What are the symptoms of a faulty intake air temperature sensor?
2 Answers
When the intake air temperature sensor is faulty, symptoms may include difficulty starting, unstable idle, excessive exhaust emissions, inability to accurately transmit signals to the ECU, inaccurate fuel injection control, and increased fuel consumption. Poor contact in the sensor's ground wire can cause the data stream to display abnormally low temperatures. Since cold air is denser, this can increase the fuel injection pulse width, resulting in an overly rich air-fuel mixture. Intake Air Temperature Sensor: The intake air temperature sensor is a negative temperature coefficient thermistor. When the temperature rises, its resistance decreases, and when the temperature drops, its resistance increases. The changing resistance in the circuit causes voltage variations, generating different voltage signals to facilitate automatic control system operations. Sensor Short Circuit: A short circuit in the sensor will cause the data stream to display abnormally high temperatures. Since hot air is less dense, this reduces the fuel injection pulse width, leading to an overly lean air-fuel mixture. Normally, higher intake air temperatures result in a richer mixture, but a short circuit or poor grounding in the sensor can cause an excessively lean mixture, making the engine difficult to start.
Man, my car's intake air temperature sensor broke the other day - what a pain! During cold starts, the engine takes several seconds to fire up, and it's even worse in winter. The driving feels noticeably underpowered, struggling even on inclines, while fuel consumption skyrocketed by nearly 20%. The check engine light keeps illuminating, and idle is so rough it feels like the engine's dancing. I realized this could be dangerous - sudden failure on the highway might cause accidents. The mechanic explained this sensor controls fuel injection, so malfunction causes improper mixture, hence the poor performance. My advice: don't delay repairs if you experience hard starting - early diagnosis saves major repair costs.
