Car Craze

The different types of gasoline car engines are identified by the number of cylinders and the manner in which these cylinders are laid out. The 3, 4, 5 and 6 cylinder engines have their cylinders arranged in a row while the V-6, V-8, V-10 and V-12 configurations have theirs arranged in two side by side banks of cylinders forming a V. Another variation uses two opposing banks of cylinders found in flat engines used in vehicles such as the Porsche and Subaru.

A gasoline car engine starts working when the ignition key is turned which closes a switch that provides electricity to the battery. Energy for the starter is given by the electricity which turns the geared flywheel attached to the crankshaft’s gear. This in turn makes the fuel pump draw gasoline from the gas tank to force it into the carburetor where it will mix with air. The vaporous mixture produced is received by the individual cylinders through the intake manifold and intake valves.

The mixture of gasoline and air is essentially what internal-combustion is all about. Upon reaching each cylinder, the combustible air-gas mixture is ignited by an electric spark from a spark plug. The mixture’s rapid combustion creates hot expanding gases which push the piston down the cylinder. The crankshaft is kept turning by the repeated combustion of gasoline-air vapor. The mixture consists approximately of 14.7 parts of air to 1 part of gas.

An engine works basically through the four stroke process of Intake, Compression, Power and Exhaust. Pistons travel down the Intake, travel up on Compression, down again on Power and up again on the Exhaust Stroke. While the engine is running, oil is pumped out to its different parts. A coolant is circulated throughout the engine by a water pump to be able to maintain a stable operating temperature. The oil and coolant ensures that the engine do not self-destruct while working.