Car Backfire Meaning: What It Is and What You Can Do About It 

A car backfiring is one of the most surprising and in some cases dangerous things that can happen. If you're not prepared, the sound that a car makes backfiring can cause you to react violently and could potentially lead to an accident.

If you’ve never experienced a backfire, the sound can be extremely loud. It's been likened to the sound of fireworks or even a gun going off. Sometimes it may even cause fire to shoot out of the exhaust of your vehicle.

To some people the backfire seems cool, but it does indicate that you may have a pretty serious problem with your engine. In the worst-case scenario it could cause damage as well. Let's take a look at what causes your car to backfire and then what you can do to fix the problem.

What is a Backfire?

In the simplest terms, when your car backfires it’s burning gas at the wrong time. The combustion reaction is supposed to take place in your engine where the fuel and air mixture is ignited by the spark plug in your cylinders. Instead, this is actually happening outside of the combustion chamber. On rare occasions, if unburned fuel is able to get all the way to your exhaust and it's hot enough, it will mix with oxygen that is present all around and combust. That's the reason why sometimes you can see fire out of the back of the car, because an explosion is actually occurring in your exhaust pipe.

What Causes a Backfire in a Car?

For many modern drivers a backfire is something they've never experienced before. It was much more common in older vehicles, but if you do have an older model car then you would definitely be susceptible to this. And that’s not to say it doesn't happen in new cars either, but they are more precisely calibrated and controlled by computers which prevents this phenomenon from happening more often than not. There are a handful of causes that could lead to engines backfiring.

• Rich Fuel Mixture. A fuel mixture is considered too rich if there is more fuel and less air than is ideal. The opposite of this is a lean fuel mixture when there's too much air and not enough fuel. If a mixture is too rich, then your engine may not be able to burn it efficiently and some of it will go unburned into the exhaust. This is actually one of the most common causes for backfiring in modern cars. 

If some of the sensors in your engine that govern how air and fuel are injected into your combustion chamber are malfunctioning it could lead to this. You have any number of sensors like an O2 sensor, for instance, that are constantly sending data to your car's computer. If they're not functioning, they will send the incorrect data. That can lead to your computer thinking you need more fuel than you actually do, and the mixture becomes too rich.

• Lean Fuel Mixture. Ironically, the opposite of a rich fuel mixture can lead to the same outcome. This is because your spark plug will be unable to ignite a lean fuel mixture. Too much air ensures that it's no longer able to ignite properly.  The unburned fuel will make it into your exhaust and could potentially ignite there causing a backfire.  Faulty sensors can also lead to lean fuel mixtures, but so can things like clogged fuel injectors, bad fuel pumps, and something like a vacuum leak throwing off the air ratio.

• Faulty Engine Timing. The timing of your engine is extremely precise. Everything must happen at the correct time down to the fraction of a second in order for it to work properly. Typically, this is all controlled by a timing chain or a timing belt. Fine adjustments are made by the computer in your car as well. This is all done so that your engine will work at maximum efficiency giving you the most power. 

A problem with your timing belt or timing chain can cause the timing of your engine to be off significantly. If your belt is stretched out, or some of the teeth have worn off then the precision timing will fail. That can lead to your spark plug not igniting the fuel and air mixture at the correct time. Once the spark happens too late, the fuel and air mixture may have already started to filter into your exhaust. Then, just as with a too rich fuel mixture, that unburned fuel it's going to be mixed with oxygen and ignite in your exhaust.

• Bent Valves. Inside the cylinders of your engines are intake valves and exhaust valves. These are what allow air and fuel in and out of the cylinders. After the combustion reaction has occurred, the exhaust valve opens to let the fumes out. If your valve is damaged it will not seal properly. That's going to allow the air and fuel to flow into the exhaust before it's ignited.

• Bad Fuel System. If your fuel filter is clogged that's going to lower the pressure of the fuel entering the combustion chamber. Likewise, if you have a faulty fuel pump or clogged fuel injectors then your fuel pressure could either be too low or too high depending on the nature of the problem. All of this can result in you ending up with fuel mixes that are too lean or too rich and the situation primed for a backfire. 

• Bad Air Filter. If your air filter is clogged, then you're not going to be getting the right amount of air in your engine. That's going to throw off your air to fuel ratio to create a situation where you have a rich mixture. Fortunately, replacing an air filter is a fairly inexpensive repair job. It will probably only cost you $50 or less at a mechanic. You can also do it yourself.

• Bad Oxygen Sensor. If your O2 sensor is broken or is sending faulty signals to your car's computer, that's going to also throw off how the air and fuel ratio is developed in your engine. If you need a new O2 sensor it will probably cost you somewhere between $50 and $200 to get the job done.

• Exhaust Leak. If your exhaust system manifold has a hole in it then as your exhaust gasses pass by, they can pull in fresh air which has a higher oxygen content. That can cause the partially burned fuel that has been pushed out of your engine through the exhaust to ignite.

Is a Car Backfire Bad?

Whether you find the sound of your car backfiring unsettling or you think it's kind of cool, it's still something you want to avoid. The fact is when your car backfires, at the very least you're wasting fuel. Any time the fuel combusts outside of the combustion chamber of your engine, it's wasted. That's money that you just basically threw it in the garbage. So, from a fuel efficiency standpoint, you definitely want to make sure your car isn't backfiring.

As we have seen there are a number of reasons why your car might backfire. None of them are part of routine operations for your car. That means if you are experiencing backfires then something is wrong under the hood of your car. Especially if it's a semi-regular occurrence. 

You may have problems with your spark plugs, your mass airflow sensor, your air filters, or any number of other parts of your vehicle. Since a backfire is not normal, then something has gone wrong and the situation is likely only to get worse. One stray backfire may not be anything to worry about but if it happens more often then it's a clear sign that you need to have a mechanic check things out for you.

It's rare for a backfire to cause any significant damage to your car's engine. That's why most people don't think they're a big deal. However, if it is a continual phenomenon it can cause damage to your car's exhaust and intake manifold. This is an explosion that's occurring where it's not supposed to, after all. There have been drivers who have suffered repeated backfires that needed to have some extensive repairs done to their exhaust system as a result.

One of the biggest concerns related to a car backfiring is related to performance. If the fuel and air mixture being injected into your engine isn't combusting when it's supposed to, then your car loses power. This is essentially the same as an engine misfire. Your car will not be able to perform as well as it's supposed to.  It's simply an inefficient way to run a car. You won't be able to travel as fast, or haul as much weight. Of course, you're also wasting money at the gas pumps.

If backfiring has become a routine habit of your vehicle, save yourself some time, money, and frustration by getting to a mechanic to have the problem checked out sooner rather than later.