How much do you know about car systems? Work with a partner and complete this quiz.

1. A car engine's job is to:

a) convert fuel into heat

b) convert fuel into motion

c) convert fuel into exhaust

2. Where are engine parts such as the pistons and cylinders housed in your car engine?

a) engine block (cylinder block)

b) side wells

c) sump

d) trunk

3. A car uses a four-stroke engine. The four strokes are:

a) intake, compression, combustion and exhaust

b) injection, rotation, combustion and exhaust

c) injection, carburetion, rotation and exhaust

4. The fuel system of an engine takes fuel from a fuel tank and mixes it with what?

a) more fuel

b) electricity

c) exhaust

d) air

5. Fuel is transmitted along this to the engine. Which of these are we talking about?

a) fuel tank

b) fuel filter

c) fuel line

d) carburetor

6. What sort of fluid should you put in your car’s radiator?

a) Coca-Cola             c) motor oil

b)  brake fluid             d) coolant

7. The liquid used in the engine’s lubrication system is ____.

a) oil

b) water

c) fuel

d) air

8. A car needs a source of electricity to power things such as the radio, wipers and headlights. Which engine part is responsible for this?

a) alternator

b) radiator

c) starter

9. Which tool would you use to charge up a dead car battery?

a) jumper cables

b) lug wrench

c) multi-tool

10.  What does the oil filter in your engine do?

a) cleans impurities from the oil

b) pumps oil through the engine

c) stores reserve oil when it runs out

11.  What car part moves coolant through the engine when it starts to get too hot?

a) oil filter

b) water pump

c) fuel line

d) none of the above

12.  Dashboard warning lights tell us of potential problems in our vehicles. What does a red can with a droplet mean?

a) you are running out of fuel

b) your power steering fluid needs checking

c) you need to fill your brake fluid

d) your oil is running low, top it up immediately

3. Basically the engines are of two types, and these are external combustion engines and internal combustion engines. Label the parts of a four-stroke engine and find out which parts of an internal combustion engine are located in the engine block.

spark plug,  cooling water,  camshaft,  connecting rod,  crankcase,  

exhaust valve, intake (inlet) valve,  cylinder block,  crankshaft,  

combustion chamber,  piston

4. Read the text and fill in the gaps with the words. Watch the video to check your answers.

valves, cycle, camshaft, compression, pistons, engine block, motorcycles

Today the internal combustion engine is used in ¹___, automobiles, boats, trucks, aircraft, ships, heavy-duty machinery and powered generators. A four-stroke engine is an internal combustion engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes - intake, ²___, power and exhaust - during two separate revolutions of the engine’s crankshaft, and one single thermodynamic ³___.

Let’s have a look at the basic internal parts of a four-stroke engine. Inside the ⁴___ there is a crankshaft. Piston rods are attached to the crankshaft. Pistons are attached to the pistons’ rods. As the crankshaft turns it causes the lifter to make each piston move up and down. At the top of the crankshaft there is a ⁵___ which is connected to the crankshaft by a timing belt. While the crankshaft is making the ⁶___ move up and down the camshaft is turning making the ⁷___ to open and close.

5. Take a look at how the combustion creates piston’s motion. Match the names of four strokes to their descriptions. Watch the video to check your answers.

1st, INTAKE STROKE
2nd, COMPRESSION STROKE
3rd, COMBUSTION STROKE
4th, EXHAUST STROKE

a. The inlet valve is closed and the piston travels back up the cylinder compressing the fuel-air mixture. Just before piston reaches the top of the cylinder, a spark plug emits a spark to combust the fuel-air mixture.

b. The exhaust valve is opened and the piston travels back up expelling the exhaust gases through the exhaust valve. At the top of the stroke the exhaust valve is closed.

c. The inlet valve is opened and the fuel-air mixture is drawn in as the piston travels down.

d. The piston is now forced down by the pressure wave of the combustion of the fuel-air mixture. The engine’s power is derived from this cycle.

*power stroke=combustion stroke=ignition stroke