companies use different
names as patent for their engines.

GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection)

This is a more advanced form of engine technology which came after MPFI engines. In GDI, the
fuel injection of gasoline fuel takes place directly in individual cylinders of the engine and not in
a common intake manifold as in case of MPFI.
There is a single high pressure fuel line which is directly connected to the injectors. As a result,
all the injectors have the same pressurized fuel which gives the engine a balanced control over all
cylinders and at the end, engine gives more power and more fuel economy. The intake and
exhaust system are all controlled by a chip as where in the case of CRDi and MPFI engines. The
calculations are based on engine speed, load, acceleration and temperature.

Different companies use this technology with different names. DGCI, CGI etc are all based on
GDI pattern with minute changes in working.

ECM (engine control module)

The Engine Control Unit or ECU is a designated computer that was developed to manage the
engine control system. The ECM consists of electronics which are mounted on a multi-layer
circuit boar.

The ECM monitors and adjusts the air/fuel mixture and utilizes a catalytic converter to minimize the
amount of pollution produced from the engine. There are two modes of operation, closed loop, which
means the computer has completely taking over the operation system.

. And open loop which is used when the engine is cold and operates on a preset program. The engine
must be at operating temperature before it can go into closed loop.

ECM (Engine Control Module) and its function

The function of ECM is to receive signal from various sensors, manipulate the signals and send
control signals to the actuators.

Sensors: Sensing different parameters (Temperature, Pressure, Engine Speed etc.) of the
engine and send signal to ECM.
Actuators: Receives control signal from ECM and does function accordingly (ISCA, PCSV,
Injectors, and Power Transistor etc.)

Case I: If ECM fails to send control signal to all actuators then the engine won't get started.

Case II: If ECM fails to service from all sensors then also the engine won't get started. 

The ECM monitors the input and output signals produced by various sensors in the system. The
ECM then adjusts the system as necessary.

Sensors can include:

(1) Oxygen sensor (2) Coolant sensor (3) Mass air flow sensor

(4) Air intake sensor (5) Crankshaft angle sensor (6) Throttle position sensor

(7) Camshaft angle sensor and (8) Knock sensor.

The ECM operating program consists of information cells. These cells hold the code for proper
engine operation, if information is outside the cell parameters a MIL (malfunction inductor lamp)
or "check engine light" is given.

Once a "check engine" or a "service engine soon" light in your instrument cluster has illuminated
the ECM has stored a diagnostic trouble code. This means the computer system on your vehicle
has detected a problem with the various systems it controls. Your car or truck has many different
sensors that monitor the various vehicle systems. If the trouble code light has been illuminated
your vehicle enters into "limp mode" this means it is running on a predetermined program that
causes poor mileage and increased emissions. An engine trouble code reader is an easy to use
tool. All 1996 and newer vehicles utilize a "D" style plug-in connector that connects to the code
reader. On most vehicles the connector is located at the driver's compartment. Once the code
reader is plugged in you can retrieve trouble codes the engine computer has stored in its memory.
These codes are the same codes the dealer and repair shops use to replace sensors and clear
codes.

The ECM outputs a 5 volt reference to most sensors to drive the monitoring circuits. The ECM
also controls the radiator cooling fan, air pump controls, fuel pump, EVAP system and more
depending on the vehicle. Communication standards have being established in the OBD2
operating system. Among the communication standards controller area networking or CAN has
become very popular and can achieve communication speeds of more than 500 Kbps, which is
faster than most communication standards. Advantages of using buses for communication is that;
if a fault occurs with any of the process modules, it can be reported separately to a diagnostic
tool. Manufacturers have different trouble code faults although some are generic. Wiring is
simplified by a technique known as multiplexing. In this kind of wiring system is assigned for
each module, which consolidates the output and input for that module.