Valves & Seats: There’s More Than Meets The Eye
The valves and seats in an internal combustion engine play a central role in engine breathing, compression, performance and longevity. It doesn’t matter if an engine has two, three, four or even five valves per cylinder or if the engine is gas or diesel because the valves all do the same thing: they open and close to allow air into the cylinders and exhaust to exit the cylinders.
O2 Sensors Keep Watch Over The Air-Fuel Mixture
Keeping an eye on the air/fuel (A/F) mixture is an essential function of the engine management system because it affects emissions, fuel economy and performance.
Do’s And Don’ts Of Head Gaskets
Do: Clean the Holes To ensure accurate torque values and to avoid cracking the cylinder block, clean any dust, dirt, oil and fluid from the cylinder block head bolt holes before installing the new head gasket and head bolts. Never lubricate the head bolts with a friction-modified oil. Unless otherwise specified, lightly lubricate the bolt
Component Connection: Gasket Q & A
Question: When replacing gaskets on an engine, do I just scrape or peel off the old gaskets, or do I have to do something else? Answer: Removing gaskets used to be a fairly simple procedure. Most engines used to have cast iron blocks and heads, with iron manifolds and stamped steel covers. Iron castings could
Next Generation Start/Stop Systems
Although stop/start idle Âsystems have been used on Âhybrid vehicles for many years, a growing number of non-Âhybrid late-model import models are also being equipped with this fuel-saving technology.
The Case Of The Missing Code On A Chevy Tahoe
The Tahoe’s owner complained that it would stall at highway speed, but it would always restart and usually proceed without further incident until it reached home.
Catch A System Failure Before It Interrupts Travel Plans
The typical family vacation might start with a trip to a repair shop to get the oil changed and the vehicle inspected. Taking the extra time to inspect the belts and hoses can make for a trouble-free vacation for your customer and extra revenue for your shop, while a broken belt or burst hose can bring any vacation to an immediate halt at the side of the road.
Turbo Trouble: How Turbochargers Work
Turbochargers are great for adding power to any gas or diesel-powered engine, but are especially useful in small displacement engines. The boost to airflow that a turbocharger provides increases the breathing efficiency of the engine for more horsepower and torque.
Failing O2 Sensors Result In Increased Emissions And Fuel Consumption
The engine computer needs to know what the fuel mixture is with a high degree of precision so it can optimize fuel economy as well as emissions. If the information received by the powertrain control module (PCM) from its sensors is not accurate, it may command too much fuel or not enough.
BMW Electric Water Pump Replacement
We recently had a 2007 BMW Z4 with the N52 engine in the shop. When diagnosing a faulty electric water pump, the first thing that needs to be done is to verify if there are any water pump-related diagnostic codes. There’s a very good chance there will be some. I then like to perform a visual inspection, but don’t look for the water pump from the top of the engine. You’ll want to drop the lower panels, and you will see the pump on the lower right side of the engine.
