Investigation of the Intake Valve Deposit Formation Tendency Affected by Engine Surrounding Conditions

Investigation of both intake valve deposit (IVD) formation tendency and the effect of surrounding conditions (e.g. atmospheric temperature) on IVD formation was conducted using poly aromatics-rich gasoline in a port fuel injected (PFI) engine. The IVD mostly consisted of carbonaceous deposit and this was shown to be derived from the heavier poly aromatic fuel molecules and engine oil. Analysis also indicated that some metals in the deposit structure came from additives of lubricating oil and the wear and/or corrosion within the engine. In this engine test, there was a significant effect of room temperature where higher room temperatures correlated with higher levels of IVDs. These results illustrate the importance of the surrounding condition in order to understand the IVD issues, higher IVDs weights will result under hotter driving (e.g. in summer) condition.