Manual Transmission

We just learned about the Automatic Transmission.

Another part of a car is a Manual Transmission.

Just like an automatic transmission, this is the part of the car that uses big or small gears to help the car go fast or slow.

In an automatic transmission, the car changes between big and small gears automatically as the car speeds up or slows down.
For a manual transmission, the driver has to tell the car when to change the gears.

To the left of the brake pedal in a car is something called the clutch pedal.
To the right of the driver's seat in the middle of the car is a stick pointing up called the gear shift.

When the driver wants to change from a slow gear to a fast gear, they have to push in the clutch, and then move the gear shift around to the right spot, then release the clutch and the new gear will be used.
The gear shift can be moved up, down, left or right to go into different slots that are for different gears like 1, 2, 3, 4 or reverse.



(from: wikipedia - manual transmission)


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Automatic Transmission

We just learned about the Starter.

Another part of a car is an Automatic Transmission.

In a car, we learned that when the pistons move up and down they spin the crankshaft, and that this spinning movement is what is used to make the car go.

Cars use gears to control whether that spinning motion makes the car go fast or slow.
We've learned about types of gears before, with small ones that spin very fast and big ones that spin slower.

The transmission system is the part of the car that controls which of the small or big gears to connect to the spinning crankshaft to make the car go fast or slow.


(from: wikipedia - automatic transmission)


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Starter

We just learned about the Alternator.

Another part of a car is the Starter.

We know that the engine takes in gas for fuel and the explosion of the gas moves the pistons go up and down.
The power of the exploding gas is enough to drive the car and also keep the pistons moving until they run out of fuel.

When a car is turned off, the pistons can't just move by themselves the first time, they need some way to start the engine moving for the first time.
It's kind of like a campfire. As long as you keep putting wood on the fire it will keep going, but first you have to start the fire.

Car engines use something called a Starter to get things going the first time.
The starter takes electric power from the energy saved up in the car's battery.
It uses that electricity to power an electric motor, which spins a gear around and uses that power to get the engine moving the first time.

That starter gets turned on when someone either pushes the button or turns the car keys, and the engine starts up.



(from: wikipedia - starter (engine))


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Alternator

We just learned about the Fuel Injector.

Another part of a car is the Alternator.

We've learned about how a car burns gasoline for fuel to make it move.
There are some parts of the car that need electricity, not just moving parts.

When the car engine runs, it is hooked up to some belts that are hooked up to the alternator.
The car makes the belts spin around, and the alternator uses that spinning motion and charges up electric power.
It then uses that electric power to charge up the car battery and to run all of the electrical things in a car like headlights, windshield wipers and radios.


(from: wikipedia - alternator (automotive))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sun and Planet Gear

Fuel Injector

We just learned about the Carburetor that helps bring the right mix of gas and air to the engine.

Another part of a car is a Fuel Injector.

A fuel injection does the same job as a carburetor, but it works a little differently.
The carburetor mixes up the gas and air and then sends the mixture over to the engine.

A fuel injection system instead sends the air and gas right into the engine, and it has something like a small computer that controls how much fuel and air goes in at just the right time and amount to make the engine work.


(from: wikipedia - fuel injection)


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Carburetor

We just learned about the Oil Filter.

Another part of a car is the Carburetor.

In order for the car's engine to burn up the gas it uses for fuel, it needs to have the right mixture of air and gas.
With a campfire you need wood as fuel mixed with air to make it burn. The same goes for car engines, but you use gas mixed with air, and it has to be the right amount of each for the car to burn the fuel and make the engine run.

The carburetor helps the engine control how much fuel and air are brought to the engine to get the right mix so the engine will run.


(from: wikipedia - carburetor)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Newcomen Engine

Oil Filter

We just learned about the Oil Pump.

Another part of a car is the Oil Filter.

We've learned that oil goes through the motor to keep things running smoothly, and that the oil pump is the thing that pushes the oil through the motor.

The oil gets dirty after going through the engine, and so it has to get cleaned up.
The oil filter is hooked up to the engine, and the oil gets pumped into that, cleaned up and then sent back out to the engine.

Because these oil filters get very dirty, they have to be changed out for new ones when they are used up.


(from: wikipedia - oil filter)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Steam Pump

Oil Pump

We just learned about the Motor Oil.

Another part of a car is the Oil Pump.

The oil that helps keep everything in the engine moving fast and slippery gets pushed through the car using an oil pump.

There are a few different types of oil pumps, but one of the most common is the gear pump.
For this type of pump, the gears spin around and help push the oil through the engine.
The gears are spun around using the power of the spinning crankshaft as it goes around.


(from: wikipedia - gear pump)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Steam Cylinder

Motor Oil

We just learned about the Timing Belt.

Another part of how a car works is Motor Oil.

When all the parts of a metal car engine are moving around, things can get very hot.
If you've ever heard metal scraping on metal, you know that two pieces of metal don't slide against each other smoothly.

To make the engine parts move smooth and not scrape against each other, cars use a slippery oil that lets helps things move around quickly without problems.

We learned before about the holes in the main engine called oil galleries.
That is where the motor oil goes, and it goes through all those holes to get to parts like the camshaft and crankshaft that need oil as they move around.

After a while the oil gets dirty from being used, so the oil has to be emptied out of a car and replaced with fresh oil.



(from: wikipedia - motor oil)


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Timing Belt

We just learned about the Crankshaft.

Another part of a car's engine is the Timing Belt, Timing Chain or Cambelt.

We know that the Crankshaft spins around with the up and down movement of the pistons,
and the Camshaft spins around to open and close the intake and exhaust valves.

Both the Crankshaft and the Camshaft need to spin at exactly the same time so that the valves open and close while the pistons are going up and down.
The timing belt is wrapped around both the crankshaft and camshaft to make sure they move at the same speed so the valves and pistons are all moving at the right time together.


(from: wikipedia - timing belt (camshaft))


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Crankshaft

We just learned about the Long Block.

Another part of a car is the Crankshaft.

We know the pistons go up and down with the car, and the power of those pistons is what makes the car go.

Underneath the pistons is something called the crankshaft.

When the pistons are pushed down when the gasoline burns up, they push down on the crankshaft.
That energy pushing down then turns the crankshaft and it spins around.
The spinning movement is what is used to help turn the wheels and make the car go.


(from: wikipedia - crankshaft)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Turbine

Long Block

We just learned about the Valvetrain.

Another part of the engine is the Long Block.

The long block is the cylinder head, head gasket, intake vales, exhaust valves and camshaft, together with what is called the short block.

The short block is all the parts of the engine under the head gasket.
Like the cylinder block, cylinders, coolant passages and oil galleries.


(from: wikipedia - automobile engine replacement)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pneumatic Cylinder

Valvetrain

We just learned about the Tappet.

Another part of a car is the Valvetrain.

We've learned about the camshaft that spins around with cams on it, that pushes on the intake and exhaust valves for the pistons.

The Valvetrain is the name for all of the valves hooked together on the camshaft, pushing the valves in and out.


(from: wikipedia - valvetrain)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pneumatics

Tappet

We just learned about the Exhaust Valve.

Another part of a car is the Tappet.

The tappet is the part of the car that pushes on the intake or exhaust valves to open or close them.

Remember that the camshaft is above the valves, and is a rod with cams on it spinning around.
The bump on the cam pushes on the tappet, which pushes on the pushrod, which opens or closes the valves.


(from: wikipedia - tappet)


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Exhaust Valve

We just learned about the Intake Valve.

Another part of a car's engine is the Exhaust Valve.

Just like we learned that the intake valves bring fuel into the piston, after the fuel is used up it needs to be pushed out of the piston.
The exit, or exhaust valve opens up and lets all the burned up fuel out so the piston can start over again.


(from: wikipedia - valvetrain)


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Intake Valve

We just learned about the Camshaft.

Another part of a car's engine is the Intake Valve.

There are valves right above the cylinders where the pistons go up and down, and they either let in fuel for the piston or let out the bad stuff called exhaust.

Remember we learned that pistons take in gasoline fuel, then push up so it is pressurized, it explodes with a spark, pushes the piston back down and also makes exhaust which is like smoke from a fire.

So one valve opens to let the fuel in, and the other valve opens to let the exhaust out.
The one that lets fuel in is called the intake valve.


(from: wikipedia - valvetrain)


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Camshaft

We just learned about the Oil Galleries.

Another part of a car engine is the Camshaft.

We learned a long time ago that a Cam is a disc with a bump on it that spins around and pushes down to open up valves for the engine.

The camshaft is the long metal pole that cams are attached to.
The shaft spins around, and the cams take turns pushing down with their bumps at different times.



(from: wikipedia - camshaft)


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Oil Galleries

We just learned about the Coolant Passages.

Some other parts of a car's engine are called the Oil Galleries.

Oil in the engine helps things run smoothly, so that the metal parts don't grind against each other.
There are holes for oil that go like tunnels all through the engine block, carrying the oil around to keep everything slippery and smooth.


(from: wikipedia - engine block)


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Coolant Passages

We just learned about the Head Gasket.

Some more parts of the engine block on a car are the Coolant Passages.

The pistons going up and down with the burning fuel makes a lot of heat for the engine.
To cool the engine down, there are little tunnels or passages that go through the engine, and when the engine is running there is cooling liquid that goes in one side of those holes and out the other.

The cool liquid helps keep the engine from overheating.


(from: wikipedia - engine block)


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Head Gasket

We just learned about the Cylinder Head.

Another part of a car's engine is the Head Gasket.

We learned already that there is a cylinder block which holds all of the pistons that go up and down, and a cylinder head that goes up above the piston to give it fuel and take away the exhaust.

The Head Gasket is in between the cylinder block and cylinder head.
It helps make sure that there is no gas or liquid leaking out when the block and head are connected together.


(from: wikipedia - head gasket)


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