A camshaft is a shaft to which a cam is fastened or of which a cam forms an integral part.
Engine tuning is the adjustment or modification of the internal combustion engine or Engine Control Unit (ECU) to yield optimal performance and increase the engine's power output, economy, or durability. These goals may be mutually exclusive; an engine may be de-tuned with respect to output power in exchange for better economy or longer engine life due to lessened stress on engine components.
In mechanical or automotive engineering, a freewheel or overrunning clutch is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft. An overdrive is sometimes mistakenly called a freewheel, but is otherwise unrelated.
A fan clutch is a thermostatic engine cooling fan that can freewheel at low temperatures when cooling is not needed, allowing the engine to warm up faster, relieving unnecessary load on the engine. As temperatures increase, the clutch engages so that the fan is driven by engine power and moves air to cool the engine.
A serpentine belt is a single, continuous belt used to drive multiple peripheral devices in an automotive engine, such as an alternator, power steering pump, water pump, air conditioning compressor, air pump, etc. The belt may also be guided by an idler pulley and/or a belt tensioner.
MIVEC is the brand name of a variable valve timing (VVT) engine technology developed by Mitsubishi Motors. MIVEC, as with other similar systems, varies the timing of the intake and exhaust camshafts which increases the power and torque output over a broad engine speed range while also being able to help spool a turbocharger more quickly and accurately.
Automobile accessory power can be transferred by several different means. However, it is always ultimately derived from the automobile's internal combustion engine, battery, or other "prime mover" source of energy. The advent of high-powered batteries in hybrid and all-electrical vehicles is shifting the balance of technologies even further in the direction of electrically powered accessories.
Torsional vibration is angular vibration of an object—commonly a shaft along its axis of rotation. Torsional vibration is often a concern in power transmission systems using rotating shafts or couplings where it can cause failures if not controlled. A second effect of torsional vibrations applies to passenger cars. Torsional vibrations can lead to seat vibrations or noise at certain speeds. Both reduce the comfort.
A belt is a loop of flexible material used to link two or more rotating shafts mechanically, most often parallel. Belts may be used as a source of motion, to transmit power efficiently or to track relative movement. Belts are looped over pulleys and may have a twist between the pulleys, and the shafts need not be parallel.
BAS is an acronym for belted alternator starter. It is a category of automotive parallel hybrid technology that uses an electric motor to contribute power to the internal combustion engine's crankshaft via a serpentine belt. By mounting this motor generator unit in the conventional location traditionally used for the standard automotive alternator, it permits a low-cost method of adding mild hybrid capabilities such as start-stop, power assist, and mild levels of regenerative braking. BAS differ from other mild hybrid systems as they are not run off the vehicle's crankshaft.
Idle speed is the rotational speed an engine runs at when the engine is idling, that is, when the engine is uncoupled from the drivetrain and the throttle pedal is not depressed. In combustion engines, idle speed is generally measured in revolutions per minute (rpm) of the crankshaft. At idle speed, the engine generates enough power to run reasonably smoothly and operate its ancillaries, but usually not enough to perform useful work, such as moving an automobile.
In a spark ignition internal combustion engine, Ignition timing refers to the timing, relative to the current piston position and crankshaft angle, of the release of a spark in the combustion chamber near the end of the compression stroke.
A hit-and-miss engine is a type of four-stroke internal combustion engine that is controlled by a governor to operate at a set speed. It was conceived in the late 19th century and produced by various companies from the 1890s through approximately the 1940s. The name comes from the speed control on these engines: they fire ("hit") only when operating at or below a set speed, and cycle without firing ("miss") when they exceed their set speed. This is as compared to the "throttle governed" method of speed control. The sound made when the engine is running without a load is a distinctive "POP whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh POP" as the engine fires and then coasts until the speed decreases and it fires again to maintain its average speed.
An idler-wheel is wheel which serves only to transmit rotation from one shaft to another, in applications where it is undesirable to connect them directly. For example, connecting a motor to the platter of a phonograph, or the crankshaft-to-camshaft gear train of an automobile.
A free-piston engine is a linear, 'crankless' internal combustion engine, in which the piston motion is not controlled by a crankshaft but determined by the interaction of forces from the combustion chamber gases, a rebound device and a load device.
The oil pump in an internal combustion engine circulates engine oil under pressure to the rotating bearings, the sliding pistons and the camshaft of the engine. This lubricates the bearings, allows the use of higher-capacity fluid bearings and also assists in cooling the engine.
A harmonic damper is a device fitted to the free end of the crankshaft of an internal combustion engine to counter torsional and resonance vibrations from the crankshaft. This device must be interference fit to the crankshaft in order to operate in an effective manner. An interference fit ensures the device moves in perfect step with crankshaft. It is essential on engines with long crankshafts and V8 engines with cross plane cranks. Harmonics and torsional vibrations can greatly reduce crankshaft life, or cause instantaneous failure if the crankshaft runs at or through an amplified resonance. Dampers are designed with a specific weight (mass) which is dependent on the damping material/method used and the freedom it affords the mass move allowing to reduce mechanical Q factor, or damp, crankshaft resonances. A harmonic balancer is the same thing as a harmonic damper except that the balancer includes a counterweight to externally balance the rotating assembly. The harmonic balancer often serves as a pulley for the accessory drive belts turning the alternator, water pump and other crankshaft driven devices.
Engines used by the British company Land Rover in its 4×4 vehicles have included 4-cylinder petrol engines, and 4-cylinder and 5-cylinder diesel engines. 6-cylinder engines have been used for Land Rover vehicles built under licence. Land Rover have also used various 4-cylinder, V8 engines and V6 engines developed by other companies, but this article deals only with engines developed specifically for Land Rover vehicles.
The Mercedes-Benz M276 engine is a direct injected, gasoline automotive piston V6 engine.
Alternators are used in modern automobiles to charge the battery and to power the electrical system when its engine is running.
