Driven by the camshaft, exhaust valve is responsible in providing a way for the burned fuel charge to pass from the cylinder to the exhaust manifold. Meanwhile, the intake valve is what opens so as to allow the fuel mixture into the cylinder. Both the valves open at the proper time and close during compression and combustion so that the combustion chamber is sealed.

During the early days of constructing engines, valves, particularly the intake valve, were a problem: their quick and frequent opening and closing against the cylinder heads saw them diminishing fast. It is as of the wear is uncontainable. So uncontainable that they needed to be re-ground every two years or so—the process was called a valve job—which was expensive and time-inefficient. Thanks to valve seats made with improved alloys, this problem is now no more.

The key here is perfect timing. You see, your spark plugs are designed to generate and discharge the sparks at the right moment. If they fail to deliver—or if they are already showing signs of wear and tear—you will experience what we call a “misfire.” This then could lead to your engine hesitating, stalling, or heaving in frenzy. There will be uncontrollable vibrations in your engine bay when idling. And these tremors can make restarting your car difficult. Also, they can affect the drivability of your car.

If you start experiencing misfires, you better check your spark plugs as soon as possible. In fact, it would be best to check them each time you subject your car to a tune-up. You see, even if only one of them becomes faulty, it can already drastically affect the operation of the engine.

There are a lot of factors that can affect the efficacy of your engine, but one of the most common setbacks that can hinder it to work is bad air-fuel mixture.

You see, this is the main ingredient for combustion, and if you are not able to make a way to get the exact air-fuel ratio for your engine, then expect to face a lot of hassles, prime of which is your car’s inability to move.

There are two things for you consider when we speak of the air-fuel mixture—both of which you should be wary about: rich mixture and lean mixture. If you experience rich mixture, which means you have less air and more fuel, or lean mixture, which means you have less fuel and more air, then there is just no way for your fuel to burn. It’s as simple as that. Somewhere in between the two is what we call good mixture, which is key to unleashing optimum power for your car.

So once you are confronted with an engine that won’t function the way it should be, try to check your air-fuel ratio. You can consult your air-fuel ratio meter for this task, so make sure the part is always functional.

The automotive industry has been well-accustomed to the traditional internal combustion engine. And it could stay that way for lifetimes to come since the convention works just fine.

However, brothers Levi (28) and Corban (24) Tillemann-Dick beg to disagree. The duo, carrying a dream they once shared with their late father, who is an inventor and businessman in Denver, has presented a plausible alternative to the usual engine drivers have been used to operating. Enter IRIS Engines.

What the Tillemann-Dicks are proposing is that their invention, which feature six gates that form a tight circle when closed and then pivot open when a mixture of fuel and air is ignited, can boost the efficiency of the normal engine up to 50 percent by making it adhere to an “internally radiating impulse structure” that expands and contracts like the iris of an eye.

Quite a stretch, especially since as Wayne State University assistant professor and researcher Marcis Jansons, said, “Any new, revolutionary, or radically different design is going to have to have a similar evolution.” But since things can change in the blink of an eye, who are to know how much—or less—it would take before this novel idea finds its way to the industry’s acceptance?

A clogged air filter not only lowers the quality of air in your cabin; it can also bust the A/C blower. So be sure to regularly clean or replace your cabin air filter every year or every 12,000-15,000 miles.

Changing cabin air filter is so easy you can do it in less than an hour. For a guide on how to change cabin air filter, watch the video below.

Engine Rebuilding

- Since you’d only be tinkering with select components, it might give 20-50% savings compared to engine replacement.
- You can customize your engine and determine the kind of parts that would be used in it.
- You get to buy components such as gaskets, seals, rings, bearing and lifters from the brand of your chocie and with the manufacturer’s warranty.
- You get to buy engine rebuilding kits that really match each other.
- You’ll be helping mother nature since you wouldn’t entirely junk your old engine.

Engine Replacement

- You don’t have to outsource labor to tear down the engine components and put them back again.
- You don’t need to go to machine shops to get the engine block bored, resurfaced, refinished, etc.
- You get to enjoy about 2-3 years warranty on brand-new engines.
- You don’t have to buy components separately since you can get a complete engine assembly.
- There are now remanufactured engine assemblies that perform just like brand-new ones but are far more affordable.

Prius tops Japan’s car sale chart*

Toyota’s Prius has become the first hybrid car to outsell all other vehicles in Japan, figures show.

It sold 22,292 Prius vehicles in June, from 6,231 in the same month a year earlier and from 10,915 in May said the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

A new model had helped bolster sales, analysts said.

In May the Prius had already become the top-selling car - a category that excludes popular mini-vehicles with engines of up to 660cc.

Honda’s Fit was the second most popular vehicle in the June, with sales of 13,016 vehicles. The firm’s Insight, a hybrid marketed as a cheaper alternative to the Prius, was ranked fourth.

Tax breaks

Hybrid cars are powered by both by petrol and electricity.

High oil prices and growing concern about emissions blamed for global warming has encouraged Japanese carmakers to lead the global development of hybrids.

The sale of fuel-efficient vehicles has also been helped by the government making them tax free.

The car industry hopes that hybrid cars will re-energise the flagging market, which has suffered in the global economic downturn.

*Article reposted verbatim from http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Photo courtesy of www.zimbio.com

1. Engine Mounts

When you got loose engine mounts, you’d most probably hear an occasional thud or rattle from your vehicle’s engine. The sound especially becomes obvious when the throttle is closed.

What you can do is check the engine mounts and the bolts that secure them. If the bolts are loose, tighten them. But if the problem is with the rubber element in the mount, the best thing to do is to replace them before they totally give way and cause your engine to twist or get misplaced in its mounts.

An illustration of Karl Benz’s Patent Motorwagen, the first road vehicle with an internal combustion engine.

A restored version of the three-wheeled Motorwagen

The Motorwagen’s 4-stroke engine that ran on gas and used a water cooling sytem.

Did you know that it was Karl Benz, founder of Mercedes-Benz, who made the first internal combustion engine for a road vehicle?

The vehicle, which he named Motorwagen, ran on gas and had a 4-stroke combustion system. Its engine had a 958cc displacement and produced 0.75 horsepower. Running with electric ignition and an evaporation type of cooling system, the Motorwagen was a three-wheeled vehicle and patented on January 29, 1886.