CHAPTER 1
AUTOMOTIVE BASICS
Principal Components
Today's average car contains more than 15,000 separate, individual parts that must work
together
.
These
parts
can
grouped
into
four
major
categories:
engine,
body,
chassis
and
electrical equipment.
Engine
The engine acts as the power unit. The internal combustion engine is most common: this
obtains its power by burning a liquid fuel inside the engine cylinder
. There are two types of
engine
:gasoline(also
called
a
spark-ignition
engine)
and
diesel(also
called
a
compression-ignition
engine).Both
engines
are
called
heat
engines;
the
burning
fuel
generates heat which causes the gas inside the cylinder to increase its pressure and supply