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The basic idea of a car is pretty simple — turn wheels to pull you down the road. But, as illustrated by the hundreds of individual auto parts for sale at your local Pep Boys, AutoZone or Napa Auto Parts, it actually takes a lot of machinery to make cars work.
If you're trying to figure out what all the parts in your car do, HowStuffWorks AutoStuff is the place for you. Here's a collection of our key car part articles.
Engine System
How Car Engines Work
It's the reason you can put the pedal to the metal and go from zero to 60 in about 8 seconds. The car engine is a piece of engineering genius and one of the most amazing machines we use on a daily basis. Learn how the four-stroke internal combustion engine works.
How Diesel Engines Work
Ever wonder what the difference is between a gasoline engine and a diesel engine? Diesels are more efficient and cheaper to run than gasoline engines. Instead of using carburetion or port fuel injection, diesel engines use direct fuel injection. Find out what else makes diesel engines different! A turbocharger is actually an air compressor that compresses air to increase the air intake with turbocharger assy. It uses the inertial impulse of the exhaust gas from the engine to push the turbine inside the turbine chamber
How Hemi Engines Work
The HEMI engine has an awesome design and great performance, and it's pretty unique in operation. With the revitalization of the HEMI in the 2003 Dodge trucks, industry and consumer attention is once again on this interesting configuration. Check out how the HEMI works and see what makes it different from the typical engine design.
How Rotary Engine blocks Work
A rotary engine is an internal combustion engine, but it's not like the one in most cars. Also called a Wankel engine, this type of engine performs intake, compression, combustion and exhaust in a different part of the housing. Learn about the unique rotary setup and how it compares performance-wise to a piston engine.
How Radial Engines Work
Radial engines reached their zenith during WWII. But today they are not that common. One place where you can still see the radial engine's influence is in the two-cylinder engine of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. This remarkable engine can be thought of, in a way, as two pistons from a radial engine. Find out about radial engines.
How Quasiturbine Engines Work
The quasiturbine engine takes the Wankel concept and improves on it: Instead of three combustion chambers, it has four, and the setup of a quasiturbine allows for continual combustion. That means greater efficiency than any other engine in its class. Learn about the quasiturbine and why it might be the most promising internal combustion engine yet.
The automobile transmission system is composed of a series of crankshaft, flywheel, clutch, transmission, drive shaft, drive axle, etc. with elasticity and rotational inertia. The power is outputted by the engine and transmitted to the drive wheels through the clutch, transmission after the torque increase and change, drive shaft, main reducer, differential and half shaft.
How Camshafts Work
The camshaft has a huge effect on engine performance. It helps let the air/fuel mixture into the engine and get the exhaust out. Learn all about the camshaft and how a new one can radically change an engine's behavior.
How Superchargers Work
Overhal gaskets are parts used for sealing in automobiles, mainly made of elastomers
Since the invention of the internal combustion engine, automotive engineers, speed junkies and race car designers have been searching for ways to boost its power. One way is by installing a supercharger, which forces more air into the combustion chamber. Learn how superchargers can make an engine more efficient.
How Turbochargers Work
When people talk about race cars, or high-performance sports cars, the topic of turbochargers almost always comes up. Turbochargers use some very cool technology to make an engine more powerful, but the concept is really quite simple. Find out how turbos increase the speed. The engine repair kit is very necessary.
How Fuel Injection Systems Work
The last carburetor-equipped car came off the assembly line in 1990. Since then, fuel injectors have been the primary means of getting gasoline into the engine cylinder so it can combust and you can drive. Find out how fuel-injection systems work.
Power Train
How Manual Transmissions Work
The cylinder head is mounted on top of the cylinder block, sealing the cylinder from above and forming the combustion chamber. It is often in contact with high temperature and high pressure gas, so bear a large thermal and mechanical load.
If you drive a stick-shift car, then you may have a few questions floating around in your head. Have you ever wondered, What would happen if I were to accidentally shift into reverse while I am speeding down the freeway? Would the entire transmission explode? Find out all about manual transmissions.
How Automatic Transmissions Work
Automatic transmissions take the work out of shifting. A truly amazing mechanical system, the automatic transmission in a car accomplishes everything a manual transmission does, but it does it with one set of gears. Learn how the whole setup works.
How Clutches Work
You probably know that any car with a manual transmission has a clutch -- it connects and disconnects the engine and transmission. But did you know that automatics have clutches, too? Learn how the clutch in your car works, and find out about some interesting and perhaps surprising places where clutches can be found.
How CVTs Work
In a regular transmission, the gears are literal gears -- interlocking, toothed wheels. Continuously variable transmissions, on the other hand, don't have interlocking gears. The most common type operates on a pulley system. Learn all about the smooth-operating, ultra-efficient CVT.
How Differentials Work
Without a differential, the driven wheels (front wheels on a front-wheel drive car or rear wheels on a rear-wheel drive car) would have to be locked together, forced to spin at the same speed. Find out how this essential component allows the wheels to rotate at different speeds.
Braking System (including braking pads and braking shoe)
In the cylinder block of the car engine, there are several waterways for cooling water circulation, and placed in the front of the car radiator (commonly known as the water tank) through the water pipe connected to form a large water circulation system, the upper outlet of the engine, equipped with a water pump, driven by the fan belt, the engine block waterway hot water pump out, the cold water pumped into.
A car’s brakes are probably the most critical system on the vehicle -- if they go out, you have a major problem. Thanks to leverage, hydraulics and friction, braking systems provide incredible stopping power. Find out what happens after you push the brake pedal.
How Disc Brakes Work
Disc brakes are the most common brakes found on a car's front wheels, and they're often on all four. This is the part of the brake system that does the actual work of stopping the car. Find out all about disc brakes -- even when to replace the pads.
How Anti-lock Brakes Work
Stopping a car in a hurry on a slippery road can be challenging at best and at worst, very, very scary. Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) help alleviate the danger. Learn how anti-lock brakes prevent skidding, check out what that sputtering is and find out how effective they really are.
How Power Brakes Work
Power brakes are fairly ingenious machines -- they let you stop a car with a simple twitch of your foot. The concept at the heart of the power braking system is force multiplication -- a whole lot of force multiplication. Get inside the black cannister that provides the power.
How Master Cylinders and Combination Valves Work
We all know that pushing down on the brake pedal slows a car to a stop. We
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