27-11-2012, 12:03 PM
Inspect & Service Cooling Systems
[attachment=41285]
Overview
This unit covers the competence required to carry out the inspection and service of air and liquid cooling systems in an automotive retail, service and/or repair context. The unit includes identification and confirmation of work requirement, preparation for work, inspection, analysis and servicing of cooling systems and completion of work finalisation processes, including clean-up and documentation. All work and work practices must be undertaken to regulatory and legislative requirements. It is applicable in both a learning and assessment pathway and an assessment only pathway. This competence is performed in the context that all materials and equipment needed to carry out this function have been provided, including learning materials, learning programs and learning resources.
How a Car Engine Works
Have you ever opened the hood of your car and wondered what was going on in there? A car engine can look like a big confusing jumble of metal, tubes and wires to the uninitiated.
You might want to know what's going on simply out of curiosity. Or perhaps you are buying a new car, and you hear things like "3.0 litre V-6" and "dual overhead cams" and "tuned port fuel injection." What does all of that mean? In this resource, we'll discuss the basic idea behind an engine and then go into detail about how all the pieces fit together, what can go wrong and how to increase performance. The purpose of a petroleum car engine is to convert petroleum into motion so that your car can move. Currently the easiest way to create motion from petroleum is to burn the petroleum inside an engine. Therefore, a car engine is an internal combustion engine - combustion takes place internally.
Internal Combustion
The potato cannon uses the basic principle behind any reciprocating internal combustion engine: If you put a tiny amount of high-energy fuel (like gasoline) in a small, enclosed space and ignite it, an incredible amount of energy is released in the form of expanding gas. You can use that energy to propel a potato 150 metres. In this case, the energy is translated into potato motion. You can also use it for more interesting purposes. For example, if you can create a cycle that allows you to set off explosions like this hundreds of times per minute, and if you can harness that energy in a useful way, what you have is the core of a car engine! Almost all cars currently use what is called a four-stroke combustion cycle to convert petroleum into motion. The four-stroke approach is also known as the Otto cycle, in honour of Nikolaus Otto, who invented it in 1867.
Basic Engine Parts
The core of the engine is the cylinder, with the piston moving up and down inside the cylinder. The engine described above has one cylinder. That is typical of most lawn mowers, but most cars have more than one cylinder (four, six and eight cylinders are common). In a multi-cylinder engine, the cylinders usually are arranged in one of three ways: inline, V or flat (also known as horizontally opposed or boxer), as shown in the following figures.
Engine Problems
So you go out one morning and your engine will turn over but it won't start... What could be wrong? Now that you know how an engine works, you can understand the basic things that can keep an engine from running. Three fundamental things can happen: a bad fuel mix, lack of compression or lack of spark. Beyond that, thousands of minor things can create problems, but these are the "big three." Based on the simple engine we have been discussing, here is a quick rundown on how these problems affect your engine.
Engine Valve Train and Ignition Systems
Most engine subsystems can be implemented using different technologies, and better technologies can improve the performance of the engine. Let's look at all of the different subsystems used in modern engines, beginning with the valve train. The valve train consists of the valves and a mechanism that opens and closes them. The opening and closing system is called a camshaft (Figure 6). The camshaft has lobes on it that move the valves up and down.
[attachment=41285]
Overview
This unit covers the competence required to carry out the inspection and service of air and liquid cooling systems in an automotive retail, service and/or repair context. The unit includes identification and confirmation of work requirement, preparation for work, inspection, analysis and servicing of cooling systems and completion of work finalisation processes, including clean-up and documentation. All work and work practices must be undertaken to regulatory and legislative requirements. It is applicable in both a learning and assessment pathway and an assessment only pathway. This competence is performed in the context that all materials and equipment needed to carry out this function have been provided, including learning materials, learning programs and learning resources.
How a Car Engine Works
Have you ever opened the hood of your car and wondered what was going on in there? A car engine can look like a big confusing jumble of metal, tubes and wires to the uninitiated.
You might want to know what's going on simply out of curiosity. Or perhaps you are buying a new car, and you hear things like "3.0 litre V-6" and "dual overhead cams" and "tuned port fuel injection." What does all of that mean? In this resource, we'll discuss the basic idea behind an engine and then go into detail about how all the pieces fit together, what can go wrong and how to increase performance. The purpose of a petroleum car engine is to convert petroleum into motion so that your car can move. Currently the easiest way to create motion from petroleum is to burn the petroleum inside an engine. Therefore, a car engine is an internal combustion engine - combustion takes place internally.
Internal Combustion
The potato cannon uses the basic principle behind any reciprocating internal combustion engine: If you put a tiny amount of high-energy fuel (like gasoline) in a small, enclosed space and ignite it, an incredible amount of energy is released in the form of expanding gas. You can use that energy to propel a potato 150 metres. In this case, the energy is translated into potato motion. You can also use it for more interesting purposes. For example, if you can create a cycle that allows you to set off explosions like this hundreds of times per minute, and if you can harness that energy in a useful way, what you have is the core of a car engine! Almost all cars currently use what is called a four-stroke combustion cycle to convert petroleum into motion. The four-stroke approach is also known as the Otto cycle, in honour of Nikolaus Otto, who invented it in 1867.
Basic Engine Parts
The core of the engine is the cylinder, with the piston moving up and down inside the cylinder. The engine described above has one cylinder. That is typical of most lawn mowers, but most cars have more than one cylinder (four, six and eight cylinders are common). In a multi-cylinder engine, the cylinders usually are arranged in one of three ways: inline, V or flat (also known as horizontally opposed or boxer), as shown in the following figures.
Engine Problems
So you go out one morning and your engine will turn over but it won't start... What could be wrong? Now that you know how an engine works, you can understand the basic things that can keep an engine from running. Three fundamental things can happen: a bad fuel mix, lack of compression or lack of spark. Beyond that, thousands of minor things can create problems, but these are the "big three." Based on the simple engine we have been discussing, here is a quick rundown on how these problems affect your engine.
Engine Valve Train and Ignition Systems
Most engine subsystems can be implemented using different technologies, and better technologies can improve the performance of the engine. Let's look at all of the different subsystems used in modern engines, beginning with the valve train. The valve train consists of the valves and a mechanism that opens and closes them. The opening and closing system is called a camshaft (Figure 6). The camshaft has lobes on it that move the valves up and down.