About This Quiz
Do you know your alternator from your power steering pump? Would you know where to begin changing your own oil? Not everyone is mechanically inclined, but we're guessing that you know more than you think you know about your car's engine. It's impossible to be a driver without learning a few thing along the way!
Let's take a peek under the hood and find out what you know. We'll examine both the main body of the engine and all the components that attach. Does your expertise end at adding windshield washer fluid, or could you point out exactly where to find the timing chain? Car engines are both efficient and complex machines, with dozens of moving parts working together to power you down the road. Whether your car is diesel or gasoline driven, you should be able to recognize at least some of your engine's make-up!
Rev up your engine and let out on the clutch! As you shift your way through the questions, be sure you choose the answer that is correct to the best of your knowledge! Have no fear! You'll cruise through it without as much as a minor fender-bender! Let's put your knowledge to the test!
There is a shaft in internal combustion engines, like the one in your car, that uses elliptically-shaped lobes to control when the intake and outtake valves open and close. And that determines the engine's performance, peak horsepower and more.
Your car's alternator provides all the needed electrical power, including recharging the battery while you drive.
An engine block is also called a cylinder block.
Advertisement
Engines with more cylinders are more powerful than engines with fewer cylinders.
Today, cars use fuel injection to create the combustion needed in the combustion chamber. But before the 1980s, it was a carburetor that did the job.
When an engine's cylinders are arranged in a straight line, it's called an inline engine.
Advertisement
Usually when an engine has more than four cylinders, those cylinders are divided into a V-shaped configuration of two cylinder banks, with three cylinders or more in each bank.
Your car's engine needs a well-balanced air/fuel mixture, combustion and a spark to work properly.
Sitting above each of the engine's cylinders is a sparkplug. When you start your car, the ignition coil produces a spark that's distributed to the sparkplugs.
Advertisement
The spark ignites the air/fuel mixture.
That spark causes a small explosion that, in turn, pushes the pistons down. Now we're moving!
The piston is up on the exhaust stroke, pushing the exhaust out.
Advertisement
All the moving parts inside your car's engine are lubricated with motor oil.
The car's cooling system, which includes the radiator, keeps the engine’s cylinder heads and valves cool by safely absorbing and dissipating heat, but it needs coolant and water to do so.
Oil changes are recommended for every 3,000 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first. However, many new cars can rely on an every 5,000 miles schedule.
Advertisement
You might think an "extreme" operating condition as very hot or very cold weather, or maybe if you're towing something heavy. Those are. But so is stop-and-go driving, only making short driving tips and never driving at high speeds on highways. Extreme conditions can change your oil change schedule.
Regular oil changes may help you get as much as twice the mileage from your engine than if you're nonchalant about it.
The front of the crankshaft and the rear of the crankshaft have different duties. The front powers your car's accessories, including the air condition, the alternator and water pump.
Advertisement
The rear of the crankshaft connects to the car's flywheel, providing power to the transmission (which, in turn, provides power to the car).
The car's powertrain includes all the components that make a car move, including the engine and drivetrain.
A car's drivetrain includes all of the components needed to move the wheels, but not the car's engine.
Advertisement
Turn on the heat (and turn off the A/C) to help direct heat away from the engine. Don't rely on it as a fix though; an overheating engine needs to be checked out.
Driving through high water could cause water to reach your engine's combustion chamber through the car's air intake system. Think you'll be crossing rivers in your vehicle? Consider a snorkel -- for the car, not you.
This is called mechanical energy.
Advertisement
The camshaft is considered the brain inside your car's engine.
The energy of the car as it goes down the road is called kinetic energy.
The gas pedal controls the amount of air that will get into a car's engine.
Advertisement
A steam engine, like on locomotives in the 19th century, is a good example. It relies on a boiler to heat water into steam, but because the combustion (the boiler) is outside the engine, it's an external combustion engine.
Experts recommend an engine's timing belt (or chain) be changed every 60,000 miles.
The fuel mixture is made up of way more air than fuel.
Advertisement
Loud, medium-pitched knocking noises coming from under the hood could mean the bearings that support the engine's crankshaft are worn.
Valve seals keep engine oil from leaking into the engine's combustion chamber.
The lifting points are different from car to car. Any car with a frame, though, can be lifted with a jack by the frame.
Advertisement
Dim headlights while you're driving is a good indication your car has a bad alternator. (Or you're hauling a really heavy load.)
Replacing a bad oxygen sensor was the most common car repair among Americans in 2015. In second place, our cars needed catalytic converter replacements, and, third, replacement spark plugs. And all those loose fuel caps? Tightening them was the fourth most-common repair.