INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES

The Parts of the Engine

The figure at the right shows the main parts of a simple four-stroke cycle
engine. These are:
the Intake Valve (IV), the Exhaust Valve (EV), the Piston (P), the Piston Rings
(PR), the Combustion Chamber (CC), the Connection Rod (CR), the Crank
Shaft (CS) and the Spark Plug (SP).
The Cycle - Introduction
A 4-stroke cycle engine carried out four piston strokes during one combustion cycle -
Intake Stroke, Compression Stroke, Power Stroke and Exhaust Stroke.

During the intake stroke, the intake valve is opened and the piston moves toward the
crank shaft. The movement of the piston creates a negative pressure in the
combustion chamber. The air/fuel mixture is sucked into the chamber. If the Bottom
Dead Center (BDC) is reached, the intake valve is closed and the piston moves
upwards (compression stroke); the air/fuel mixture is compressed.

A short period before the Top Dead Center (TDC) is reached, the spark plug ignites
the air/fuel mixture. Temperature and the pressure into the combustion chamber
increased rapidly. The height pressure drives the piston downward (power stroke).
At the end of the power stroke - at the BDC - the exhaust valve is opened. The
piston is moved upward and the gases in the combustion chamber will be pushed
through the exhaust valve (exhaust stroke).

The Cycle - The Four Strokes

If you have the ability to measure the pressure in the combustion chamber and its
volume during all four strokes you get a diagram like Fig. 6 (p-V diagram). It
represents the state of the gas in the chamber.

The figures of the state of a simplified engine as so as the corresponding p-V

diagrams were taken form the Online Animation of a Four-Stroke Cycle site. The
single point shown in the p-V diagram represents the common state. The color of the
combustion chamber indicates the temperature (red: hot; blue: cold).

INTAKE STROKE

The piston moves down the cylinder and the pressure will drop (negative
pressure). The intake valve is opened. Because of the low pressure the
air/fuel mixtures is sucked into the cylinder.
COMPRESSION STROKE

COMPRESSION STROKE : At Bottom Dead Center (BDC) the cylinder is at its

maximum volume and the intake valve is closed. Now the piston moves
backward the Top Dead Center (TDC) and compresses the air/fuel mixtures.
The pressure is increased and the volume is decreased. The necessary work
for the compression increases the internal energy of the mixtures - the
temperature is increased. Because of the fast compression only a small part
of the energy is transferred to the environment.

IGNITION

IGNITION: Near the end of the compression stroke, the ignition starts the
combustion and the mixture burns very rapidly. The expanding gas creates a
high pressures against the top of the piston. The resulting force drives the
piston downward in the cylinder.
POWER STROKE

POWER STROKE: The force drives the piston downward to crank shaft (the
valves are closed). The volume is increased and the preasure is decreased.
No more energy is added and because of this the internal energy of the gas is
decreased as so as the temperature.

EXHAUST STROKE

EXHAUST STROKE: exhaust At BDC the exhaust valve is opened and the
piston moves up the cylinder. The pressure drops near the pressure outside
the cylinder because of the opened exhaust valve. Exhaust gas leaves the
cylinder. The volume is decreased.
Basic Engine Parts
Most cars have more than one cylinder (four, six and eight cylinders are
common). In a multi-cylinder engine, the cylinders usually are arranged in one
of three ways: inline, V or flat (also known as horizontally opposed or boxer),
as shown in the following figures.

INLINE type - The cylinders are arranged in a line in a single bank.

V - type - The cylinders are arranged in two banks set at an angle to one another.

FLAT type - The cylinders are arranged in two banks on opposite sides of the engine.

Different configurations have different advantages and disadvantages in terms

of smoothness, manufacturing cost and shape characteristics. These
advantages and disadvantages make them more suitable for certain vehicles.

Let's look at some key engine parts in more detail.

Spark plug
The spark plug supplies the spark that ignites the air/fuel mixture so that
combustion can occur. The spark must happen at just the right moment for
things to work properly.

Valves
The intake and exhaust valves open at the proper time to let in air and fuel
and to let out exhaust. Note that both valves are closed during compression
and combustion so that the combustion chamber is sealed.

Piston
A piston is a cylindrical piece of metal that moves up and down inside the
cylinder.
Piston rings
Piston rings provide a sliding seal between the outer edge of the piston and
the inner edge of the cylinder. The rings serve two purposes:

They prevent the fuel/air mixture and exhaust in the combustion

chamber from leaking into the sump during compression and
combustion.
They keep oil in the sump from leaking into the combustion area,
where it would be burned and lost.

Most cars that "burn oil" and have to have a quart added every 1,000 miles
are burning it because the engine is old and the rings no longer seal things
properly.
Connecting rod

The connecting rod connects the piston to the crankshaft. It can rotate at both
ends so that its angle can change as the piston moves and the crankshaft
rotates.

Crankshaft
The crankshaft turns the piston's up and down motion into circular motion just
like a crank on a jack-in-the-box does.

Sump
The sump surrounds the crankshaft. It contains some amount of oil, which
collects in the bottom of the sump (the oil pan).

Next, we'll learn what can go wrong with engines.

Diesel Engine
Engine Problems
So you go out one morning and your engine will turn over but it won't start...
What could be wrong? Now that you know how an engine works, you can
understand the basic things that can keep an engine from running. Three
fundamental things can happen: a bad fuel mix, lack of compression or lack of
spark. Beyond that, thousands of minor things can create problems, but these
are the "big three." Based on the simple engine we have been discussing,
here is a quick rundown on how these problems affect your engine:

Bad fuel mix - A bad fuel mix can occur in several ways:

You are out of gas, so the engine is getting air but no fuel.
The air intake might be clogged, so there is fuel but not enough air.
The fuel system might be supplying too much or too little fuel to the
mix, meaning that combustion does not occur properly.
There might be an impurity in the fuel (like water in your gas tank) that
makes the fuel not burn.

Lack of compression - If the charge of air and fuel cannot be compressed

properly, the combustion process will not work like it should. Lack of
compression might occur for these reasons:

Your piston rings are worn (allowing air/fuel to leak past the piston
during compression).
The intake or exhaust valves are not sealing properly, again allowing a
leak during compression.
There is a hole in the cylinder.

The most common "hole" in a cylinder occurs where the top of the cylinder
(holding the valves and spark plug and also known as the cylinder head)
attaches to the cylinder itself. Generally, the cylinder and the cylinder head
bolt together with a thin gasket pressed between them to ensure a good seal.
If the gasket breaks down, small holes develop between the cylinder and the
cylinder head, and these holes cause leaks.
Doing regular engine maintenance can help you avoid future repairs.

Lack of spark - The spark might be nonexistent or weak for a number of

reasons:

If your spark plug or the wire leading to it is worn out, the spark will be
weak.
If the wire is cut or missing, or if the system that sends a spark down
the wire is not working properly, there will be no spark.
If the spark occurs either too early or too late in the cycle (i.e. if the
ignition timing is off), the fuel will not ignite at the right time, and this
can cause all sorts of problems.

Many other things can go wrong. For example:

If the battery is dead, you cannot turn over the engine to start it.
If the bearings that allow the crankshaft to turn freely are worn out, the
crankshaft cannot turn so the engine cannot run.
If the valves do not open and close at the right time or at all, air cannot
get in and exhaust cannot get out, so the engine cannot run.
If someone sticks a potato up your tailpipe, exhaust cannot exit the
cylinder so the engine will not run.
If you run out of oil, the piston cannot move up and down freely in the
cylinder, and the engine will seize.

In a properly running engine, all of these factors are within tolerance.

As you can see, an engine has a number of systems that help it do its job of
converting fuel into motion. We'll look at the different subsystems used in
engines in the next few sections.
How Two-stroke Engines Work
Two-stroke Basics
You find two-stroke engines in such devices as chain saws and jet skis
because two-stroke engines have three important advantages over four-
stroke engines:

Two-stroke engines do not have valves, which simplifies their

construction and lowers their weight.
Two-stroke engines fire once every revolution, while four-stroke
engines fire once every other revolution. This gives two-stroke engines
a significant power boost.
Two-stroke engines can work in any orientation, which can be
important in something like a chainsaw. A standard four-stroke engine
may have problems with oil flow unless it is upright, and solving this
problem can add complexity to the engine.

This is what a two-stroke engine looks like:

These advantages make two-stroke engines lighter, simpler and less
expensive to manufacture. Two-stroke engines also have the potential to pack
about twice the power into the same space because there are twice as many
power strokes per revolution. The combination of light weight and twice the
power gives two-stroke engines a great power-to-weight ratio compared to
many four-stroke engine designs.

You don't normally see two-stroke engines in cars, however. That's because
two-stroke engines have a couple of significant disadvantages that will make
more sense once we look at how it operates.

Sparks Fly
You can understand a two-stroke engine by watching each part of the cycle.
Start with the point where the spark plug fires. Fuel and air in the cylinder
have been compressed, and when the spark plug fires the mixture ignites.
The resulting explosion drives the piston downward. Note that as the piston
moves downward, it is compressing the air/fuel mixture in the crankcase. As
the piston approaches the bottom of its stroke, the exhaust port is
uncovered. The pressure in the cylinder drives most of the exhaust gases out
of cylinder, as shown here:
Engine Valve Train and Ignition Systems
Most engine subsystems can be implemented using different technologies,
and better technologies can improve the performance of the engine. Let's look
at all of the different subsystems used in modern engines, beginning with the
valve train.

The valve train consists of the valves and a mechanism that opens and closes
them. The opening and closing system is called a camshaft. The camshaft
has lobes on it that move the valves up and down, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. The camshaft

Most modern engines have what are called overhead cams. This means that
the camshaft is located above the valves, as you see in Figure 5. The cams
on the shaft activate the valves directly or through a very short linkage. Older
engines used a camshaft located in the sump near the crankshaft. Rods
linked the cam below to valve lifters above the valves. This approach has
more moving parts and also causes more lag between the cam's activation of
the valve and the valve's subsequent motion. A timing belt or timing chain
links the crankshaft to the camshaft so that the valves are in sync with the
pistons. The camshaft is geared to turn at one-half the rate of the crankshaft.
Many high-performance engines have four valves per cylinder (two for intake,
two for exhaust), and this arrangement requires two camshafts per bank of
cylinders, hence the phrase "dual overhead cams." See How Camshafts Work
for details.

The ignition system (Figure 6) produces a high-voltage electrical charge and

transmits it to the spark plugs via ignition wires. The charge first flows to a
distributor, which you can easily find under the hood of most cars. The
distributor has one wire going in the center and four, six, or eight wires
(depending on the number of cylinders) coming out of it. These ignition wires
send the charge to each spark plug. The engine is timed so that only one
cylinder receives a spark from the distributor at a time. This approach
provides maximum smoothness.
Ignition system parts are"

Engine Cooling, Air-intake and Starting Systems

The cooling system in most cars consists of the radiator and water pump.
Water circulates through passages around the cylinders and then travels
through the radiator to cool it off. In a few cars (most notably Volkswagen
Beetles), as well as most motorcycles and lawn mowers, the engine is air-
cooled instead (You can tell an air-cooled engine by the fins adorning the
outside of each cylinder to help dissipate heat.). Air-cooling makes the engine
lighter but hotter, generally decreasing engine life and overall performance.
See How Car Cooling Systems Work for details.

Diagram of a cooling system showing how all the plumbing is connected

So now you know how and why your engine stays cool. But why is air
circulation so important? Most cars are normally aspirated, which means
that air flows through an air filter and directly into the cylinders. High-
performance engines are either turbocharged or supercharged, which
means that air coming into the engine is first pressurized (so that more air/fuel
mixture can be squeezed into each cylinder) to increase performance. The
amount of pressurization is called boost. A turbocharger uses a small turbine
attached to the exhaust pipe to spin a compressing turbine in the incoming air
stream. A supercharger is attached directly to the engine to spin the
compressor.

Turbocharger

Increasing your engine's performance is great, but what exactly happens

when you turn the key to start it? The starting system consists of an electric
starter motor and a starter solenoid. When you turn the ignition key, the
starter motor spins the engine a few revolutions so that the combustion
process can start. It takes a powerful motor to spin a cold engine. The starter
motor must overcome:

All of the internal friction caused by the piston rings

The compression pressure of any cylinder(s) that happens to be in the
compression stroke
The energy needed to open and close valves with the camshaft
All of the "other" things directly attached to the engine, like the water
pump, oil pump, alternator, etc.

Because so much energy is needed and because a car uses a 12-volt

electrical system, hundreds of amps of electricity must flow into the starter
motor. The starter solenoid is essentially a large electronic switch that can
handle that much current. When you turn the ignition key, it activates the
solenoid to power the motor.

Next, we'll look at the engine subsystems that maintain what goes in (oil and
fuel) and what comes out (exhaust and emissions).
Engine Lubrication, Fuel, Exhaust and Electrical
Systems
When it comes to day-to-day car maintenance, your first concern is probably
the amount of gas in your car. How does the gas that you put in power the
cylinders? The engine's fuel system pumps gas from the gas tank and mixes
it with air so that the proper air/fuel mixture can flow into the cylinders. Fuel is
delivered in three common ways: carburetion, port fuel injection and direct fuel
injection.

In carburetion, a device called a carburetor mixes gas into air as the

air flows into the engine.
In a fuel-injected engine, the right amount of fuel is injected individually
into each cylinder either right above the intake valve (port fuel injection)
or directly into the cylinder (direct fuel injection).

See How Fuel Injection Systems Work for more details.

Oil also plays an important part. The lubrication system makes sure that
every moving part in the engine gets oil so that it can move easily. The two
main parts needing oil are the pistons (so they can slide easily in their
cylinders) and any bearings that allow things like the crankshaft and
camshafts to rotate freely. In most cars, oil is sucked out of the oil pan by the
oil pump, run through the oil filter to remove any grit, and then squirted under
high pressure onto bearings and the cylinder walls. The oil then trickles down
into the sump, where it is collected again and the cycle repeats.

The exhaust system of a Porsche 911.

Now that you know about some of the stuff that you put in your car, let's look
at some of the stuff that comes out of it. The exhaust system includes the
exhaust pipe and the muffler. Without a muffler, what you would hear is the
sound of thousands of small explosions coming out your tailpipe. A muffler
dampens the sound. The exhaust system also includes a catalytic converter.
See How Catalytic Converters Work for details.
The emission control system in modern cars consists of a catalytic
converter, a collection of sensors and actuators, and a computer to monitor
and adjust everything. For example, the catalytic converter uses a catalyst
and oxygen to burn off any unused fuel and certain other chemicals in the
exhaust. An oxygen sensor in the exhaust stream makes sure there is enough
oxygen available for the catalyst to work and adjusts things if necessary.

Besides gas, what else powers your car? The electrical system consists of a
battery and an alternator. The alternator is connected to the engine by a belt
and generates electricity to recharge the battery. The battery makes 12-volt
power available to everything in the car needing electricity (the ignition
system, radio, headlights, windshield wipers, power windows and seats,
computers, etc.) through the vehicle's wiring.

Now that you know all about the main engine subsystems, let's look at ways
that you can boost engine performance.

How does a carburetor work?

This is the side that connects to the engine.

The goal of a carburetor is to mix just the right amount of gasoline with air so
that the engine runs properly. If there is not enough fuel mixed with the air, the
engine "runs lean" and either will not run or potentially damages the engine. If
there is too much fuel mixed with the air, the engine "runs rich" and either will
not run (it floods), runs very smoky, runs poorly (bogs down, stalls easily), or
at the very least wastes fuel. The carburetor is in charge of getting the mixture
just right.

On new cars, fuel injection is becoming nearly universal because it provides

better fuel efficiency and lower emissions. But nearly all older cars, and all
small equipment like lawn mowers and chain saws, use carbs because they
are simple and inexpensive.

The carburetor on a chain saw is a good example because it is so

straightforward. The carb on a chain saw is simpler than most carbs because
it really has only three situations that it has to cover:

It has to work when you are trying to start the engine cold.
It has to work when the engine is idling.
It has to work when the engine is wide open.

No one operating a chain saw is really interested in any gradations between

idle and full throttle, so incremental performance between these two extremes
is not very important. In a car the many gradations are important, and this is
why a car's carb is a lot more complex.

Here are the parts of a carb:

A carburetor is essentially a tube.

There is an adjustable plate across the tube called the throttle plate
that controls how much air can flow through the tube. You can see this
circular brass plate in photo.
At some point in the tube there is a narrowing, called the venturi, and
in this narrowing a vacuum is created. The venturi is visible in photo.
In this narrowing there is a hole, called a jet, that lets the vacuum draw
in fuel. You can see the jet on the left side of the venturi in photo.

Carburetor Tuning
The carb is operating "normally" at full throttle. In this case the throttle plate is
parallel to the length of the tube, allowing maximum air to flow through the
carb. The air flow creates a nice vacuum in the venturi and this vacuum draws
in a metered amount of fuel through the jet. You can see a pair of screws on
the right top of the carb in photo. One of these screws (labeled "Hi" on the
case of the chain saw) controls how much fuel flows into the venturi at full
throttle.
This is the side that receives the outside air through the air filter.

When the engine is idling, the throttle plate is nearly closed (the position of the
throttle plate in the photos is the idle position). There is not really enough air
flowing through the venturi to create a vacuum. However, on the back side of
the throttle plate there is a lot of vacuum (because the throttle plate is
restricting the airflow). If a tiny hole is drilled into the side of the carb's tube
just behind the throttle plate, fuel can be drawn into the tube by the throttle
vacuum. This tiny hole is called the idle jet. The other screw of the pair seen
in photo 1 is labeled "Lo" and it controls the amount of fuel that flows through
the idle jet.

Both the Hi and Lo screws are simply needle valves. By turning them you
allow more or less fuel to flow past the needle. When you adjust them you are
directly controlling how much fuel flows through the idle jet and the main jet.

When the engine is cold and you try to start it with the pull cord, the engine is
running at an extremely low RPM. It is also cold, so it needs a very rich
mixture to start. This is where the choke plate comes in. When activated, the
choke plate completely covers the venturi see this video of the choke plate to
see it in action). If the throttle is wide open and the venturi is covered, the
engine's vacuum draws a lot of fuel through the main jet and the idle jet (since
the end of the carb's tube is completely covered, all of the engine's vacuum
goes into pulling fuel through the jets). Usually this very rich mixture will allow
the engine to fire once or twice, or to run very slowly. If you then open the
choke plate the engine will start running normally.

Producing More Engine Power

For a complete explanation of what horsepower is and what horsepower
means, check out How Horsepower Works.

Using all of this information, you can begin to see that there are lots of
different ways to make an engine perform better. Car manufacturers are
constantly playing with all of the following variables to make an engine more
powerful and/or more fuel efficient.
Increase displacement - More displacement means more power because
you can burn more gas during each revolution of the engine. You can increase
displacement by making the cylinders bigger or by adding more cylinders.
Twelve cylinders seems to be the practical limit.

Increase the compression ratio - Higher compression ratios produce more

power, up to a point. The more you compress the air/fuel mixture, however,
the more likely it is to spontaneously burst into flame (before the spark plug
ignites it). Higher-octane gasoline prevent this sort of early combustion. That
is why high-performance cars generally need high-octane gasoline -- their
engines are using higher compression ratios to get more power.

Stuff more into each cylinder - If you can cram more air (and therefore fuel)
into a cylinder of a given size, you can get more power from the cylinder (in
the same way that you would by increasing the size of the cylinder).
Turbochargers and superchargers pressurize the incoming air to effectively
cram more air into a cylinder.

The turbocharger system of the Nissan GT-R.

Cool the incoming air - Compressing air raises its temperature. However,
you would like to have the coolest air possible in the cylinder because the
hotter the air is, the less it will expand when combustion takes place.
Therefore, many turbocharged and supercharged cars have an intercooler.
An intercooler is a special radiator through which the compressed air passes
to cool it off before it enters the cylinder.

Let air come in more easily - As a piston moves down in the intake stroke,
air resistance can rob power from the engine. Air resistance can be lessened
dramatically by putting two intake valves in each cylinder. Some newer cars
are also using polished intake manifolds to eliminate air resistance there.
Bigger air filters can also improve air flow.

Let exhaust exit more easily - If air resistance makes it hard for exhaust to
exit a cylinder, it robs the engine of power. Air resistance can be lessened by
adding a second exhaust valve to each cylinder (a car with two intake and two
exhaust valves has four valves per cylinder, which improves performance --
when you hear a car ad tell you the car has four cylinders and 16 valves, what
the ad is saying is that the engine has four valves per cylinder). If the exhaust
pipe is too small or the muffler has a lot of air resistance, this can cause back-
pressure, which has the same effect. High-performance exhaust systems use
headers, big tail pipes and free-flowing mufflers to eliminate back-pressure in
the exhaust system. When you hear that a car has "dual exhaust," the goal is
to improve the flow of exhaust by having two exhaust pipes instead of one.

Make everything lighter - Lightweight parts help the engine perform better.
Each time a piston changes direction, it uses up energy to stop the travel in
one direction and start it in another. The lighter the piston, the less energy it
takes.

Inject the fuel - Fuel injection allows very precise metering of fuel to each
cylinder. This improves performance and fuel economy.

In the next sections, we'll answer some common engine-related questions

submitted by readers.

Engine Questions and Answers

Here is a set of engine-related questions from readers and their answers:

What is the difference between a gasoline engine and a diesel

engine? In a diesel engine, there is no spark plug. Instead, diesel fuel
is injected into the cylinder, and the heat and pressure of the
compression stroke cause the fuel to ignite. Diesel fuel has a higher
energy density than gasoline, so a diesel engine gets better mileage.
What is the difference between a two-stroke and a four-stroke
engine? Most chain saws and boat motors use two-stroke engines. A
two-stroke engine has no moving valves, and the spark plug fires each
time the piston hits the top of its cycle. A hole in the lower part of the
cylinder wall lets in gas and air. As the piston moves up it is
compressed, the spark plug ignites combustion, and exhaust exits
through another hole in the cylinder. You have to mix oil into the gas in
a two-stroke engine because the holes in the cylinder wall prevent the
use of rings to seal the combustion chamber. Generally, a two-stroke
engine produces a lot of power for its size because there are twice as
many combustion cycles occurring per rotation. However, a two-stroke
engine uses more gasoline and burns lots of oil, so it is far more
polluting.
You mentioned steam engines in this article -- are there any
advantages to steam engines and other external combustion
engines? The main advantage of a steam engine is that you can use
anything that burns as the fuel. For example, a steam engine can use
coal, newspaper or wood for the fuel, while an internal combustion
engine needs pure, high-quality liquid or gaseous fuel.
 Are there any other cycles besides the Otto cycle used in car
engines? The two-stroke engine cycle is different, as is the diesel
cycle described above. The engine in the Mazda Millenia uses a
modification of the Otto cycle called the Miller cycle. Gas turbine
engines use the Brayton cycle. Wankel rotary engines use the Otto
cycle, but they do it in a very different way than four-stroke piston
engines.
Why have eight cylinders in an engine? Why not have one big
cylinder of the same displacement of the eight cylinders instead?
There are a couple of reasons why a big 4.0-liter engine has eight half-
liter cylinders rather than one big 4-liter cylinder. The main reason is
smoothness. A V-8 engine is much smoother because it has eight
evenly spaced explosions instead of one big explosion. Another reason
is starting torque. When you start a V-8 engine, you are only driving
two cylinders (1 liter) through their compression strokes, but with one
big cylinder you would have to compress 4 liters instead.

How are 4-cylinder and V6 engines different?

The number of cylinders that an engine contains is an important factor in the
overall performance of the engine. Each cylinder contains a piston that pumps
inside of it and those pistons connect to and turn the crankshaft. The more
pistons there are pumping, the more combustive events are taking place
during any given moment. That means that more power can be generated in
less time.

4-Cylinder engines commonly come in straight or inline configurations

while 6-cylinder engines are usually configured in the more compact V
shape, and thus are referred to as V6 engines. V6 engines have been the
engine of choice for American automakers because theyre powerful and quiet
but still light and compact enough to fit into most car designs.

The inline 4-cylinder engine of the Lotus Elise.

Historically, American auto consumers turned their noses up at 4-cylinder
engines, believing them to be slow, weak, unbalanced and short on
acceleration. However, when Japanese auto makers, such as Honda and
Toyota, began installing highly-efficient 4-cylinder engines in their cars in the
1980s and 90s, Americans found a new appreciation for the compact engine.
Even though Japanese models, such as the Toyota Camry, began quickly
outselling comparable American models, U.S. automakers, believing that
American drivers were more concerned with power and performance,
continued to produce cars with V6 engines. Today, with rising gas prices and
greater public environmental awareness, Detroit seems to be reevaluating the
4-cylinder engine for its fuel efficiency and lower emissions.

The turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 engine of a Nissan GT-R.

As for the future of the V6, in recent years the disparity between 4-cylinder
and V6 engines has lessened considerably. In order to keep up with the
demand for high gas-mileage and lower emission levels, automakers have
worked diligently to improve the overall performance of V6 engines. Many
current V6 models come close to matching the gas-mileage and emissions
standards of the smaller, 4-cylinder engines. So, with the performance and
efficiency gaps between the two engines lessening, the decision to buy a 4-
cylinder or V6 may just come down to cost. In models that are available with
either type of engine, the 4-cylinder version can run up to $1000 cheaper than
the V6. So, regardless of what kind of performance youre looking to get out of
your car, the 4-cylinder will always be the budget buy.

One final note: Its not a good idea to try to install a V6 engine into a car
model that comes with a standard 4-cylinder. Retrofitting a 4-cylinder car to
handle a V6 engine could cost more than simply buying a new car.
Camber angle

A left wheel with a negative camber angle

The 1960 Milliken MX1 Camber Car showing a large negative camber.

Camber angle is the angle made by the wheel of an automobile; specifically,

it is the angle between the vertical axis of the wheel and the vertical axis of
the vehicle when viewed from the front or rear. It is used in the design of
steering and suspension. If the top of the wheel is farther out than the bottom
(that is, away from the axle), it is called positive camber; if the bottom of the
wheel is farther out than the top, it is called negative camber.

Camber angle alters the handling qualities of a particular suspension design;

in particular, negative camber improves grip when cornering. This is because
it places the tire at a more optimal angle to the road, transmitting the forces
through the vertical plane of the tire, rather than through a shear force across
it. Another reason for negative camber is that a rubber tire tends to roll on
itself while cornering. If the tire had zero camber, the inside edge of the
contact patch would begin to lift off of the ground, thereby reducing the area of
the contact patch. By applying negative camber, this effect is reduced, thereby
maximizing the contact patch area. Note that this is only true for the outside
tire during the turn; the inside tire would benefit most from positive camber.

On the other hand, for maximum straight-line acceleration, the greatest

traction will be attained when the camber angle is zero and the tread is flat on
the road. Proper management of camber angle is a major factor in suspension
design, and must incorporate not only idealized geometric models, but also
real-life behavior of the components; flex, distortion, elasticity, etc. What was once an
art has now become much more scientific with the use of computers, which can
optimize all of the variables mathematically instead of relying on the designer's
intuitive feel and experience. As a result, the handling of even low-priced automobiles
has improved dramatically in recent years.

In cars with double wishbone suspensions, camber angle was usually adjustable, but
in newer with MacPherson strut suspensions, it is normally fixed. While this may
reduce maintenance requirements, if the car is lowered by use of shortened springs,
this changes the camber angle (as described in MacPherson strut) and can lead to
increased tire wear and impaired handling. For this reason, individuals who are
serious about modifying their car for better handling will not only lower the body, but
also modify the mounting point of the top of the struts to the body to allow some
inward/outward (relative to longitudinal centerline the of vehicle) movement for
camber adjustment. Aftermarket plates with slots for strut mounts instead of just
holes are available for most of the commonly modified models of cars.

Off-Road vehicles such as agricultural tractors generally use positive camber. In such
vehicles, the positive camber angle helps to achieve a lower steering effort. Also,
some single-engined general aviation aircraft, such as bush planes amd cropdusters,
have their taildragger gear's main wheels equipped with positive-cambered main
wheels to better handle the deflection of the landing gear, as the aircraft settles on
rough, unpaved airstrips.

Road camber

In roads, an adverse camber refers to any road that tilts on the same side that a
vehicle leans to on a road. The term camber or cant refers to the way in which a road
slopes from its centre. Usually on a right hand bend the road would slope downwards
from left to right, this is known as a crossfall camber or cross slope- the opposite to
an adverse camber. Adverse cambers can occur at road works.

Caster angle

is the caster angle, red line is the pivot line, grey area is the tire. A positive
caster angle is shown with the front of the vehicle being to the left.
A motorcycle's front wheel pivot angle is easily visualized. Choppers sometimes have an
extreme caster angle for aesthetic reasons

Caster angle is the angular displacement from the vertical axis of the
suspension of a steered wheel in a car, bicycle or other vehicle, measured in
the longitudinal direction. It is the angle between the pivot line (in a car - an
imaginary line that runs through the center of the upper ball joint to the center
of the lower ball joint) and vertical. Car racers sometimes adjust caster angle
to optimize their car's handling characteristics in particular driving situations.

The pivot points of the steering are angled such that a line drawn through
them intersects the road surface slightly ahead of the contact point of the
wheel. The purpose of this is to provide a degree of self-centering for the
steering - the wheel casters around so as to trail behind the axis of steering.
This makes a car easier to drive and improves its straight line stability
(reducing its tendency to wander). Excessive caster angle will make the
steering heavier and less responsive, although, in racing, large caster angles
are used to improve camber gain in cornering. Caster angles over 10 degrees
with radial tires are common. Power steering is usually necessary to
overcome the jacking effect from the high caster angle.

The steering axis (the dotted line in the diagram above) does not have to pass
through the center of the wheel, so the caster can be set independently of the
mechanical trail, which is the distance between where the steering axis hits
the ground, in side view, and the point directly below the axle. The interaction
between caster angle and trail is complex, but roughly speaking they both aid
steering, caster tends to add damping, while trail adds 'feel', and returnability.
In the extreme case of the shopping trolley (shopping cart in the US) wheel,
the system is undamped but stable, as the wheel oscillates around the
'correct' path. The shopping trolley/cart setup has a great deal of trail, but no
caster. Complicating this still further is that the lateral forces at the tire do not
act at the center of the contact patch, but at a distance behind the nominal
contact patch. This distance is called the pneumatic trail and varies with
speed, load, steer angle, surface, tire type, tire pressure and time. A good
starting point for this is 30 mm behind the nominal contact patch.
Kingpin & Suspension (automotive part)
.

Suspension, showing tie rod, steering arm, king pin (axis) ball joints

The kingpin is the main pivot in the steering mechanism of a car or other
vehicle. Originally this was literally a steel pin on which the moveable,
steerable wheel was mounted to the suspension. Free to rotate on a single
axis, it limited the degrees of freedom of motion of the rest of the front
suspension. When its bearings were replaced starting in the 1950s by ball
joints, more complicated suspension designs became available to designers.
It is usually made of metal.

No longer restricted to moving like a pin, the part was not necessarily still
called a king pin; but in newer designs, the term may be used not for an actual
pin but the axis around which the steered wheels pivot.

The nipple at the front of a semi-trailer to connect to a fifth wheel coupling is

also known as a king pin.
Double wishbone suspension

Wishbones and upright painted yellow

In automobiles, a double wishbone (or "upper and lower A-arm")

suspension is an independent suspension design using two (occasionally
parallel) wishbone-shaped arms to locate the wheel. Each wishbone or arm
has two mounting points to the chassis and one joint at the knuckle. The
shock absorber and coil spring mount to the wishbones to control vertical
movement. Double wishbone designs allow the engineer to carefully control
the motion of the wheel throughout suspension travel, controlling such
parameters as camber angle, caster angle, toe pattern, roll center height,
scrub radius, scuff and more.
Double Wishbone Suspension, showing tie rod, steering arm, king pin (axis)
ball joints

The double wishbone suspension can also be referred to as double 'A' arms,
and short long arm (SLA) suspension if the upper and lower arms are of
unequal length.

SLAs are very common on front suspensions for medium to large cars such
as the Honda Accord, Volkswagen Passat, or Chrysler 300, pickups, SUVs,
and are very common on sports cars and racing cars.

A single wishbone or A-arm can also be used in various other suspension

types, such as MacPherson strut and Chapman strut.

The suspension consists of a pair of upper and lower lateral arms. The upper
arm is usually shorter to induce negative camber as the suspension jounces
(rises). When the vehicle is in a turn, body roll results in positive camber gain
on the outside wheel. The outside wheel also jounces and gains negative
camber due to the shorter upper arm. The suspension designer attempts to
balance these two effects to cancel out and keep the tire perpendicular to the
ground. This is especially important for the outer tire because of the weight
transfer to this tire during a turn.

Between the outboard end of the arms is a knuckle with a spindle (the
kingpin), hub, or upright which carries the wheel bearing and wheel. Knuckles
with an integral spindle usually do not allow the wheel to be driven. A bolt on
hub design is commonly used if the wheel is to be driven.

In order to resist fore-aft loads such as acceleration and braking, the arms
need two bushings or ball joints at the body.

At the knuckle end, single ball joints are typically used, in which case the
steering loads have to be taken via a steering arm, and the wishbones look A-
or L-shaped. An L-shaped arm is generally preferred on passenger vehicles
because it allows a better compromise of handling and comfort to be tuned in.
The bushing in line with the wheel can be kept relatively stiff to effectively
handle cornering loads while the off-line joint can be softer to allow the wheel
to recess under fore aft impact loads. For a rear suspension, a pair of joints
can be used at both ends of the arm, making them more H-shaped in plan
view.

In elevation view, the suspension is a 4-bar link, and it is easy to work out the
camber gain (see camber angle) and other parameters for a given set of
bushing or ball joint locations.

The various bushings or ball joints do not have to be on horizontal axes,

parallel to the vehicle centre line. If they are set at an angle, then antidive and
antisquat can be dialed in.
The advantage of a double wishbone suspension is that it is fairly easy to
work out the effect of moving each joint, so you can tune the kinematics of the
suspension easily and optimize wheel motion. It is also easy to work out the
loads that different parts will be subjected to which allows more optimized
lightweight parts to be designed. They also provide increasing negative
camber gain all the way to full jounce travel unlike the MacPherson strut
which provides negative camber gain only at the beginning of jounce travel
and then reverses into positive camber gain at high jounce amounts.

The disadvantage is that it is slightly more complex than other systems like a
MacPherson strut.

Prior to the dominance of front wheel drive in the 1980s, many everyday cars
used double wishbone front suspension systems, or a variation on it. Since
that time, the MacPherson strut has become almost ubiquitous, as it is simpler
and cheaper to manufacture. In most cases, a MacPherson strut requires less
space to engineer into a chassis design, and in front wheel drive layouts, can
allow for more room in the engine bay. A good example of this is observed in
the Honda Civic, which changed its front suspension design from a double
wishbone design, to a MacPherson strut design after the year 2000 model.
The change was made to lower costs, as well as allow more engine bay room
for the newly introduced Honda K-series engine.

Double wishbones are usually considered to have superior dynamic

characteristics, load handling capability and are still found on higher
performance vehicles. Examples of makes in which double wishbones can be
found include Audi, Acura, and BMW.

Robert (Bob) Sweat of MetalCraft Products, formerly in Romulus, Michigan,

developed the Double Wishbone design as an independent contractor for
Chrysler Automotive in the 1950s. Prior to this, only Ford had any that came
close to independent.
IGNITION and STARTER SYSTEMS
FRICTION CLUTCHES