When I started out as a mechanic I was always told that to understand how an engine works all you need to know is “suck, squeeze, bang, blow”. The cylinder is the engine core, with the piston moving up and down inside the cylinder to compress a mixture of fuel and air that’s drawn in when it moves down. So how do these engines actually work? The 4-stroke engineĪ 4 stroke engine is a multi-cylinder engine, where the cylinders are usually arranged in three ways inline, V or flat. Obviously with more than 1 stroke, the timing is vital for it to run efficiently and even at all. The main types of ICE are the 4-stroke, found in cars and other modern transport vehicles, and the 2-stroke, found in mopeds and lawn mowers. They can also be used with hybrid electric components to increase fuel economy or hybrid plug-in electric systems to extend the range of these vehicles. The idea is that when a tiny amount of fuel (like diesel, gasoline or renewable/alternative fuels including natural gas or bio-diesel) is ignited in a small enclosed space, a huge energy release is made which can be harnessed for propulsion. It generates motive power by the burning of fuel and air inside the engine to push pistons. The internal combustion engine, or ICE, is a seriously impressive piece of engineering.
