How A Car Engine Works – The Basics

By Author: Joe Holland
Total Articles: 16
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Cars today come with a four-stroke combustion cycle – intake stroke, compression stroke, combustion stroke and exhaust stroke. Speed of the car is determined by the engine cycle and its repetition. When a large amount of gas is injected in the engine the piston moves faster, increasing the speed of the cycle.

It won’t be an exaggeration to term cars as one of the 21st century wonders. Its most important part is the engine which sets the whole machinery in motion. But how many of us have really tried to know how a car engine works.

To put it simply, job of the engine is to change gasoline into energy that makes the car move. For that, we place the gasoline inside engine, which burns and consumes it. This is the reason car engines are termed internal combustion engines.

Most cars nowadays use a four-stroke combustion cycle – intake stroke, compression stroke, combustion stroke and exhaust stroke. Although an engine can take various forms, we’ll be discussing a simple, single cylinder engine for ease of comprehension. To learn how a car engine works, you need to understand activation of piston. The ...
... piston moves, the intake valve opens and the engine feeds on a cylinder-full of gasoline and air.

When the intake stroke is done, the piston moves into its initial position. It then compresses the blend of gas and air created previously. An even more powerful explosion is created in the compression stroke when the spark plug produces a spark that ignites the gasoline. There is an explosion in the mixture, which makes the piston move downwards and hits the base of its stroke. The exhaust valve is opened and the exhaust moves out via the tailpipe.

Piston is a small metal rod attached to a connecting rod through a crankshaft. In every compression cycle, opposite motion of piston occurs. Smaller the space, stronger will be the explosion. An airtight seal is put on the space to make sure that no energy is lost.

The exhaust valve moves in action at the trough of the stroke making sure no waste gas residues are left inside the engine. An exhaust valve unlocks at the base of the stroke to allow the waste gas from the explosion move away from the engine. The waste gas goes down to the catalytic converter and muffler with recurring explosions.

Speed of the cycle and its repetition determines the speed of the car. When the driver injects large amounts of gas into the engine, the piston moves faster, increasing the speed of the cycle along with the speed of the car. Spark plug has also a central role in determining the speed. The speed of spark issues by the spark plug has direct bearing on the speed of the vehicle.

These are the basics of the working of a car engine. The process of a car engine is actually a lot more complex and you will need years to be an expert on it. You need to learn about many more things to get a grip on the process.

If car owners know how a car engine works, they will be able to quickly determine the reasons behind any unnecessary trouble and take the corrective action.

When car engines fail, most people prefer to get these replaced with rebuilt or remanufactured engines instead of the brand new ones as these are economically better options, while performing well.

Author of this article is associated with PowertrainDirect.com that supplies clients with high quality rebuilt and remanufactured car engines for sale.