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-Welcome to how  gasoline engines work page in our website, in this page you will learn how  gasoline engines work, this will give you a better understanding of why the engines break down and what you can do to repair them.

We have listed several repairs performed on different makes and models.

   
         - Gasoline engine inside view



  

 Click on image to learn how to replace the timing chain in 1990-1996 Nissan pick-ups
   



   
   Click on image to learn how to adjust the valves on 4 cylinder Toyota trucks equipped with 22R engines
  


    
      - Click on image to learn about VCT Solenoid operation, its location, and a step by step guide to replace the VCT solenoid on Ford 5.4 L engine




  
  - Click on image to learn how to replace the timing belt on a 1997-98 VW Jetta, Golf, GTI equipped with a 2.0 L engine.




   
  Click on image to learn how to replace the intake manifold gasket on 1989-1995 Chevrolet trucks equipped with 5.7 L. engines.
 
 


     
   Click on image to learn how to replace the timing belt on 1993-1997 Geo Prizm.

        
   Click on image to learn how to replace the timing belt on 1998-2001 VW Jetta,Golf,GTI,Cabrio and new Beetle equipped with 2.0 L engine.

There are two kinds of internal combustion engines used in today's vehicles, GASOLINE, and DIESEL engines, as time goes by, new technology is introduced to the automobile industry, the use of hydrogen to power our vehicles is still to expensive to produce, and electric vehicles are too limited, ethanol has been added to our fuel to make it cleaner and renewable.

_ Knowing these facts we will move on to how gasoline engines work.........

Gasoline engines are in the internal combustion category, fuel enters the intake manifold by either a carburetor ( in older engines and some race cars) and by fuel injectors ( the standard method used today), When a carburetor is used the fuel is drawn in to the intake manifold as air passes through the carburetor, and it is here where they mix together, a more efficient way to add fuel to an engine is by a fuel injector, either mounted in the throttle body assbly, or mounted at the end of the intake runner of each cylinder, this is called multi port fuel injection, it is the most efficient because each cylinder gets the amount of fuel it needs


 
The mixture is regulated by an engine control computer, it receives input from several sensors mounted on the engine that monitor the operation of the engine, depending on the information received, the computer will determine how much fuel is injected in to each cylinder by each fuel injector, it will be different at cruising speeds, under acceleration, or coasting down hill, the way the air enters the cylinder head is through the intake port, at the end of the intake port the intake valve is located, the valves are moved to their open and closed position by a camshaft.

The camshaft is operated by the crankshaft either by a timing belt or a timing chain, depending on the design of the engine.

The timing chain or timing belt is attached to both parts ( camshaft and crankshaft ) by sprockets, the camshaft sprocket has twice the amount of teeth as the crankshaft sprocket does, this is to allow the camshaft to turn only one time every two crankshaft revolutions.        

Some modern engines go a step further, they have incorporated a VCT ( Variable cam timing ) system to their engines, allowing the engine to be able to either advance the opening of the valves or to retard it through the VCT system, the VCT system involves a VCT Solenoid for each camshaft, the VCT solenoid controls the oil flow to the Cam Phaser, the cam phaser is mounted in the front of the camshaft, it is here in the cam phaser that the timing is adjusted by altering the oil flow entering the cam phaser, this is done by the ECM ( Engine control computer ) that sends a signal to the VCT solenoid to alter the oil flow to either advance the valve timing or to retard it to match the engine load and speed.



Once the air and fuel mixture enters the cylinder ,it is compressed by the piston moving up against the cylinder head, it is in the cylinder head where the combustion chamber is located, once the piston is all the way up, the spark plug will send a powerful spark of 40,000 volts or higher, it is this spark that causes the mixture to ignite and pushes the piston down , the piston is attached to a crankshaft, the crankshaft transforms this up and down movement of the piston in to a circular motion.
 
A  flywheel is bolted to the end of a crankshaft, and it is here in the flywheel that the power is transfered to the transmission, either by a clutch assbly if it is a manual transmission, or by a torque converter if it is automatic. The transmission transfer this power to the axles by a differential assbly and the axles to the wheels, causing your vehicle to move. 

The burned mixture, or exhaust gases exit the engine when the exhaust valve operated by the camshaft opens and the piston moves up against the cylinder head, the exhaust gases enter the exhaust port in the cylinder head connected to either a exhaust manifold or header, (part of the exhaust system) 


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    Click on image to learn how to replace the oil pan gasket in 2wd Toyota trucks equipped with 22R engines.




   
     Click on image to learn how to replace the head gaskets on Dodge 4.7 L SOHC engines in Dodge trucks.



  
   Click on image to learn how to replace the timing belt on 1997-2000 Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager equipped with 2.4 L engines.




 Click on image to learn how to replace the timing belt on 1988-1992 Toyota 3.0 L engines.