Kickback, also known as afterfire, is a loud bang caused by a buildup of gases in a vehicle’s engine, often originating from a carburetor setting. It can be embarrassing and irritating, but modern mechanics can quickly diagnose and repair the issue. The incidence of kickback is decreasing, and it may become a thing of the past in the future.
Almost everyone has heard of a fake car before. The negative effect is used as a comedy element in movies and television shows, often providing a thick layer of black smoke that provides plenty of laughs. Other people have been around when a car didn’t work, often startling people and animals who may think they just heard a gunshot. Essentially, kickback occurs when a buildup of gases inside a running vehicle’s engine is suddenly ignited and pushed through the exhaust system to create a loud boom. Here’s some of the background on how kickback happens and what to do if your vehicle starts to misfire.
Sometimes referred to as afterfire, kickback can occur when a blockage occurs somewhere within the internal combustion engine of any vehicle. Often the negative effect has a carburetor setting origin. Since the carburettor on older type engines helps ensure that the gas/air mixture is maintained correctly, any adjustment that throws the balance off balance could lead to a buildup of gas fumes within the unit. Also, this same type of condition can take place in the intake manifold of the engine. After some buildup, the result will be a loud bang, often followed by smoke coming from under the car’s tailpipe. The result can be quite embarrassing, not to mention loud and irritating.
While few newer engines that don’t rely on carburetors experience a counter effect, it’s not completely unheard of. Generally, it is the same basic principle of some kind of imbalance between gas and air consumption that creates the problem. The modern mechanic can usually quickly electronically scan the vehicle’s engine and exhaust system and isolate the source of the problem in no time. In some cases, the repair is relatively inexpensive and can be carried out without the need to go into the engine. In other cases, the negative effect may be a sign of a larger problem that will only get worse over time. If that is the case, the repair job can be quite expensive as well as time consuming.
The comic value of the gunshots will no doubt continue to amuse audiences for many years to come. However, the incidence of engine firing today is significantly lower than even twenty years ago. It’s quite possible that within a generation, the negative effect will be a thing of the past, as far as cars are concerned.
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