Air intake system is built and tuned for an automobile to experience maximum power and efficiency. Most of them are bolt up installations, making them an excellent add-on for easy power gains. A good air intake system allow continuous and clean air into the engine, thereby to achieve better mileage and optimum performance for your vehicle.

1. Parts of Vehicle's Air Intake
System and Its Working

2. Air intake system is built and tuned for an automobile to
experience maximum power and efficiency. Most of
them are bolt up installations, making them an excellent
add-on for easy power gains. A good air intake system
allow continuous and clean air into the engine, thereby to
achieve better mileage and optimum performance for
your vehicle.

3. Parts of an air intake system
An air intake system is located behind the front grille,
drawing air through a tube that goes in to the filter
housing, which will be mixed with the vehicle's fuel and
sent to the engine's cylinder. A modern automobile/
vehicle's air intake system has three main parts
Air filter: It forms an important part of a vehicle's intake
system through which the engine breathes. Any engine
requires a mixture of air and fuel in order to run, and all
the air first enters the system through the air filter. Air
filter is located in a compartment of an air duct under the
hood of the car.

4. Mass Air Flow Sensor: This part of the air intake system is
used to measure the mass of air that enters the fuel-injected
internal combustion engine. Two common types of airflow
sensors are in use for automobile engines.
The hot wire
The vane meter
Throttle Body: It controls the amount of air entering the
engine's combustion chamber. It is located near the mass
flow sensor and in between the intake manifold and air filter
box.
Working procedure of an air intake system
In a carburetor equipped engine, the air comes in to air filter
space.

5. The main job of the air filter is to filter out dirt particles
and other foreign matter present in the air, thus preventing
them to enter and cause damage to the system.
Air passing through the air filter reaches the carburetor
and is blended with the fuel. Through the intake
manifolds, the mixture of air and fuel is drawn into the
cylinders.
The mass airflow sensor/ air temperature sensor prevents
the icing of the carburetor, where in its absence may lead
to vehicle's stall. It also promotes vaporization of the fuel
into the air stream. Also, it is used to measure the
temperature of the air and allows cool air in, which occurs
through closing and opening of the flap. Here the working
of both types of airflow sensors have been mentioned for
your understanding.

6. In the hot wire type, a series of wires are embed in the air
stream.
Due to the rise in temperature, the electrical resistance
increases thus limiting the current flow through the circuit.
When air flows past the wire, it cools down, allowing more
current to flow through the circuit, thus decreasing its
resistance.
The voltage signal developed goes to the main system where
the fuel mixture is allowed to adjust.
In the vane type, a flap is forced back by the incoming air.
The more air coming in, the more the flap is pushed back.

7. A potentiometer attached to the flap sends a voltage signal to
the power-train control module.
Also, a second vane present behind the first vane suppresses
its movement thus giving more accurate measurement.
The air from the mass flow sensor is directed to the throttle
body for further process.
Throttle body contains a bored housing that consists of
throttle plate rotating on a shaft. The air that flows in to the
engine is controlled by the throttle chamber.
When the accelerator is released, the throttle plate closes and
clogs air flow into the combustion chamber and when it is
depressed it opens and allows air in to the engine.

8. This process performed by the throttle body effectively
controls the rate of combustion and speeds up the vehicle.
So, this is how the air enters the engine and the air intake
system work. Having knowledge on this will lessen the
ignorance when it comes to intake matters.

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