INTRO TO AUTOMOTIVE

Automobile Engine
The purpose of a gasoline car engine is to convert gasoline into motion so that your car can move. Currently the easiest way to create motion from gasoline is to burn the gasoline inside an engine. Therefore, a car engine is an internal combustion engine -combustion takes place internally. Internal combustion gasoline engines run on a mixture of gasoline and air. The ideal mixture is 10:1 parts of air to one part of gasoline. Since gas weighs much more than air, we are talking about a whole lot of air and a tiny bit of gas. One part of gas that is completely vaporized into 10 parts of air can produce tremendous power when ignited inside an engine.

Let's see how the modern engine uses that energy to make the wheels turn. Air enters the engine through the air cleaner and proceeds to the throttle plate. You control the amount of air that passes through the throttle plate and into the engine with the gas pedal. It is then distributed through a series of passages called the intake manifold, to each cylinder. At some point after the air cleaner, depending on the engine, fuel is added to the air-stream by either a fuel injection system or, in older vehicles, by the carburetor. Once the fuel is vaporized into the air stream, the mixture is drawn into each cylinder as that cylinder begins its intake stroke. When the piston reaches the bottom of the cylinder, the intake valve closes and the piston begins moving up in the cylinder compressing the charge. When the piston reaches the top, the spark plug ignites the fuel-air mixture causing a powerful expansion of the gas, which pushes the piston back down with great force against the crankshaft, just like a bicycle rider pushing against the pedals to make the bike go.

How an Engine Works

Since the same process occurs in each cylinder, we will take a look at one cylinder to see how the four stroke process works. The four strokes are Intake, Compression, Power and Exhaust. The piston travels down on the Intake stroke, up on the Compression stroke, down on the Power stroke and up on the Exhaust stroke.

Intake As the piston starts down on the Intake stroke, the intake valve opens and the fuel-air mixture is drawn into the cylinder (similar to drawing back the plunger on a hypodermic needle to allow fluid to be drawn into the chamber.) When the piston reaches the bottom of the intake stroke, the intake valve closes, trapping the airfuel mixture in the cylinder. Compression The piston moves up and compresses the trapped air fuel mixture that was brought in by the intake stroke. The amount that the mixture is compressed is determined by the compression ratio of the engine. The compression ratio on the average engine is in the range of 8:1 to 10:1. This means that when the piston reaches the top of the cylinder, the air-fuel mixture is squeezed to about one tenth of its original volume. Power The spark plug fires, igniting the compressed air-fuel mixture which produces a powerful expansion of the vapor. The combustion process pushes the piston down the cylinder with great force turning the crankshaft to provide the power to propel the vehicle. Each piston fires at a different time, determined by the engine firing order. By the time the crankshaft completes two revolutions, each cylinder in the engine will have gone through one power stroke. Exhaust With the piston at the bottom of the cylinder, the exhaust valve opens to allow the burned exhaust gas to be expelled to the exhaust system. Since the cylinder contains so much pressure, when the valve opens, the gas is expelled with a violent force (that is why a vehicle without a muffler sounds so loud.) The piston travels up to the top of the cylinder pushing all the exhaust out before closing the exhaust valve in preparation for starting the four stroke process over again.

Ignition Systems The purpose of the ignition system is to create a spark that will ignite the fuel-air mixture in the cylinder of an engine. It must do this at exactly the right instant and do it at the rate of up to several thousand times per minute for each cylinder in the engine. If the timing of that spark is off by a small fraction of a second, the engine will run poorly or not run at all. The ignition system sends an extremely high voltage to the spark plug in each cylinder when the piston is at the top of its compression stroke. The tip of each spark plug contains a gap that the voltage must jump across in order to reach ground. That is where the spark occurs. The voltage that is available to the spark plug is somewhere between 20,000 volts and 50,000 volts or better. The job of the ignition system is to produce that high voltage from a 12 volt source and get it to each cylinder in a specific order, at exactly the right time.

Let's see how this is done.

The ignition system has two tasks to perform.
First, it must create a voltage high enough (20,000+) to arc across the gap of a spark plug, thus creating a spark strong enough to ignite the air/fuel mixture for combustion.

Second, it must control the timing of that the spark so it occurs at the exact right time and send it to the correct cylinder.

 The Mechanical Ignition System

The ignition switch There are two separate circuits that go from the ignition switch to the coil. One circuit runs through a resistor in order to step down the voltage about 15% in order to protect the points from premature wear. The other circuit sends full battery voltage to the coil. The only time this circuit is used is during cranking. Since the starter draws a considerable amount of current to crank the engine, additional voltage is needed to power the coil. So when the key is turned to the spring-loaded start position, full battery voltage is used. As soon as the engine is running, the driver releases the key to the run position which directs current through the primary resistor to the coil.

The Distributor To distribute high voltage power to spark plug according the engine firing order to every cylinders.

 Ignition Coil The ignition coil is nothing more that an electrical transformer. It contains both primary and secondary winding circuits. The ignition coil is the heart of the ignition system. As current flows through the coil a strong magnetic field is built up. When the current is shut off, the collapse of this magnetic field to the secondary windings induces a high voltage which is released through the large center terminal. This voltage is then directed to the spark plugs through the distributor. Ignition Timing The timing is set by loosening a hold-down screw and rotating the body of the distributor. Since the spark is triggered at the exact instant that the points begin to open, rotating the distributor body (which the points are mounted on) will change the relationship between the position of the points and the position of the distributor cam, which is on the shaft that is geared to the engine rotation.

Spark Plugs The ignition system's sole reason for being is to service the spark plug. It must provide sufficient voltage to jump the gap at the tip of the spark plug and do it at the exact right time, reliably on the order of thousands of times per minute for each spark plug in the engine. The modern spark plug is designed to last many thousands of miles before it requires replacement. These electrical wonders come in many configurations and heat ranges to work properly in a given engine. The heat range of a spark plug dictates whether it will be hot enough to burn off any residue that collects on the tip, but not so hot that it will cause pre-ignition in the engine. Pre-ignition is caused when a spark plug is so hot, that it begins to glow and ignite the fuel-air mixture prematurely, before the spark. Most spark plugs contain a resistor to suppress radio interference. The gap on a spark plug is also important and must be set before the spark plug is installed in the engine. If the gap is too wide, there may not be enough voltage to jump the gap, causing a misfire. If the gap is too small, the spark may be inadequate to ignite a lean fuel-air mixture, also causing a misfire.

Starter motor To turn the engine until the engine start generate power by itself using petrol.

Oiling System Oil is the life-blood of the engine. An engine running without oil will last about as long as a human without blood. Oil is pumped under pressure to all the moving parts of the engine by an oil pump. The oil pump is mounted at the bottom of the engine in the oil pan and is connected by a gear to either the crankshaft or the camshaft. This way, when the engine is turning, the oil pump is pumping. There is an oil pressure sensor near the oil pump that monitors pressure and sends this information to a warning light or a gauge on the dashboard. When you turn the ignition key on, but before you start the car, the oil light should light, indicating that there is no oil pressure yet, but also letting you know that the warning system is working. As soon as you start cranking the engine to start it, the light should go out indicating that there is oil pressure

Engine Cooling Internal combustion engines must maintain a stable operating temperature, not too hot and not too cold. With the massive amounts of heat that is generated from the combustion process, if the engine did not have a method for cooling itself, it would quickly self-destruct. Major engine parts can warp causing oil and water leaks and the oil will boil and become useless. While some engines are air-cooled, the vast majority of engines are liquid cooled. The water pump circulates coolant throughout the engine, hitting the hot areas around the cylinders and heads and then sends the hot coolant to the radiator to be cooled off.

Charging System The BATTERY is the electrical storage device that allows the starter to start the engine. If the battery is low, the engine cannot start. Modern batteries do not require maintenance. The ALTERNATOR is the device attached to the engine, driven by a belt from the main pulley at roughly one half engine RPM. Most alternators have a VOLTAGE REGULATOR built into the main assembly. This voltage regulator converts the 110 Volts AC and about 70 amps to 14 Volts DC, maintaining the same 70 amps. This power is then stored in the battery for future use. If the voltage output of the alternator is below 12 volts DC, the CHARGE LIGHT on the dash comes on. When this light is on, the battery supplies power only.

Engine Control Unit Emission and fuel consumption regulations are getting more stringent worldwide. DENSO is holistically developing and supplying innovative engine management technologies to meet these regulations. The Engine Control Unit system electrically controls combustion parameters (amounts of air and fuel and ignition timing) to increase engine output and reduce emissions and fuel consumption. Engine Control Unit system includes: Fuel injection system Ignition system Electronic throttle control system Variable cam timing control system Evaporative emission control system Diagnosis system

Fuel Injection System The fuel injection system controls the air/fuel ratio around the stoichiometry under any driving conditions by injecting a specific amount of fuel at appropriate timing, based on signals from the engine ECU. The engine ECU determines the amount of fuel injection based on the amount of air detected by the air system and driving conditions. DENSOs latest injector, launched in 2002, injects fuel with a fine fuel spray particle size, around 50 m, preventing an increase in the amount of fuel injected during engine warming.

Exhaust Emission System The exhaust emission system uses catalyst to reduce harmful elements such as hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas. The exhaust emission system also detects the air/fuel ratio in exhaust gas using an oxygen sensor and/or air/fuel ratio sensor. It then sends signals to the engine ECU to maintain the air/fuel ratio around the stoichiometry, operating the catalyst most effectively. DENSOs control algorithm and sensing technologies enable the catalyst to quickly reach a temperature effective for purification immediately after the engine start, as well as effectively purify the exhaust gas under any driving conditions.

 Stick Coil The stick coils cylindrical ignition coil generates a high voltage to the spark plug. Based on a signal from the engine ECU, a driving circuit (igniter) drives the ignition coil. Because the cylindrical ignition coil is designed to be stored in the engine plug hole, stick coil is easy to install in the engine.

Electronic Throttle Control System The electronic throttle control system controls the amount of air sucked into the engine cylinder to generate the engine output in accordance with the accelerator pedal effort. Recently, lean combustion is induced to reduce fuel consumption and, during engine warming, the ignition timing is retarded to reduce emissions. The electronic throttle control prevents a decrease in engine output resulting from lean combustion and retarded ignition timing, providing excellent drivability. The electronic throttle control also is involved in various controls including:
Engine idle speed control Cruse control Traction control

Accelerator Pedal Module The accelerator pedal module converts the drivers accelerator pedal effort to an electric signal, and sends the signal to the engine ECU, which controls engine power and acceleration. Electronic Throttle Body The electronic throttle body opens and closes the valve in accordance with the accelerator pedal effort, and controls the amount of air sucked into the engine. As engine life has been extended and engine control has become more complex, longer-life and higher-reliability electronic throttle bodies are required.

Variable Cam Timing Control System The variable cam timing (VCT) control system controls the opening/closing timing of the intake valve and exhaust valve in accordance with driving conditions; improving engine output and reducing fuel consumption and emissions. DENSO provides a highly reliable vane VCT control system with a simple structure at low cost. How the system works: The cam position sensor and crank position sensor cooperatively detect the crank shaft rotation during one engine-combustion cycle. Based on signals from the cam and crank position sensors, the engine ECU calculates the valve timing. The ECU calculates an electrical current amount to manage the oil flow control valve (OCV) to adjust the valve timing. In accordance with the electrical current amount, the OCV distributes oil, discharged from the engine oil pump, to two oil chambers of each VCT controller, controlling the oil amounts of the oil chambers. Each VCT controller controls the opening/closing timing of the valve in accordance with the oil amounts of the oil chambers.

Variable Cam Timing Controller The variable cam timing (VCT) controller adjusts cam shaft rotation relative to crank shaft rotation in accordance with amounts of oil in its oil chambers, controlling the opening/closing timing of the intake or exhaust valve. The amounts of oil in the oil chambers are managed by controlling the oil flow control valve in accordance with driving conditions. By controlling the opening/closing timing of the intake and/or exhaust valves in accordance with driving conditions, engine performance is significantly improved, providing greater engine output, better fuel economy and reduced emissions.

Installation image of VCT controller

Evaporative Emission Control System The evaporative emission control system prevents fuel (hydrocarbon: HC) from being discharged from the fuel tank into the atmosphere. How the system works: The charcoal canister temporarily absorbs the HC evaporated from the fuel tank. When the engine operates and the purge control valve opens, the absorbed fuel is purged from the charcoal canister and returned to the intake pipe by the negative pressure in the intake pipe. The returned fuel is sucked into the engine cylinder together with the fuel injected from the injector and air. The engine ECU calculates the amount of HC returned through the purge line and controls the amount of fuel injected from the injector to keep the stoichiometric air fuel ratio at any driving conditions. DENSO develops and supplies both the evaporative emission control system and the engine ECU, providing excellent absorbing and purging properties of the evaporative fuel as well as the excellent control property of the air fuel ratio.

 Air System The air system detects the amount of air drawn into the engine cylinder. Based on the detected air amount, the engine ECU calculates the amount of fuel to be injected, keeping the air/fuel ratio around the stoichiometry under any driving conditions.