Module 20

Fuel Injectors - Multi-Port Injection (MPI)

Author: Grant Swaim IMPORTANT - READ !

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PGMFI Training Modules OBD-II Training Modules

• The PGMFI System Overview—Part 1 • On Board Diagnostics—General Overview

• The PGMFI System Overview—Part 2 • Diagnostic Trouble Codes
• PGMFI Flash Type DTCs • MIL / Freeze Frame
• Inputs / Outputs—Part 1 • Scan Tool
• Inputs / Outputs—Part 2 • Scan Tool—Advanced
• Engine Control Module • Monitor Tests—Overview
• Air Flow / MAP Sensor—Base Inj Pulse Width • Comprehensive Component Monitor
• Fuel Delivery System • Catalyst Monitor
• Closed Loop Strategies—Theory • EGR Monitor
• Closed Loop Strategies—Case Studies • Evaporative Monitor
• Thermistor Inputs • Fuel System Monitor
• Throttle Position Sensor • Misfire Monitor
• EGR Valve Lift Sensor • Oxygen Sensor Monitor
• MAP / BARO Sensor • Oxygen Sensor Heater Monitor
• Ignition Inputs • “P” Codes
• Vehicle Speed Sensor
• Oxygen Sensor Miscellaneous Training Material
• Lean Air Fuel Sensor
• Glossary of Terms
• Miscellaneous Input Signals
• Fuel Injectors—Multi-Port Injection
• Fuel Injectors—Dual Point Injection
• Ignition System—Outputs
• Idle Air Control Valve
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20 Fuel Injectors - Multi-Port Injection

20.1 General Overview

The fuel injector is a solenoid style output device that directly controls fuel deliv-
ery into the intake manifold. The injectors are operated by a duty cycle type signal
from the engine control module (ECM). The amount of fuel delivered is directly
proportionate to how long the ECM
Image 20-1 keeps the injector open.

The PGMFI system can be a multi-port

injection (MPI) system or a dual-point
injection (DPI) system. The MPI system
is by far the more popular of the two
systems. This module covers the MPI
system only! Chapter 21 "Injectors -
Dual Point Injection" covers the DPI
system.

The bottom fuel injector in Image 20-1

is a MPI injector. The top two injectors
are DPI injectors. Virtually all MPI in-
jectors look identical and have the same
external dimensions. The o-ring (on the inlet of the injector) should be replaced
anytime the injector is removed and reinstalled.

20.2 How Do They Work?

Illustration 20-1 Typical Fuel Injection Schematics As can be seen in Illus-

tration 20-1, the injector
circuit is supplied bat-
tery voltage from the
main relay. The main
relay will supply power
to the circuit for 2 sec-
onds after the key is first
turned on, then only if
the engine is running.

Most of the MPI sys-

tems used an external
resistor pack as shown
in the drawing. The
newer model Hondas
have dropped the exter-
nal resistor packs and

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have added the resistance to the injector itself. All external resistance packs added
5-7 ohms to each of the injector circuits.

The injector windings are the next item in the injector circuit. The injector
windings will either be 1.2-2.5 ohms (with external resistor pack) or 10-13 ohms
(with internal resistor). It is not common for an injector winding to fail or short.

The added resistance in the injector circuits is for current control. Full battery
voltage is applied across the injector initially to get the pintle to open quickly. Af-
ter the current starts to flow the added resistance in the circuit will drop the cur-
rent back to a lower level. Once the pintle is open it does not require much current
to keep the pintle open.

The injector windings are grounded by driver transistors in the ECM. When the
processor of the ECM commands the injector on, a signal is sent to the injector
driver and the transistor grounds the injector until the processor stops command-
ing the injector on. Since the ECM is controlling the ground, if the wire from the
injector to the ECM were to become grounded, the ECM would not be harmed.

20.3 Fuel Delivery Strategies

The fuel injector is the output device that is responsible for directly controlling
fuel delivery. The fuel pump and regulator supply the inlet of the injector with a
constant regulated supply of fuel. The fuel is even adjusted for changes in the
manifold pressure, so that the pressure differential between the fuel supply and
the intake manifold is always constant. The amount of fuel injected is directly
proportional to the amount of time the fuel injector is turned on. The injector "on
time" is typically referred to as pulse width (PW) and is measured in milli-
seconds (ms).

The unit of measure for injector operation should always be time, not a duty cycle
or dwell unit. When injector operation is measured as a duty cycle, the value be-
comes RPM dependant.

The injector's PW will vary depending on many inputs. The ECM turns the injec-
tor on the correct amount of time to deliver the optimum amount of fuel for the
given conditions. In addition to delivering the correct amounts of fuel, there are
two occasions when the injectors are turned off totally. This happens at a pre-
programmed high rpm, and during deceleration periods. The typical PW of a MPI
system at idle with no load is 1.75-2.75ms.

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Image 20-2 The PGMFI MPI System 20.4 Component Loca-

tion

Multi Port System

The MPI system was by
far the most popular sys-
tem used. The MPI has
an injector for each cyl-
inder.

The injectors can be eas-

ily seen from the top
(shown at arrow in Im-
age 20-2).

MFI systems have been

used on:

85-98 Accords / 95-98 Odysseys / 85-98 Civics / 85-98 Preludes

20.5 How Do You Test Them?

Just like most other Honda fuel infection components, the fuel injectors are fairly
fool proof. An electrical failure is very uncommon. The two more common prob-
lems that you might experience with a Honda are poor spray patterns and leaking
injector bodies. These two issues are covered in detail in the "Service Tips" sec-
tion at the end of this module. As far as testing the injectors (on the car) you have
three choices, checking the injector's PW, the injector's winding resistance, and
monitoring the injector’s current.

20.5.1 Injector Pulse

Screen Capture 20-1
Width

You can actually meas-

ure voltage at the
ground side of the injec-
tor and determine the
injector's PW. While
this is a very useful test
for diagnosing fuel de-
livery problems, it is not
real effective in finding
injectors with stuck
pintles. The best way to
confirm an injector's
pintle is opening and

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closing is to monitor the injector’s current with a DSO. The PW can be measured
with a digital storage oscilloscope (DSO) as shown on Screen Capture 20-1, on
the left.

Battery voltage is present on the ground side of the injector when it is turned off
since there is no ground and subsequently no current is flowing in the injector cir-
cuit. When the injector is turned on, the voltage is pulled close to 0 volts, as the
driver transistor provides a ground. The length of time the pintle is held open by
the continued current in the injector winding can be measured by looking at the
bottom time line. The time between the injector on time and the injector off time
is the PW. The injector off time is indicated by the voltage returning to battery
voltage. When the ground is released there is an inductive spike produced by the
collapsing electromagnetic field, this is normal.

The PW of the screen capture in Figure 4, is 2.75ms. You can see that the time
division is set up for 1ms per division. The injector is grounded for 2.75 divisions.

20.5.2 Injector Resistance

Injector Resistance Values The only injector test that is covered in

in Ohms the Honda service manual is an injector
resistance test. The resistance informa-
Model Injector Resistor tion was also dropped from the later
Year Ohms Ohms model manuals. Based on field observa-
Accord tions, I was able to complete this infor-
mation up thru 1998.
85-97 1.5-2.5 5-7
All MPI injectors with an external resis-
98 10-13 N/A
tance pack will measure 1.5 - 2.5 ohms
Civic MPI across its winding. There should be no
continuity from the winding to the in-
85-91 1.5-2.5 5-7 jector body
92-98 10-13 N/A
All external injector resistor packs are
Odyssey 5-7 ohms
95-97 1.5-2.5 5-7
All MPI injectors with an internal resis-
98 10-13 N/A tor measure 10-13 ohms across its
winding. There should be no continuity
Prelude from the winding to the injector body.

85-96 1.5-2.5 5-7

97-98 10-13 N/A

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20.5.3 Fuel Injector Current Waveforms

The test that gives you the most information about the operation and condition of
a fuel injector is the current test. Just within the last few years current probes have
become commercially available that will allow a tech to observe the current flow
in small time units. Current probes are presently available for under $300 that will
measure current accurately in time units as small as 1ms.

Screen Capture 20-2 Screen Capture 20-2 shows the cur-

rent waveform of a Honda fuel injec-
tor. When monitoring the ground
D control (such as in Screen Capture 20-
1) the tech only knows that the injec-
C tor was grounded and for how long.
By monitoring the current flow during
this event, much more can be learned.

B
Point A
At point A the injector is grounded
and current starts to flow. Note that
the current does not instantly reach
maximum current flow. The current
climbs to the maximum flow over a
A period of about 1.5ms.

The reason for this climb in current

(often called a current ramp) is that a winding of wire will have a resistance to
current rise that is in addition to the resistive value of the circuit. This natural re-
sistance a coil of wire adds is called inductive reactance. By point C, the inductive
reactance is no longer affecting the current and the current is being controlled by
the resistance of the circuit.

The characteristics of this current ramp are directly controlled by the characteris-
tics of the coil in the circuit. The slope, change of slope, and other characteristics
of the ramp can give an indication of the condition of the coil in the circuit. In
general when a coil has shorted windings the ramp will climb much faster and
take on a “bowed out” appearance. This would be an indication of a failing injec-
tor.

Point B
Since the ramp is controlled by the characteristics of the coil in the circuit, some-
thing must have changed to the characteristics of the coil at point B. The change
was that the pintle moved. When the metal pintle moves inside the injectors wind-
ing it changes the inductive reactance of the injector’s winding. This subtle
change in the injector’s inductive reactance causes this change in the current ramp
and is often called a pintle bump/hump.

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So by checking the injector’s current we can actually tell if and when the pintle
opened. You can quickly compare the current on all injectors and confirm that
they are all opening at approximately the same point on the current ramp.

Point C
At point C the current has reached the saturation point of the circuit. The induc-
tive reactance of the winding is no longer affecting the current flow. This maxi-
mum current flow is controlled by the resistance of the circuit. Most Honda
injectors will flow about 1.5 – 1.8 amps.
Screen Capture 20-3 Point D
At point D the injector ground is re-
leased and the injector current drops to
0 and the injector closes. The time dif-
ference between point A and point D is
the PW of the injector.

You can clamp on each injector circuit

individually to observe each injector’s
waveform, or clamp on the injector’s
feed wire to observe all the injector
waveforms at once. Screen Capture 20-
3 shows all the injectors’ current draw
shown at once. When comparing the
total current draw of all the injectors it
is easier to have all the patterns on the
screen at once.

When using an amp probe you simply

Image 20-2 clamp the probe over the wire you want
to measure the current in. You can
clamp either wire at an injector since it
is the same current on either side.

On the models with external injector

resisters it is best to get the signal at the
resistor block.

From there you can clamp each indi-

vidual injector or clamp on the feed
wire and see all the injectors at once.
This setup is shown in Image 20-2.

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20.6 Service Issues

Honda fuel injectors are reasonably durable. Many Hondas go a lifetime on the
original set. There are a few service related situations related to fuel injectors and
I have included some of them here. Some are somewhat common and some are
rare, but you need to know about them!

20.6.1 Poor Spray Pattern

From time to time you may experience a Honda that has a driveability problem,
runs poorly when cold, or is failing an emissions test. This could be caused by an
injector that has a poor spray pattern. Fuel that is not atomized correctly by the
injector is hard to ignite and will not burn completely. A poor spray pattern could
be cause by partially clogged or dirty injectors. Poor injector spray patterns typi-
cally tend to cause more driveability problems on cold starts.

If you suspect a problem with a fuel injector, there is no real easy way to test one
other than to replace it with a known good injector. Fortunately, changing injec-
tors on a Honda is very easy (15-20 minutes). If you do not have a spare "test"
injector, you can try swapping an injector on a cylinder with a miss to one that
does not miss. If the miss moves with the injector, the injector is bad.

The only effective way to repair this problem is to replace the injectors, preferably
as a set.

20.6.2 Leaking Injectors

The biggest problem with Honda injectors is not usually any performance related
issue. It is simply a fuel leak in the injector body. The injectors are made in two
parts (plastic and steel) and they will sometimes develop a leak where the two
parts are crimped together. If the injector is leaking at the crimp, replace it!

If the injector is getting wet with fuel on the top half, it could be coming from a
leaking injector o-ring. To determine if it is leaking at the top injector o-ring or
the injector crimp you will have to dry everything off and watch for the source of
the fuel. Many times a tech will replace the top injector o-rings when it is a leak-
ing injector. This just creates a customer comeback and additional work.

It is my experience that the upper injector o-rings do not normally start leaking
from age. They usually leak whenever the fuel injector was pulled and replaced
and new o-rings were not used. If you are getting a fuel leak in the injector area
and the injectors have never been pulled, suspect a leaking injector body.

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20.6.3 Wrong Injectors

Unfortunately, virtually all the Honda MPI injectors have the same external di-
mensions. It is not uncommon to find a wrong set of injectors in a Honda. Once
you have seen this a few times, it is fairly easy to diagnose. Let's take a look at the
two scenarios:

Injectors Are Too Small

If the injectors in an engine were designed for a smaller displacement en-
gine, for a given pulse width the car will be running lean. This is more no-
ticeable in open loop (OL) since the oxygen (O2) sensor feedback cannot
help richen the mixture. The typical scenario is the O2 sensor will fix on
lean (low volts) since the small injector cannot deliver adequate fuel. This
will eventually set a diagnostic trouble code (DTC) 1.

When you check a car with a DTC 1, first check to see if the O2 sensor is
fixed at a high or low voltage. If the injectors are too small it will be fixed
on a low voltage. When you check the injector's PW you will probably
find it from normal to wide. The ECM is trying to drive the fuel system
richer, but within the window of authority of the O2 sensor.

When you see O2 fixed on lean and the PW normal to rich, the fuel deliv-
ery system is not supplying enough fuel to satisfy the O2 sensor. There are
many things that can cause this problem, and injectors that are too small
are one of them.

Injectors Are Too Big

This is the same scenario as before but in reverse. The car will come in
with a DTC 1, and the O2 sensor is fixed on a high voltage (rich signal).
Again the PW will be normal to narrow.

For more information on diagnosing cars with the wrong size injectors, see
the case studies at the end of Chapter 10 – Closed Loop / Case Studies.

20.6.4 Shorted Injector Ground Wire

This might be a long shot, but it has happened. I helped diagnose the car! As you
can see from Illustration 20-1, the injector is turned on when the ECM provides a
ground. Actually if any part of the wire from the injector to the ECM comes in
contact with a ground, the injector will be turned on.

I got involved in diagnosing a car where some stereo equipment was installed and
a mounting screw was screwed into the PGMFI harness and shorted one injector
(#4) ground wire. This meant that every time the car was started, that one injector
was turned on all the time.

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This car was a little tough to diagnose, let's look at some of the reasons:

No DTC
Prior to OBD-II, the outputs were not monitored for functionality and this
problem would not set a DTC. Every time the ECM wanted the injector to
turn on it gave the circuit a ground. If the circuit already had a ground...no
big deal.

Normal to Lean Pulse Width

Since the #4 injector that was permanently grounded, you would not see a
problem with the PW waveform unless you happened to hook a DSO to
the #4 injector. I typically check one injector (#1) and was missing the
problem injector. The PW on any of the other injectors would be normal
or possibly even lean. The remaining injectors could be lean since the rich
input from the O2 sensor would be driving the computer to lean out the
mixture.

Normal PW Parameter from Scan Tool

The PW indicated by a scan tool would show normal to lean. When you
are reading data stream off the ECM, you are seeing what the ECM proc-
essor commanded the injectors to do, not what they did. While not all scan
tools are capable of retrieving the PW parameter from a Honda, a Mas-
tertech (with Honda software) will.

We finally caught this car after checking the PW on all the injectors with a DSO.
The moral of this story is if a Honda comes in rich, and the first injector you
check looks OK, check the rest of them. It only takes a few more minutes, but it
can save you some time if you discover that an injector is staying on due to a
grounded injector wire!

20.6.5 Don't Trust Data Stream

If you have a scan tool that is capable of reading PW on a Honda it is handy to

use, but beware that in some cases you might still need to check PW at the injec-
tor with a DSO.

As shown in Illustration 20-1, the information that is read from a scan tool comes
straight off the processor of the ECM. The PW parameter indicated on a scan tool
is the amount of time the processor commanded the injector to stay on. The trig-
ger signal is sent to a transistor driver mounted on the inside edge of the ECM
box. Just because the ECM commanded an injector to turn on for 3ms does not
necessarily mean that it did. Many situations, including a defective driver transis-
tor or an open or grounded injector wire will cause the actual injector PW to differ
from the commanded amount.

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If you suspect the PW information being retrieved by a scan tool, you will need to
check the PW of every injector with a DSO.

20.6.6 Hot Rods / Removing the Rev Limiter

Among the hot rod crowd, many swap chips to remove the RPM limiter. First of
all this alone is not a simple task. The aftermarket chip companies have to unsol-
der your factory chip and solder in a socket for their chip. But assuming that you
wanted to do this to your ECM, and trust the engineering department of an inde-
pendent chip manufacturer over the engineering department of Honda, consider
this issue.

The RPM that Honda has chosen to limit a given engine is used in the sizing of
the injector. When the engine reaches the RPM limit the injector PW is close to
saturation (about 80% duty cycle). The injector is spraying virtually constantly.
By removing the RPM limit and running the engine even higher, the injectors may
not be capable of injecting enough fuel. The car will lean out due to the physical
limitations of the injectors.

Some sources sell "racing" injectors, which have larger pintles. They are probably
stock injectors meant to be installed in a larger displacement Honda engine! The
only problem with installing larger injectors to fix the top end lean problem is that
they will run too rich at idle. The ECM cannot command the injectors on less time
than the base pulse width that is established by internal tables. These injectors will
typically have your O2 sensor pegged at .9 and eventually will set a DTC 1.

If the car is for off road use this is not a real problem. If the car is used for every-
day driving, it may be difficult to pass emissions tests and not damage the cata-
lytic converter from the excessive fuel being delivered by the incorrect injectors.

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