Member of Kurdistan Engineering Union

No.3993 on 24/8/1997

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1-The Common Rail Diesel Injection System Explained.

2- Common rail.

Diesel fuel injector as installed in a MAN V8 Diesel engine.

3- Common rail fuel system on a Volvo truck engine .

4- Diagram of the common rail system.

5- Common rail injection.

Advanced technology for diesel engines.

6- Common rail diesel injection system.

7- The common rail system.

1
8- Mode of operation.

9- Broad range of solution.

10- Advantages .

11- High pressure pumps .

12- Injectors .

13- Common Rail Injectors Explained.

14 - Advantages of the Common Rail Diesel System.

15- WARNING.

16- Electronic Common Rail Direct Injection (CRD).

17- System health check.

18- HDi (high diesel injection) Technology.

19 Common Rail Diesel engine problems.

20- What causes common rail diesel engine problems?

21- Common Rail Diesel.

22- Summery (Conclusion).

1-The Common Rail Diesel Injection System Explained:

In recent years, more and more drivers have been drawn to diesel-
powered vehicles. Bosch has played a major role in this European diesel
boom. The modern high-pressure injection systems VP44 distributor-
pump, Unit Injector and Common Rail have transformed the ponderous,
smoke-belching of yesterday into the sporty, fuel-efficient and clean
automobiles of today.

2
 Common rail diesel system

Common rail diesel Engine

The more common rail system prototype was developed along at the
late 1960s by Robert Huber of Switzerland and also the technology
further developed by Dr. Marco Ganser in conjunction with the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (University in Zrich,
Switzerland) .

The very first successful usage in production vehicle began in Japan by

way of the mid-1990s. Dr. Shohei Itoh and Masahiko Miyaki associated
with the Denso Corporation, a Japanese automotive parts manufacturer,
developed the most popular rail fuel system for heavy duty vehicles and
turned it into practical use on their ECD-U2 common-rail system that
come with the Hino Rising Ranger truck and sold for general use in 1995.
Denso claims the first commercial high pressure common rail system in
1995.

Modern common rail systems, whilst anterior to the same principle, are
governed by an electric train engine control unit (ECU) which opens each
injector electronically in lieu of mechanically. I thought this was
extensively prototyped inside of the 1990s with collaboration between

3
 Magneti Marelli, Centro Ricerche Fiat and Elasis. After development and
research next to the Fiat Group, the design was acquired due to the fact.

engine control unit (ECU)

German company Robert Bosch GmbH for completion of development

and refinement for mass-production. In hindsight the sale seemed to be
a tactical error for Fiat mainly because the new technology turned out to
be highly profitable. The business enterprise had little choice but to
dispose of, however, given that it what food was in a poor financial state
when and lacked the resources to try and do development on its own. In
1997 they extended its use for passenger cars. The most important
passenger car that used the common rail system was the 1997 model
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4 JTD( uniJet Turbo Diesel ) , and later on during that
year Mercedes-Benz C 220 CDI.

4
 Common rail diesel injection system

The Common Rail system in particular gives engine developers the

freedom they need to reduce exhaust emissions even further, and
especially to lower engine noise. The particular design of Common Rail,
with its flexible division of injection into several pre-, main and post-
injections, allows the engine and the injection system to be matched to
each other in the best possible way. In the Common Rail accumulator
injection system, the generation of the injection pressure is separate
from the injection itself. A high-pressure pump generates in an
accumulator the rail a pressure of up to 1,600 bar (determined by
the injection pressure setting in the engine control unit), independently
of the engine speed and the quantity of fuel injected.

5
 VP44 distributor-pump VP44 distributor-pump

The fuel is fed through rigid pipes to the injectors, which inject the
correct amount of fuel in a fine spray into the combustion chambers.
The Electronic Diesel Control (EDC): is a diesel engine fuel injection
control system for the precise metering and delivery of fuel into the
combustion chamber of modern diesel engines used in trucks and cars) ,
controls extremely precisely all the injection parameters such as the
pressure in the Rail and the timing and duration of injection as well as
performing other engine functions.

6
In the 1st and 2nd generation of Bosch's Common Rail, the injection
process is controlled by a magnetic solenoid on the injectors. The
hydraulic force used to open and close the injectors is trans-mitted to

7
the jet needle by a piston rod. In the 3rd generation of Common Rail for
passenger cars, the injector actuators consist of several hundred thin
piezo crystal wafers. Piezo crystals have the special characteristic of
expanding rapidly when an electric field is applied to them. In a piezo
inline injector, the actuator is built into the injector body very close to
the jet needle. The movement of the piezo packet is transmitted friction-
free, using no mechanical parts, to the rapidly switching jet needles. The
advantages over the earlier magnetic and current conventional piezo
injectors are a more precise metering of the amount of fuel injected and
an improved atomization of the fuel in the cylinders. The rapid speed at
which the injectors can switch makes it possible to reduce the intervals
between injections and split the quantity of fuel delivered into a large
number of separate injections for each combustion stroke. Diesel
engines become even quieter, more fuel efficient, cleaner and more
powerful.

For its 4th generation of Common Rail for passenger cars Bosch is
currently exploring designs using even higher injection pressures of
more than 2,000 bar, as well as injectors with variable injection
geometry .

Milestones of development :

8
1997

First Common Rail system in the world for passenger cars.

Injection pressure: 1,350 bar .

First production use: Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz .

1999

Common Rail system for trucks .

Injection pressure: 1,400 bar .

)First production use: Renault (RVI) .

2001
and generation Common Rail for passenger cars makes diesel engines
even more economical, cleaner, quieter and more powerful. Injection
pressure: 1,600 bar.

First production use: Volvo and BMW.

2002

and generation Common Rail for trucks gives lower emissions, improved
fuel consumption and more power .

Injection pressure: 1,600 bar .

First production use: MAN .

2003

Generation Common Rail with rapid-switch piezo inline injectors for cars

Advantages: up to 20 % lower emissions or up to 5 % more power or up

to 3 % lower fuel consumption or up to 3 dB(A) less engine noise.

Injection pressure: 1,600 bar .

First production use: Audi .

9
The 3rd generation Common Rail from Bosch is characterized by rapid-
switch, compact piezo-inline-injectors. The innovative injection system
provides for low exhaust emissions in the new V6 diesel engine of the
Audi A8 .

Advantages: up to 20 % lower emissions or up to 5 % more power or up

to 3 % lower fuel consumption or up to 3 dB(A) less engine noise .

Abstract: In the common rail system, fuel is distributed to the injectors

from a high pressure accumulator, called the rail. The rail is fed by a high
pressure fuel pump. The pressure in the rail, as well as the start and end
of the signal that activates the injector for each cylinder are
electronically controlled. Advantages of the common rail system include
flexibility in controlling both the injection timing and injection rate.

The merits of the common rail fuel injection system architecture have
been recognized since the development of the diesel engine. Early
researchers, including Rudolf Diesel, worked with fuel systems that
contained some of the essential features of modern common rail diesel
fuel injection systems. For example, in 1913, a patent for a common rail
fuel injection system with mechanically actuated injectors was issued to
Vickers Ltd. of Great Britain. Around the same time, another patent was
issued in the United States to Thomas Gaff for a fuel system for a direct
cylinder injection spark ignition engine using electrically actuated
solenoid valves. The fuel was metered by controlling the length of time

10
the valves were open . The idea of using an electrically actuated
injection valve on a diesel engine with a common rail fuel system was
developed by Brooks Walker and Harry Kennedy in the late 1920s and
applied to a diesel engine by Atlas-Imperial Diesel Engine Company of
California in the early 1930s.

Work on modern day common rail fuel injection systems was pioneered
in the 1960s by the Societe des Procedes Modernes DInjection
(SOPROMI). However, it would still take 2-3 decades before regulatory
pressure would further development and the technology would mature
to be commercially viable. The SOPROMI technology was evaluated by
CAV Ltd. in the early 1970s and was found to provide little benefit over
existing P-L-N systems in use at the time. Considerable work was still
required to improve the precision and capability of solenoid actuators.

Further development of diesel common rail systems began in earnest in

the 1980s. By 1985, Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau (IFA) of the former
East Germany developed a common rail injection system for their W50
truck, but the prototype never entered series production and the project
was abandoned a couple of years later . Around the same time, General
Motors was also developing a common rail system for application to
their light-duty IDI engines. However, with the cancellation of their light-
duty diesel program in the mid-1980s, further development was
stopped.

11
 Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau (IFA) - W50

A few years later, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of
development projects were initiated by engine OEMs (Original
equipment manufacturer) and later taken up by fuel injection
equipment manufacturers.

Nippondenso further developed a common rail system for commercial

vehicles that they acquired from Renault and that was introduced into
production in 1995 in Hino Rising Ranger trucks.

12
In 1993, Boschperhaps due to some pressure by Daimler-Benz(was a
German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal
combustion engines; founded in 1926) acquired the UNIJET
technology initially developed by the efforts of Fiat and Elasis (a Fiat
subsidiary) for further development and production. Boschs passenger
car common rail system was introduced into production in 1997 for the
1998 model year Alfa Romeo 156 and C-Class Mercedes-Benz.

Shortly afterward, Lucas announced common rail contracts with Ford,

Renault and Kia with production starting in 2000.

In 2003, Fiat introduced a next generation common rail system capable

of 3-5 injections/engine cycles for the Multi jet Euro 4 engine.

13
The aim of these development programs started in the late 1980s/early
1990s was to develop a fuel system for the future diesel powered
passenger car. Early on in these efforts, it was apparent that future
diesel cars would utilize a direct injection combustion system due to the
clear advantage in fuel economy and power density relative to the then
prevalent indirect injection combustion system. The objectives of the
developments included driving comfort comparable to that of gasoline
fueled cars, compliance with future emission limits and improved fuel
economy. Three groups of fuel system architectures were under
consideration:

(1) An electronically controlled distributor pump.

(2) An electronically controlled unit injector (EUI or pump-nozzle unit).

(3) A common rail (CR) injection system. While the efforts around each
of these approaches lead to commercial fuel systems for production
vehicles, the common rail system provided a number of advantages and

14
would eventually come to dominate as the primary fuel system used in
light-duty vehicles. These advantages included:

Fuel pressure independent of engine speed and load conditions. This

allows for flexibility in controlling both the fuel injection quantity and
injection timing and enables better spray penetration and mixing even at
low engine speeds and loads. This feature differentiates the common rail
system from other injection systems, where injection pressure increases
with engine speed. This characteristic also allows engines to produce
higher torque at low engine speedespecially if a variable geometry
turbocharger (VGT) is used. It should be noted that while common rail
systems could operate with maximum rail pressure held constant over a
wide range of engine speeds and loads, this is rarely done. As is
discussed elsewhere, fuel pressure in common rail systems can be
controlled as a function of engine speed and load to optimize emissions
and performance while ensuring engine durability is not compromised.

Lower fuel pump peak torque requirements . As high speed direct

injection (HSDI- high speed direct injection -) engines developed, more
of the energy to mix the air with fuel came from the fuel spray
momentum as opposed to the swirl mechanisms employed in older, IDI-
undirected Injection Diesel - combustion systems. Only high pressure
fuel injection systems were able to provide the mixing energy and good
spray preparation needed for low PM - particulate matter- and HC-
hydrocarbon- emissions. To generate the energy required to inject the
fuel in approximately 1 millisecond, the conventional distributor pump
would have to provide nearly 1 kW of hydraulic power in four (in a 4-
cylinder engine) 1 MS bursts per pump revolution, thus placing
considerable strain on the drive shaft. One of the reasons behind the
trend toward common rail systems was to minimize the maximum pump
torque requirement. While the power and average torque requirements
of the common rail pump were similar, high pressure fuel delivery is to
an accumulator and thus the peak flow rate (and peak torque required
to drive the pump) does not have to coincide with the injection event as
is the case with the distributor pump. Pump discharge flow can be

15
spread out over a longer portion of the engine cycle to keep pump
torque demand more even.

Improved noise quality . DI engines are characterized by higher peak

combustion pressures and, thus, by higher noise than IDI engines, It was
found that improved noise and low NOx emissions were best achieved
by introducing pilot injection(s). This was most easily realized in the
common rail system, which was capable of stable deliveries of small pilot

Fuel quantities over the entire load/speed range of the engine.

2- Common rail
Diesel fuel injector as installed in a MAN V8 Diesel engine:
Common rail direct fuel injection is a direct fuel injection system for
petrol and diesel engines.

On diesel engines, it features a high-pressure (over 1,000 bar or

100 MPa or 15,000 psi) fuel rail feeding individual solenoid valves, as

16
opposed to a low-pressure fuel pump feeding unit injectors (or pump
nozzles). Third-generation common rail diesels now feature piezoelectric
injectors for increased precision, with fuel pressures up to 3,000 bar
(300 MPa; 44,000 psi).

3- Common rail fuel system on a Volvo truck engine:

The common rail system prototype was developed in the late 1960s by
Robert Huber of Switzerland and the technology further developed by
Dr. Marco Gesner at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Common rail engines have been used in marine and locomotive

applications for some time. The Cooper-Bessemer GN-8 is an example
of a hydraulically operated common rail diesel engine, also known as a
modified common rail.

The common rail system is suitable for all types of road cars with diesel
engines, ranging from city cars (such as the Fiat Panda) to executive
saloons (such as the Audi A8). The main suppliers of modern common
rail systems are Robert Bosch GmbH, Delphi, Denso, and Siemens VDO .

The automotive manufacturers refer to their common rail engines by

their own brand names:

BMW: D also used in the Land Rover Freelander as TD4.

Chevrolet: VCDi licensed from VM Motori.

Cummins and Scania: XPI developed under joint venture.

Cummins: CCR Cummins pump with Bosch injectors.

17
Daimler: CDI and on Chrysler's Jeep vehicles simply as CRD.

Fiat Group Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia: JTD also branded as MultiJet,.
JTDm, and by supplied manufacturers as CDTi, TiD, TTiD, DDiS and
Quadra-Jet ).

JTD, uni Jet Turbo Diesel, is Fiat Group's term for its current common
rail turbo diesel engine range. The Multi Jet name is used in the second
generation JTD common rail units. Most of the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and
Lancia range has JTD engines. Ownership of some Fiat JTD designs is
shared with General Motors as part of a settlement of the failed merger
between the two auto conglomerates. GM Powertrain Torino group in
Turin, Italy manages their interest in these engines. Some PSA Peugeot
Citron diesel engines are also rebadged JTD units.

A new generation JTD engine, MultiJet II was introduced in Fiat Punto

Evo in 2009.

)Ford Motor Company: TDCi Duratorq and Powerstroke

Honda: i-CTDi and i-DTEC

Hyundai and Kia: CRDi

IKCO: EFD

Isuzu: iTEQ

Jeep: CRD

Komatsu: Tier3, Tier4, 4D95 and higher HPCR-series

Mahindra: CRDe, DiCR, m2DiCR

Mazda: MZR-CD and Skyactiv-D are manufactured by the Ford and PSA
Peugeot Citroen joint venture and earlier DiTD

Mitsubishi: DI-D mainly on the recently developed 4N1 engine family

Nissan: dCi Infiniti uses dCi engines, but not branded as dCi

Opel: CDTI

18
Proton: SCDi

PSA Peugeot Citron: HDI or HDi (developed under joint venture with
Ford) See PSA HDi engine

)Renault: dCi (joint venture with Nissan

)SsangYong: XDi (most of these engines are manufactured by Daimler AG

Subaru: TD or D (as of Jan 2008)

Tata: DICOR and CR4

Toyota: D-4D and D-Cat

Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda): TDI (more

recent models use common rail, as opposed to the earlier unit injector
)engines

Volvo: D and D5 engines (some are manufactured by Ford and PSA

Peugeot Citroen), Volvo Penta D-series engines

4- Diagram of the common rail system:

Solenoid or piezoelectric valves make possible fine electronic control
over the fuel injection time and quantity, and the higher pressure that
the common rail technology makes available provides better fuel
atomization. To lower engine noise, the engine's electronic control unit
can inject a small amount of diesel just before the main injection event
("pilot" injection), thus reducing its explosiveness and vibration, as well
as optimizing injection timing and quantity for variations in fuel quality,
cold starting and so on. Some advanced common rail fuel systems
perform as many as five injections per stroke.

Common rail engines require a very short (< 10 seconds) to no heating-

up time, depending on ambient temperature, and produce lower engine
noise and emissions than older systems.

Diesel engines have historically used various forms of fuel injection. Two
common types include the unit injection system and the
distributor/inline pump systems. While these older systems provided

19
accurate fuel quantity and injection timing control, they were limited by
several factors:

They were cam driven, and injection pressure was proportional to

engine speed. This typically meant that the highest injection pressure
could only be achieved at the highest engine speed and the maximum
achievable injection pressure decreased as engine speed decreased. This
relationship is true with all pumps, even those used on common rail
systems. With unit or distributor systems, the injection pressure is tied
to the instantaneous pressure of a single pumping event with no
accumulator, and thus the relationship is more prominent and
troublesome.

They were limited in the number and timing of injection events that
could be commanded during a single combustion event. While multiple
injection events are possible with these older systems, it is much more
difficult and costly to achieve.

For the typical distributor/inline system, the start of injection occurred

at a pre-determined pressure (often referred to as: pop pressure) and
ended at a pre-determined pressure. This characteristic resulted from
injectors in the cylinder head which opened and closed at pressures
determined by the spring preload applied to the plunger in the injector.
Once the pressure in the injector reached a pre-determined level, the
plunger would lift and injection would start.

In common rail systems a high-pressure pump stores a reservoir of fuel

at high pressure up to and above 2,000 bars (200 MPa; 29,000 psi).
The term "common rail" refers to the fact that all of the fuel injectors
are supplied by a common fuel rail which is nothing more than a
pressure accumulator where the fuel is stored at high pressure. This
accumulator supplies multiple fuel injectors with high-pressure fuel. This
simplifies the purpose of the high-pressure pump in that it only needs to
maintain a commanded pressure at a target (either mechanically or
electronically controlled). The fuel injectors are typically ECU-controlled.
When the fuel injectors are electrically activated, a hydraulic valve
(consisting of a nozzle and plunger) is mechanically or hydraulically

20
opened and fuel is sprayed into the cylinders at the desired pressure.
Since the fuel pressure energy is stored remotely and the injectors are
electrically actuated, the injection pressure at the start and end of
injection is very near the pressure in the accumulator (rail), thus
producing a square injection rate. If the accumulator, pump and
plumbing are sized properly, the injection pressure and rate will be the
same for each of the multiple injection events.

5- Common rail injection

Advanced technology for diesel engines:
Bosch launched the first common rail system in 1997. The system is
named after the shared high-pressure reservoir (common rail) that
supplies all the cylinders with fuel. With conventional diesel injection
systems, the fuel pressure has to be generated individually for each
injection. With the common rail system, however, pressure generation
and injection are separate, meaning that the fuel is constantly available
at the required pressure for injection

6- Common rail diesel injection system:

In the Common Rail system, an accumulator, or rail, is used to create a
common reservoir of fuel under a consistent controlled pressure that is
separate from the fuel injection points.

21
A high-pressure pump increases the fuel pressure in the accumulator up
to 1,600 bar or 23,200 PSI. The pressure is set by the engine control unit
and is independent of the engine speed and quantity of fuel being
injected into any of the cylinders. The fuel is then transferred through
rigid pipes to the fuel injectors, which inject the correct amount of fuel
into the combustion chambers.

rigid pipes - Common Rail

The injectors used in Common Rail systems are triggered externally by

an Electronic Diesel Control, or EDC unit, which controls all the engine
injection parameters including the pressure in the fuel rail and the
timing and duration of injection.

Diesel fuel injectors used in Common Rail injection systems operate

differently to conventional fuel injectors used in the jerk pump system,
where the plungers are controlled by the camshaft position and speed.
Some common rail injectors are controlled by a magnetic solenoid on
the injector. Hydraulic force from the pressure in the system is used to
open and close the injector, but the available pressure is controlled by
the solenoid triggered by the Electronic Diesel Control unit.

Some injectors use Piezo crystal wafers to actuate the injectors. These
crystals expand rapidly when connected to an electric field. In a Piezo
inline injector, the actuator is built into the injector body very close to
the jet needle and uses no mechanical parts to switch injector needles.

7- The common rail system:

22
Common rail systems have a modular design. Each system consists of a
high-pressure pump, injectors, a rail, and an electronic control unit.

8- Mode of operation:
With conventional diesel injection systems, the fuel pressure has to be
generated individually for each injection. With the common rail system,
however, pressure generation and injection are separate, meaning that
the fuel is constantly available at the required pressure for injection.
Pressure generation takes place in the high-pressure pump. The pump
compresses the fuel and feeds it via a high-pressure pipe to the inlet of
the rail, which acts as a shared high-pressure reservoir for all injectors
hence the name "common rail". From there, the fuel is distributed to the
individual injectors, which inject it into the cylinder's combustion
chamber.

9- Broad range of solution:

Bosch offers common rail systems for all vehicle models from micro cars
to heavy luxury limousines. The high-pressure pumps operate at
pressures between 1,100 and 2,200 bar. Systems with individual pumps
are also available (plug-in pumps). The injectors use either solenoid
valve or Piezo technology.

23
10- Advantages:
Clean and highly efficient fuel injection due to extremely short spraying
distances and multiple injections.

High engine power and smooth running with low consumption and
emissions.

Can be used with all vehicle models due to modular design.

11- High-pressure pumps:

The high-pressure pump compresses the fuel and supplies it in the

required quantity. It constantly feeds fuel to the high-pressure reservoir
(rail), thereby maintaining the system pressure. The required pressure is
available even at low engine speeds, as pressure generation is not linked
to the engine speed. Most common rail systems are equipped with
radial piston pumps. Compact cars also use systems with individual
pumps which operate at a low system pressure.

12- Injectors:

24
The injector in a common rail system consists of the nozzle, an actuator
for Piezo injectors or a solenoid valve for solenoid valve injectors, as well
as hydraulic and electrical connections for actuation of the nozzle
needle.

It is installed in each engine cylinder and connected to the rail via a short
high-pressure pipe. The injector is controlled by the Electronic Diesel
Control (EDC). This ensures that the nozzle needle is opened or closed by
the actuator, be it solenoid valve or Piezo. Injectors with Piezo actuators
are somewhat narrower and operate at a particularly low noise level.
Both variants demonstrate similarly short switching times and enable
pre-injection, main injection and secondary injection to ensure clean and

25
efficient fuel combustion at every operating point.

13- Common Rail Injectors Explained

Increased government regulation and the push to lessen greenhouse gas

emissions in recent years, has led to the modern high-pressure injection
systems. Unit Injector and Common Rail design have transformed the
plodding, black smoking, and inefficient diesels of yesterday into the
sporty, fuel-efficient and clean diesel vehicles of today. This is the New
Clean Diesel.

The Common Rail system in particular gives engine developers the

freedom they need to reduce exhaust emissions even further, and

26
especially to lower engine noise. The particular design of Common Rail,
with its flexible division of injection into several pre, main and post-
injections, allows the engine and the injection system to be matched to
each other in the best possible way. In the Common Rail accumulator
injection system, the generation of the injection pressure is separate
from the injection itself.

Diesel fuel is drawn from the fuel tank by a fuel transfer pump. After the
transfer pump draws the fuel from the tank it will pass through at least
one primary fuel filter. A high-pressure pump generates in an
accumulator the rail a pressure of up to 1,600 bar (determined by
the injection pressure setting in the engine control unit), independently
of the engine speed and the quantity of fuel injected. The fuel is fed
through rigid pipes to the injectors, which inject the correct amount of
fuel in a fine spray into the combustion chambers. The Electronic Diesel
Control (EDC) controls extremely precisely all the injection parameters
such as the pressure in the Rail and the timing and duration of injection
as well as performing other engine functions.

27
 Electronic Diesel Control (EDC)

14-Advantages of the Common Rail Diesel System:

The electronically controlled common rail system has many advantages:

Increased Performance more torque at low engine speeds.

Reduced fuel consumption.

Less exhaust and emissions.

Quieter running engine.

15- WARNING:
Common rail diesel fuel systems operate at very high pressure and can
cause severe injury. Fuel pressures of up to 2000bar may be present.
Never attempt to service or repair any Common Rail or pressurized fuel
system without the proper equipment and training.

16- Electronic Common Rail Direct Injection (CRD):

28
Modern diesels owe their resurgence in popularity to advances in fuel
delivery and engine management systems that allow the engines to
return power, performance and emissions equivalent to their gasoline
counterparts, while simultaneously producing superior fuel economy.

Electronic Control Unit:

The ECU collects and processes signals from various on-board sensors.
An ECU electronic module contains microprocessors, memory units,
analog to digital converters and output interface units. Depending upon
the parameters, a number of different maps can be stored in the
onboard memory. This allows the ECU to be tailored to the specific
engine and vehicle requirements, depending on the application. The
operating software of the ECU can be adapted for a wide variety of
engines and vehicles without the necessity of hardware modification.
The ECU is usually located in the cab or in certain cases, in a suitable
position in the engine bay where additional environmental conditions
might require cooling of the ECU as well as a requirement for better
dust, heat and vibrations insulation.

The high-pressure pump

It's the high pressure fuel rail and the computer controlled electronic
injectors that make all the difference. In the common rail system, the
fuel pump charges the fuel rail at a pressure of up to 25,000 psi--but
unlike indirect injection pumps--it is not involved in fuel discharge.

29
Under the control of the onboard computer, this fuel quantity and
pressure accumulates in the rail independently of engine speed and
load.

Indirect injection
Nolmal
pump
Disele
(Normal
pumpDiesel pump)

Each fuel injector is mounted directly above the piston within the
cylinder head (there is no pre-chamber) and is connected to the fuel rail
by rigid steel lines that can withstand the high pressure. This high
pressure allows for a very fine injector orifice that completely atomizes
the fuel and precludes the need for a pre-chamber. The actuation of the
injectors comes via a stack of piezo electric crystal wafers that move the
jet needle in tiny increments allowing for the spray of fuel. Piezo crystals
function by expanding rapidly when an electric charge is applied to
them. Like the fuel pump, the injectors are also controlled by the engine
computer and can be fired in rapid succession several times during the
injection cycle. With this precise control over injector firings, smaller,
staggered quantities of fuel delivery (5 or more) can be timed over the

30
course of the power stroke to promote complete and accurate
combustion. In addition to timing control, the short duration, high
pressure injections allow a finer and more accurate spray pattern that
also supports better and more complete atomization and combustion.

Through these developments and improvements, the modern common

rail direct injection diesel engine is quieter, more fuel efficient, cleaner,
and more powerful than the indirect mechanical injection units they
have replaced.

Modern diesels owe their resurgence in popularity to advances in fuel

delivery and engine management systems that allow the engines to
return power, performance and emissions equivalent to their gasoline
counterparts, while simultaneously producing superior fuel economy.

Diesel Engine

Each fuel injector is mounted directly above the piston within the
cylinder head (there is no pre-chamber) and is connected to the fuel rail
by rigid steel lines that can withstand the high pressure.

31
 rigid steel lines that can withstand the high pressure-common Rail

17- System health check

After checking that the engine oil level was satisfactory, I decided to
carry out my quick health check of the fuel system. This test takes just a
few minutes using nothing more than the graphing function of a
diagnostic scan tool to evaluate fuel rail pressure against engine speed.
The purpose of the test is to establish what rail pressure the system is
capable of producing during engine cranking, at engine idle speed and
during a snap acceleration. The system produces a characteristic
pressure waveform which is displayed nicely as a graph.

I have found this health check extremely useful for highlighting a variety
of problems; from low pressure fuel supply to transfer pump failure and
excessive leak back from injectors. Knowing what to expect is the key to
the test.

No expensive equipment is required, just a thorough understanding of

the system and how to manipulate it to conduct the required test. Based
upon test results, further tests can then be carried out tailored to the
system variant whether it be metering control, two point rail controls,
with or without electric lift pump in tank etc.

The quick health check is also a good way of establishing a healthy

common rail diesel fuel system, thereby enabling it to be quickly
eliminated as the cause of the problem. In this case, my quick health
check did indeed show the system to be healthy.

18- HDi (high diesel injection) Technology:

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Citron's HDi diesel engines use common rail technology, in which just
one rail supplies all the injectors with fuel at very high pressure.

19- Common Rail Diesel engine problems:

Common Rail Diesel (CRD, CD, CDI) problems can be incredibly expensive
to fix!

CRD engines have been recently developed to meet the latest stringent
diesel exhaust emission standards and diesel fuel sulphur levels are now
very low for the same reason.

Lubricity is the measure of the reduction in friction of a lubricant. At a

time when CRD pumps and injectors rely even more on diesel fuel for
lubrication, lubricity has actually been reduced! Diesel fuel, without a
small biodiesel component, requires lubricity improving additives to
prevent excessive engine wear, especially with CRD. Most CRD engines
have strict factory limits of 5% or 20% biodiesel component.

CRD injection systems are currently internationally associated with

widespread problems, including engine rattles, expensive injector and
fuel pump failures, injector sticking, engine stalling problems and rapid
piston and liner wear. Problems have been documented across a wide

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range of engine suppliers. Some reports are on engines with way less
than 60,000km on the clock.

CRD injectors and fuel pumps run with incredibly fine tolerances and are
highly stressed due to enormous pressures often over 200,000kPa
(29,000psi), which causes higher diesel fuel temperatures. These high
temperatures can degrade diesel fuel resulting in fouling deposits within
pumps and injectors. This risk reportedly increases with biodiesel
blends, since biodiesel by nature, degrades faster than diesel.

CRD operating pressures also cause higher loadings on equipment,

which places a huge demand on the diesel fuel lubricity. Compared to
older technology diesel fuel systems, CRD are totally unforgiving when it
comes to fuel contamination. Very small amounts of water or other
contaminants in the diesel will wreck CRD pumps and injectors, which
are pretty much non-repairable, so it often means new components.

Injector rattle can sound like noisy valve tappets, or rapid machine gun
fire. The injector could be fouled by contaminant, or is seizing due to
inadequate lubrication. Excessive fueling could be causing detonation
inside the combustion chamber, instead of smooth
combustion. Sometimes a rattle or pinging noise occurs under
acceleration from cold, but will disappear after a km or two.

CRD engines are designed with much finer tolerances than older
technology, not only within pumps and injectors, but also in piston to
liner clearances, making CRD engines much more susceptible to
deposits, or the presence of any water or other contamination in the
fuel or oil.

Beware of CRD engine rattle at any time .. treat any injector rattle as a
very serious alarm bell!

We have recently introduced CRD Fuel ENHANCER a lubricity improving

fuel additive, which also has anti-rust and deposit removal properties
that will likely solve CRD engine rattles and help stop component
failures, CRD Fuel Enhancer .. diesel fuel lubricant, deposit remover and

34
anti-rust additive for CRD injectors and systems to prolong their life and
avoid diesel engine failures .

20- What causes common rail diesel engine problems?

The Common Rail Diesel (CRD) injection system is the most recent
development to achieve ever more stringent diesel exhaust emission
standards, but it is currently associated with several problems, including
engine rattles, expensive injector and fuel pump failures, injector
sticking, stalling problems and rapid piston and liner wear.

The newer ( D4D= Direct-injection 'common rail' diesel engine) and

other common rail engines constantly have injection failure and fuel
pump problems. I wanted to share some information with you in order
to make us understand the quality of fuel that we use on daily basis and
have our engines face these problems which lead to very costly repairs.

Common rail is a very good technology that produces more horse power
and gives better fuel economy. The only reason that these engines fail is
the quality of fuel and filtration technology we use. These engines run
on regular diesel but there are a few things we should keep in mind to
make these engines run without problems. First we need to know a few
things about diesel fuel.

The fresh diesel from the refinery is actually very good; things start to
happen after it is transferred from there to the storage or equipment
tank. Here, the stability of diesel starts to change as quickly as after
three months. The process of oxidation starts and diesel starts to
become darker in color as dark and heavy particles starts to form. They
can gum up and plug fuel filters and causes low power and poor.

Water is another problem as it enters fuel through condensation and

poor handling along with dirt. Water causes severe damage to fuel
injection systems causing poor running and reduced performance and
even valves and piston rings are affected.

Another thing is fuel degradation caused by heat and it occurs when fuel
comes in contact with extreme heat in high pressure injection systems.

35
The bottom line is that our diesel is not handled properly. It is stored for
long periods and the storage tanks are not regularly cleaned. These
newer engines are sensitive and cannot take bad diesel. Therefore, I
suggest that the fuel tanks should be cleaned and polished frequently by
the oil companies and fuel stations.

The search for cleaner emissions has driven the manufacturers to design
common rail systems with higher and higher pressures and tighter
tolerances, demanding cleaner fuel to operate. This need to filter out
smaller particles and more of the water out of the fuel makes the design
and maintenance of the filtration system critical to avoiding common rail
diesel problems related to the injection and combustion system.

We all know that the most critical step in maintaining your common rail
vehicle is ensuring that the fuel that goes into the system is properly
filtered at each step of the injection process. Can the right filtration set-
up avoid problems when you receive a really bad dose of fuel? The
answer is no. But it can make the problems easier, and less expensive, to
deal with and repair.

Please remember that one of the most important parts of the filtration
system is a proper water separator on the delivery rail. If there is any
chance of water entering the fuel system, it must be eliminated.

21- Common Rail Diesel:

Common rail direct fuel injection system is a really modern variant of
direct fuel injection for petrol and diesel engines.

On diesel engines, it possesses a high-pressure (over 1,000 bar/15,000

psi) fuel rail feeding individual solenoid valves, dissimilar to low-pressure
fuel pump feeding unit injectors. Third-generation common rail diesels
now feature piezoelectric injectors for increased precision, with fuel
pressures as long as 1,800 bar/26,000 psi.

Today the most popular rail system has brought in terms of a revolution
in diesel engine technology. Robert Bosch GmbH, Delphi Automotive
Systems, Denso Corporation, and Siemens VDO (now owned by

36
Continental AG) is going to be main suppliers of modern common rail
systems. The motor car makers make reference to their common rail
engines by their own individual brand names.

Solenoid or piezoelectric valves make possible fine electronic control

over the fuel injection system serious amounts of quantity as well as the
higher pressure that the common rail technology makes available
provides better fuel atomization. For you to lower engine noise, the
engines electronic control unit can inject a small amount of diesel prior
to when area of the injection event (pilot injection), thus reducing its
explosiveness and vibration, and how optimizing injection timing and
quantity for variations in fuel quality, cold starting and similar matters.
Some advanced common rail fuel systems perform as much as five
injections per stroke.

Common rail engines require very short (< 1 s) or no heating up time in

any respect and produce lower engine noise and emissions than older
systems.

Diesel engines have historically used various different types of fuel

injection system. Two common types include the gps device injection
system and therefore the distributor/inline pump systems. While these
older systems provided accurate fuel quantity and injection timing
control, we were holding limited by a number of factors:

We were looking at cam driven and injection pressure was proportional

to engine speed. This typically meant that the new highest injection
pressure could only be achieved at all the highest engine speed as well
as maximum achievable injection pressure decreased as engine speed
decreased. This relationship is true with all pumps, even those used on
common rail systems; along with the unit or distributor systems,
however, the injection pressure is stuck just using the instantaneous
pressure of a single pumping event with no accumulator as well as the
relationship is a lot more prominent and troublesome.

For all the typical distributor/inline system, the start of injection

occurred in a very pre-determined pressure (also known as as: pop
pressure) and ended at about a pre-determined pressure. This

37
characteristic resulted from injectors active in the cylinder head which
closed and opened at pressures determined by way of spring preload
applied to the plunger in to the injector. As soon as the pressure in a
very injector reached a pre-determined level, the plunger would lift and
injection would start.

In common rail systems, a high pressure pump stores a reservoir of fuel

at high pressure up to and above 2,000 bars (29,000 psi). The concept
of a common rail means indisputable fact that every single fuel
injectors are made available from a common fuel rail which can be just a
pressure accumulator the spot that the fuel is stored at high pressure.
This accumulator supplies multiple fuel injectors with high pressure fuel.
The fuel injectors can even be ECU-controlled. When the fuel injectors
are electrically activated, a hydraulic valve (consisting of a nozzle and
plunger) is mechanically or hydraulically opened and fuel is sprayed back
into the cylinders at the desired pressure. Ever since the fuel pressure
energy is stored remotely along with the injectors are electrically
actuated, the injection pressure at the start and end of injection can be
quite close to the pressure while in the accumulator (rail), thus
producing a square injection rate. In most cases accumulator, pump and
plumbing are sized properly, the injection pressure and rate is the same
for every one of the multiple injection events.

22- Summery (Conclusion) :

1-Three groups of fuel system architectures were under consideration:

(1) an electronically controlled distributor pump.

(2) an electronically controlled unit injector (EUI or pump-nozzle unit) .

(3) a common rail (CR) injection system.

While the efforts around each of these approaches lead to commercial

fuel systems for production vehicles, the common rail system provided a
number of advantages and would eventually come to dominate as the
primary fuel system used in light-duty vehicles.

38
2- The electronic diesel control unit precisely meters the amount of fuel
injected, and improves atomization of the fuel by controlling the injector
pulsations. This results in quieter, more fuel efficient engines; cleaner
operation; and more power.

3- Through these developments and improvements, the modern

common rail direct injection diesel engine is quieter, more fuel efficient,
cleaner, and more powerful than the indirect mechanical injection units
they have replaced.

4- This electronically controlled system optimizes the air-fuel mix in all

conditions of use, significantly reducing both fuel consumption and CO2
emissions. The latest-generation common rail system sets even higher
standards in precision and efficiency. HDi diesel engines stand apart for
their recognized qualities, including: reliability, acoustic comfort, low
fuel consumption and reduced CO2 emissions.

5-The Common Rail Diesel Injection System delivers a more controlled

quantity of atomized fuel, which leads to better fuel economy; a
reduction in exhaust emissions; and a significant decrease in engine
noise during operation.

6- The Common Rail Diesel Injection System delivers a more controlled

quantity of atomized fuel, which leads to better fuel economy; a
reduction in exhaust emissions; and a significant decrease in engine
noise during operation.

7- and generation Common Rail for passenger cars makes diesel engines
even more economical, cleaner, quieter and more powerful.

8- Advantages of the common rail system include flexibility in controlling

both the injection timing and injection rate.

The Common Rail system in particular gives engine developers the

freedom they need to reduce exhaust emissions even further, and
especially to lower engine noise

Diesel engines become even quieter, more fuel efficient, cleaner and
more powerful.

39
and generation Common Rail for trucks gives lower emissions, improved
fuel consumption and more power .

Abstract: In the common rail system, fuel is distributed to the injectors

from a high pressure accumulator, called the rail. The rail is fed by a high
pressure fuel pump. The pressure in the rail, as well as the start and end
of the signal that activates the injector for each cylinder are
electronically controlled. Advantages of the common rail system include
flexibility in controlling both the injection timing and injection rate.

This characteristic also allows engines to produce higher torque at low

engine speedespecially if a variable geometry turbocharger (VGT) is
used .

It should be noted that while common rail systems could operate with
maximum rail pressure held constant over a wide range of engine
speeds and loads, this is rarely done.

The electronically controlled common rail system has many advantages:

Increased Performance more torque at low engine speeds.

Reduced fuel consumption.

Less exhaust and emissions.

Quieter running engine.

23- References:
1-
http://www.swedespeed.com/news/publish/Features/printer_272.ht
ml

2- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_rail

3- http://de.bosch-
automotive.com/en/parts/parts_and_accessories/motor_and_sytems/
diesel/common_rail_injection/common_rail_diesel_motorsys_parts

40
4-
http://www.cdxetextbook.com/fuelSys/diesel/elec/commonraildiesel.
html

5- https://www.dieselnet.com/tech/diesel_fi_common-rail.php

6- /https://gcldiesel.com/common-rail-injectors-explained-2

7-
http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/dieselbiodieselvehicles/a/diesel
crd.htm

8- http://pmmonline.co.uk/technical/common-rail-diesel-fuel-system-
issue-peugeot-307-hdi

9- http://www.neptuneproducts.co.nz/shop/Articles+-
+for+free/Common+Rail+Diesel+engine+problems.htm

10-
http://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/03/f9/2004_deer_busc
h.pdf

11-

/ http://www.repairmanual.net.au/car-repair/common-rail-diesel

12-

http://www.slideshare.net/MasTress/diesel-common-rail-basic

13-
https://www.google.iq/search?q=pump+line+nozzle+system&biw=136
6&bih=640&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCEQsARqFQ
oTCLWz5uPviMcCFUNAFAodwFEDEw&dpr=1#imgrc=L85DUloHgHK36M
%3A

14-
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFA_L60#/media/File:IFA_L60_mit_Schw
erh%C3%A4ckselaufbau.jpg

15-

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https://www.google.com/search?q=nippondenso&biw=1366&bih=640
&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CDYQsARqFQoTC
_=PaFhfP_iMcCFYS9FAodK8MDNg#imgrc

16-

https://www.google.iq/search?q=image+of+the+high+pressure+fuel+r
ail&biw=1366&bih=640&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0C
BsQsARqFQoTCMqeiYe4lMcCFQNYLAodt6AEOg&dpr=1

18-

http://www.citroen.co.uk/approved-used-cars-and-vans

20-

http://www.neptuneproducts.co.nz/shop/Articles+-
+for+free/Common+Rail+Diesel+engine+problems.html

21-

http://www.independent.co.ug/society/motoring-/10359-what-
causes-common-rail-diesel-engine-problems

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