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About This Quiz
You look like the kind of engine quiz taker who likes a challenge. Other quizzes may take you on a roller coaster when it comes to the difficulty of the questions. They start out easy, throw a couple of tricky questions in here or there, but by the time the ride is over, it smooths back out to cool down your brain. Not this one! This quiz only builds in difficulty. It's all climb, baby! Do you think you're ready to reach the top — and stay there?
There are things that everyone knows about engines — or should, at least, because of their importance to our society. Then, there are questions that only those with an interest in the mechanical world can answer. Finally, there are questions that only those who have a true love of engines, those with oil flowing in their veins, will be able to answer. This quiz has it all. While you may breeze through the first few, don't get cocky; tougher questions are waiting for you just up the road!
Even if you miss one (or several), keep going! This quiz is almost impossible for most people to get a perfect score, but the more you learn, the better you'll be able to do in the future. No one is born with an intimate knowledge of mechanical forces. It's a learning process, and this quiz will clue you in on where you are on that path. Are you ready? Is your brain limbered up and your knowledge of engines on deck? Then let's do this! We'll see you at the top!
Reactor core
Oil reservoir
Crankcase
Cylinder
The cylinder, also called the combustion chamber, is where the magic of the internal combustion process takes place. The air/fuel mix is taken in, compressed, combusted and cleared, and then the process starts again, many times per second, depending on how hard the engine is running.
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True. It's just a matter of the mechanic's preference.
True, but "engine block" is usually used for older vehicles.
False. The engine block has more cylinders than the cylinder head.
False. They are different mechanisms.
The engine block and the cylinder head are bolted together to form the combustion chamber. The cylinder head contains the top of the chamber, along with the intake and exhaust valves, while the engine block houses the pistons and the cylinder shafts, among other things. The head gasket separates the two structures.
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Warns of law enforcement speed traps
Runs user-defined searches for radio stations
Uses the Force
Lets the user "speak" to the car's computer
Your vehicle's On-Board Diagnostic system holds a lot of information about its operations and condition. To "listen" to it, however, you need an OBD-II scanner, which plugs into a port under the dash and gives you a readout of the data. OBD-II, by the way, is just a way of saying that this is an update from earlier, more primitive OBD systems in the early 1980s.
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There is increased noise while running.
There's a loss of oil.
Your crankshaft has two main seals — the front and the rear. When one of them goes bad, your car will develop an oil leak. While it's rare for the crankshaft itself to fail, these seals might need replacing from time to time. And, as we've previously discussed, engines don't do well without a proper amount of oil.
The car becomes harder to start.
Fuel mileage noticeably drops.
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The number of cylinders
The position of the engine
One is for motorcycles, the other for cars.
The configuration of the cylinders
An inline-six (or straight-six) engine is one where the cylinders are in a straight line along the crankcase, whereas in the V6 motor, the cylinders are positions in a "V" format, with three cylinders on each side. While there are inline-four engines, V4 engines are rarely used, and engines with more than six cylinders are generally in the "V" format because of length considerations.
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Connecting rods
The pistons and crankshaft are connected by the logically named connecting rods. These rods are ingeniously hinged so that the linear motion of the pistons can be translated into the rotational motion that moves the crankshaft. When you "throw a rod," these are the rods in question, but that rarely happens with modern engines.
Crankshaft bushings
Tie rods
Reciprocation translators
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True. The two terms are interchangeable.
True, but one is used in U.S. vehicles, while the other is used in foreign models.
False. Crankshafts are used in older cars, while camshafts are used in newer models.
False. They have very different functions.
They might sound similar — and even bear a resemblance to each other — but the camshaft and the crankshaft have different functions, and your car has both of them. Camshafts are responsible for opening and closing the valves at the top of your cylinder that allow the fuel/air mix in and the exhaust gas out, while the crankshaft is part of the powertrain that ultimately turns the wheels.
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Accelerator
Camshaft
Flywheel
The flywheel, attached to the crankshaft, helps to balance engine vibrations caused by the firing of the cylinders, but in vehicles with manual transmissions, it serves another role; it provides a friction surface the clutch.
Tappets
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Crankshaft
Transmission
Piston
The movement of the pistons is literally what drives the engine and the vehicle. The pistons move up and down within the cylinder. As they move up, they compress the fuel/air mix. When the mix detonates, the piston is driven down, which moves the crankshaft. The process then repeats and makes the wheels go round and round!
Exhaust manifold
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Turbine
Radiative
External combustion
Internal combustion
Automobiles use an internal combustion engine to generate power, meaning that the fuel is burned within the engine, rather than outside. A steam-powered turbine would be an example of an external combustion engine.
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The exhaust smells like a big rig's.
It's getting lower gas mileage.
It's making louder sounds while running.
It keeps running after you've shut it off.
When you turn the key to shut the engine down, but it seems to want to go another round, your car is "dieseling." This is usually caused by carbon build-up that keeps the cylinders hot and gives the unburned fuel a chance to ignite. It can happen if your engine is running rich (too much fuel in the air/fuel mix). It's not possessed (probably).
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Your mileage is dropping.
It's difficult to start the car.
The "check engine" light can come on.
All the above
The camshaft position sensor's job is to, yes, detect the position of the camshaft and relay this information to the ECU. If the computer is getting faulty information about this vital piece of data, the timing of the fuel injectors can get messed up and cause all the problems listed here.
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The engine would take massive damage, and then it would seize.
While you CAN run an engine without oil — and it probably would run loudly and roughly — the friction between the many, many moving parts would quickly take its toll. The engine would seize (lock up), and you'll probably need an engine rebuild (or a new engine).
The engine would run rough.
The engine would run very loudly.
Nothing. Oil is nice, but not essential.
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It measures oil temperature.
It blocks the flow of coolant until it's needed.
Your engine requires a certain amount of heat to reach its optimal operating condition, so when it's first started, it needs a bit of heat to build up. The thermostat opens when that temperature is reached, allowing coolant to flow and maintain that heat level. When a thermostat goes bad — either stuck open or stuck closed — your cooling system won't function properly.
It's mercury-based, like an oral thermometer.
It controls the temperature display on your dashboard.
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Intake valve
Release valve
Mass air flow sensor
While the throttle controls how much air is coming into the engine, the mass airflow sensor informs the ECU of that volume. When this sensor gets dirty or contaminated, it can throw bad information to the computer that can harm performance.
Vent stabilization sensor
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Hydroxide
Iron oxide
Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide — known as "NOS" in racing circles — is a chemical that, when introduced to the combustion chamber, adds more oxygen to the mix, which allows more fuel to be burned. More fuel = more horses. "Dihydrogen monoxide," just to be clear, is a fancy name for water.
Dihydrogen monoxide
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Foot-pounds
PSI
MPG
Horsepower
The way it's calculated is often complex, but the automotive industry generally rates its engines by using the horsepower measurement. The vague definition is, of course, the power that a horse gives while pulling. The technical measurement is 550 foot-powers per second or 745.7 watts.
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Two
Four
The automotive internal combustion engine has four strokes, or stages, of the combustion cycle: intake (bringing in the fuel/air mix), compression (squeezing the gas down to its lowest volume), power (where the mix is detonated) and exhaust (where the spent gasses are expelled).
Six
18
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To the passenger compartment
Heat is a byproduct of the internal combustion process, and if not drawn away from the engine, it would quickly lead to overheating. While this excess heat is generally sent to the radiator by way of coolant, in cold weather, the driver can activate the heater core to warm the cabin and power the defroster. When activated, some of the hot coolant is diverted to the heater core and its warmth is put to good use.
To the radiator
To outside vents
To the oil reservoir
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Serpentine belt
The serpentine belt connecting many of the structures under the hood replaces a multitude of belts that older engines used. The trade-off, however, is that if this belt breaks, many of your systems will suddenly go out at the same time. The next time you're in the garage, have this belt checked by a mechanic if your engine has a few miles on it.
Fan belt
Timing chain
Camshaft
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Intake
Compression
While it's probably affected all of them to one degree or the other, worn piston rings will most affect the compression stroke. Worn rings keep the piston from making a tight seal with the cylinder walls, and some of the air/fuel mix will escape.
Power
Exhaust
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Acceleration
Torque is a measurement of the rotational force your engine produces, measured in "foot-pounds," or the turning force necessary to move one pound the distance of one foot around an axis with a one-foot radius. With cars, this means that the more torque an engine produces, the quicker it will accelerate.
Gravity
Downforce
Distance
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To open and close the intake and exhaust valves
To convert reciprocating motion to rotational motion
The pistons moving in the cylinders are going up and down in a reciprocating motion — not that helpful when you want the wheels to turn. The pistons are connected to the crankshaft, which turns this linear motion into a rotational force that the transmission can use to drive the vehicle.
To drive the engine's cooling system
To control how fast the engine runs
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The distributor to the alternator
The crankshaft to the camshaft
The camshaft and the crankshaft must operate in harmony to keep the internal combustion process running smoothly, and the timing belt keeps these two vital parts of your engine in sync. In older cars, this function was performed by the timing chain; belts have taken over the job in modern vehicles.
The fan to the alternator
The carburetor to the fuel injectors
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Radiator leak
Buying poor-quality antifreeze
Oil filter rupture
Head gasket failure
The head gasket separates the cylinder head from the engine block, and it also keeps various fluids flowing through the engine — in this case, coolant and oil — separate. When this gasket fails, fluids start mixing, and things stop running at peak efficiency.
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From the air intake
From the cabin
From the exhaust
To get a good sense of what the proper air/fuel mixture should be, the car's ECM needs information about how much oxygen is leaving via the exhaust system. Too much oxygen in the exhaust means that there's not enough fuel in the mix. The oxygen (or O2) sensor, mounted near the catalytic converter, is what provides that bit of information.
From the wheels
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Environmental Control Unit
Engine Control Unit
Computers are everywhere these days, and your engine is no exception. The Engine Control Unit is the brains of your motor, taking data from various sensors located in and around the engine and controlling functions such as the fuel/air ratio to get the best out of your equipment.
Eco-Compression Unit
Electronic Configuration Unit
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Gas mileage potential
Total engine electrical output
Horsepower
Horsepower and torque measure different things, but they are connected when it comes to engine power and output. This equation gives designers, and marketers, a handle on engine power.
True miles per hour
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One per cylinder
The spark plug provides the spark that detonates the fuel/air mix in a cylinder, but the electricity used to generate that spark comes from the ignition coil. In modern vehicles, each cylinder has its own coil (or in some cases, two cylinders share a coil). In older vehicles, this was done with a distributor cap and rotors.
One
10
Trick question: The modern car doesn't use ignition coils.
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You can take longer intervals between changes.
Better viscosity performance
It's less expensive.
Synthetic oil costs more at the time of the oil change, but it does have benefits that traditional oil can't match. There are "synthetic blend" oils available that, while not offering quite the benefits of true synthetics, are cheaper as a compromise.
Not as much loss due to evaporation
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True: They have motors for each wheel.
True: The electric motor doesn't have to build up torque.
Electric motors don't have to build up torque over time as gas motors do — they have inherently higher and quicker torque capabilities. Gas engines still have it over electric motors when it comes to speed, however, so while they may get off the line faster, the gas engine will still beat it down the stretch.
False: Gas motors release more energy more quickly.
False: Gas motors are far stronger than electric motors.
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Bad thermostat
Ah, the "check engine" light and its warning that SOMETHING is wrong somewhere. Add to these common reasons that you might also need to replace your mass airflow sensor or need new spark plugs, and the light becomes a riddle with many possible answers. Time to break out the OBD-II scanner. Also, just check if your gas cap isn't tight or if it's damaged — that's the easiest thing to check.
Bad oxygen sensor
Loose gas cap
Bad catalytic converter
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Everything is fine.
It's normal when spark plugs that have been in service for a while have grayish or tan deposits on the sides of the electrode. When they appear black, burned, wet or oily, however, you've got an engine problem that requires further investigation.
Your engine is running too lean.
Your engine is running too rich.
It's time for new spark plugs.
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Controls the amount of oil entering the engine
Controls the engine's air intake
When you stomp down on the gas pedal, you're actually not controlling the gas; you're controlling the air going into the engine. It's the job of the ECM — or carburetor in older cars — to put more fuel in the system to balance the air/fuel mix going into the cylinders.
Controls the amount of fuel going into the injectors
Controls the rotational speed of the crankshaft
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Blown exhaust manifold gasket
Exhaust leaks, which can happen at the exhaust manifold gasket, catalytic converter or muffler, not only can affect the way your car performs but can also allow harmful gases, which can be colorless and odorless, into the cabin. If you suspect your vehicle has an exhaust issue, take care of it sooner than later.
Faulty ECU
Loose radiator cap
All the above
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You Got:
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