Engine Terminology

Engine Measurement

Lesson 8

March 2008
Engine Size Measurement

Engine size is determined by the cylinder

diameter, the amount of piston travel (stroke)
and the number of cylinders.
Bore and Stroke
Cylinder Bore

Diameter of the engine cylinder

Measured across the cylinder, parallel with
the top of the block
Cylinder bores vary in size, but typically
range from 3–4" (75–100 mm)
Piston Stroke

Distance the piston moves from top dead

center (TDC) to bottom dead center (BDC)
Crankshaft journal offset (throw) controls the
piston stroke
Strokevaries from about 3–4"
(75–100 mm)
Changing Bore Size

What happens if the engine is bored?

Definition: Boring
Material is moved from the cylinder walls and a
larger piston is installed
Displacement & compression ratio are both increased
when bored (AKA “bored out”)
How would the displacement of a stock 6 cylinder engine
with a bore of 4.000” and a stroke of 3.000” change if it
were bored 0.060”?
Changing Length of Stroke

What happens if the engine is stroked?

Definition: Stroked
Changing the crankshaft offset (installing a new
crankshaft)
Displacement & compression ratio are both increased
when stroked
How would the displacement of a stock 6 cylinder
engine with a bore of 4.000” and a stroke of 3.000”
change if it were stroked 0.125”?
Change of Bore and Stroke

What happens if the engine is bored & stroked?

Changing the crankshaft offset and boring the
cylinder
How would the displacement of a stock 6 cylinder
engine with a bore of 4.000” and a stroke of 3.000”
change if it were stroked 0.125” and the bore 0.060”?
Oversquare and Undersquare
How to increase engine output

 How to increase engine output Increase volumetric efficiency

 Better gas flow
 Forced induction
 Altered valve timing
 Improve engine efficiency
 Better combustion efficiency
 Lower internal friction
 Reduce heat loss
 Better fuel
Piston Displacement

Volumethe piston displaces as it travels from BDC to

TDC Found by comparing cylinder diameter and piston
stroke
Piston displacement formula:

piston = bore squared  3.14  stroke

displacement 4
OR
piston = bore  bore  0.7854  stroke
displacement
Example of Piston Displacement
Formula
If an engine has a bore of 4" and a stroke of 3", what is it’s
piston displacement?

piston displacement =
(42)  3.14  3
4 x 4 x .7854 x 3 = 37.69
4 OR (cu.in.)
16  3.14  3
4
150.72
4

= 37.68 (cu. in.)

 Volumetric Efficiency

Ratio of air drawn into the cylinder and the maximum amount of air
that could enter the cylinder

• Simply put, it is the ability of the engine to breath

in on the Intake Stroke

Formula:

Volumetric Efficiency = actual volume of air taken into each cylinder

volume of the cylinder
Factors that impact Volumetric
Efficiency

Engines are capable of only 80–90% volumetric

efficiency.

Restrictions in the ports and around the valves limit

airflow.

Can you name some of the factors that would impede

air flow into and engine?
Is ‘volumetric efficiency’ the same as
cylinder volume?

8 to fill 1 to fill

BDC TDC
Swept and Clearance Volume
Compression Ratio
Compares the cylinder volume with the piston at TDC to
the cylinder volume with the piston at BDC

Ratio of swept volume V1 divided by combustion

chamber volume V2
Compression Ratio – Gas Engine
Compression Ratio – Diesel Engine
High Compression Ratio
Pros and Cons

Higher compression gives greater

combustion efficiency, up to a
point
Efficiency goes down after a
certain point due to need to retard
ignition timing to avoid knock
Volumetric Efficiency and
Compression Ratio Relationship

Volumetric efficiency is:

Ratio of air drawn into the cylinder (by the intake stroke) and the
maximum amount of air that could enter the cylinder (restricted by
design of intake passages, size of valve openings, valve timing and
overlap ).

Compression ratio is:

•Ratio between the cylinder volume when the piston is at TDC
compared to when it is at BDC.
Compression Pressure
Checking the Seals

How is it measured?
What unit of measurement is used?
(Answers on next slide)
Amount of pressure in the cylinder on the compression stroke
Measured in pounds per square inch (psi) or kilopascals (kPa)
Gasoline engine compression pressure:
130–180 psi (900–1200 kPa)
Diesel engine compression pressure:
250–400 psi (1700–2800 kPa)
Measuring Combustion Pressure

Used to measure compression pressure

Using a compression gauge:
screw the gauge into the spark plug, injector, or
glow plug hole
crank the engine
note compression gauge readings
Gauge readings are a good indicator of engine
mechanical condition (engine seal)
Brake Mean Effective Pressure

Not actually a measure of pressure, just

expressed in pressure units (N/m2 or psi)
A measure of work output from an
engine
BMEP = Horsepower__________
(Swept volume Vs) ( rpm/120)
Examples of Engine Displacement

If one piston displaces 25 cu. in. and the engine has

four cylinders, what is the engine displacement?
25 cu. in.  4 = 100 cu. in.
If one piston displaces 500 cc and the engine has six
cylinders, what is the engine displacement?
500 cc  6 = 3000 cc
= 3.0 L
 Conversion of Measurement

61.02 cubic inches = 1 litre

1L = 1000cc
From litres  cubic inches
1 cu. in. =16.39cc
5.0L x 61.02 = 305CID

From cubic inches  litres

305 / 61.02 = 5.0L
Engine Displacement

Volume displaced by all the

pistons in an engine
piston displacement multiplied
by the number of cylinders
Units of engine displacement:
cubic inch displacement (CID)
liters (L)
bore  bore  0.7854  stroke x cylinder number