What is a Radiator?
Radiators are the components in water cooling systems that actually remove heat from the coolant via the mechanism of convection.
Category: Powertrain
What is a Drive Belt?
Drive belts transfer power from the crank or camshaft to the alternator, air conditioner, and other accessories. The first belts were leather, but they’ve been made from rubber and various polymers since the 1920s.
What is a Thermostat?
The purpose of a thermostat is to regulate engine temperature by controlling the flow of coolant. These remarkably simple components have remained relatively unchanged for almost half a century.
What is an Engine Control Unit?
An engine control unit is essentially the “electronic brain” that makes sure your engine is always working properly. To that end, these electronic control units can be responsible for everything from setting the air/fuel mixture to adjusting variable valve timing.
What is a Transmission Control Unit?
A transmission control unit is similar to an engine control unit, but it is specifically responsible for the efficient operation of modern transmissions. In order to accomplish this, a TCU has to take inputs from a variety of sensors and controllers and then delivers output parameters to a number of electronically-controlled components.
What is a Transaxle?
Transaxles have been around almost as long as the automobile itself, but they have really started to gain traction over the last few decades.
What is an Internal Combustion Engine?
Internal combustion engines are at the heart of most modern automobiles. These complex machines essentially turn the chemical energy stored in fuels like gasoline and diesel into the kinetic energy your car or truck needs to move down the road.
History of the Internal Combustion Engine
While the history of the internal combustion engine lacks any single flashpoint, the first successful designs were commercialized in the 1860s after the widespread development of petroleum resources. By the turn of the century, many of the designs and technologies we use today had already appeared.
What is a Heater Core?
Heater cores are like tiny radiators that use the hot coolant from your engine’s cooling system to warm up the interior of your car.
What is a Transmission?
Transmissions represent one of the two main components in automotive powertrains. They can be either manual or automatic, but there are also a few other variations on the theme.
