Lycoming questions

[Jman1984]

Can anyone here shed some light on the IO-360 in this pic? I'm just trying to identify some of the features I have learnt about, but I have no idea what they actually look like :hmm:

I can see the cylinders, prop and crankshaft but the rest is a mystery really.

Sorry if this looks like a joke, paint is the only program I know how to use :(

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/8229/lycomingquestions.jpg

You can get a better image here 360 Series Engines - Lycoming (http://www.lycoming.textron.com/engines/series/360-series-engines.html)

[Chimbu chuckles]

1/. Fuel injection spider.
2/. Yes, alternator
3/. Spark plugs
4/. Plug leads
5/. Valve guides.

[carbon]

As Chimbu has correctly pointed out #5 is the valve guides.

The camshaft sits in the same plane as the crankshaft, simply displaced in the y axis (vertical). The long tubes (2 per cylinder) contain the push rods that operate the intake and exhaust valves. They are driven by the camshaft and followers/ rollers.

However for point #4, Chimbu has suggested they are leads, (which are close by, leading to the spark plugs), though on looking at your drawing, you may be pointing to the fuel injectors on the actual cylinder head itself.

I am no engineer, simply a pilot that likes engines, (shouldn't we all?) so don't shoot me down on technical terms (though always happy to be corrected).

Though I congratulate you on wanting to know how, not just why:ok:

[stevef]

Close! Valve guides are actually installed in the head of the cylinder. They're the bushes, if you like, that the intake and exhaust valve stems move up and down in.
Re #5 - some Lycomings have followers working on the cam lobes, others have hydraulic tappets.

[baron_beeza]

I am an engineer and so do work on these engines.
Item 4 as depicted would be the rocker drain fittings and tubes.
Item 5 would be the push rod tubes.
All the other answers to date contain errors so be a little careful what you take onboard....
Ask a pilot an engineering question and you don't really expect the correct answer, generally the training is very light in this area.

[stevef]

Perhaps we've got worse eyesight in the northern hemisphere but those #5 arrows look very much to me as if they're indicating the cam lifter/tube recess castings on the crankcase, not the pushrod tubes themselves.

I've found that many pilots have a reasonable knowledge of what goes on under the cowlings and some have a grasp equal to that of professional aircraft engineers (which is what they may have been prior to taking up flying!).

[enginair]

I happen to agree with baron No.4 is the rocker drain tubes and fittings , I mainly work on these or the 540 engine's most days amongst others

[Flyingblind]

I have a very healthy interest in the engine sitting in front of me, anybody aware of a nice big cut-away picture for this type of GA engine for reference?

Did try goggle but just got a load or car engines etc.

[baron_beeza]

Sorry Stevef you are correct.... nothing wrong with your eyesight.

We will now have to correct the answers to Items 1 and 2 of course.
Both are obviously pointing to the white background. !

Given that the initial question is referring to the cases as the crankshaft, I think you will be doing pretty well describing all the various little bumps and flanges. The guy is a novice eager to learn about the major components of a piston engine. Sure the later angle valve injected engine is not the norm but it will provide the answers he is seeking.

Trying to score brownie points, and impress, is probably best left to the bar on a Friday night.

I happen to work in a hangar where I am one of 3 LAMES, all hold professional pilot licences and we have over 10,000 hours between us.
We know what Pilot's are taught.... and having held and operated both types of licences over the past 30 years we get to see on on a daily basis the depth of such knowledge.
Your remark regards pilot technical knowledge has got our week off to the best possible start, we will be chucking and chortling all week long now.

Thanks again for the laugh :D

[baron_beeza]

http://www2.tech.purdue.edu/at/Courses/AEML/powerplantimages/cutawaypiston1.mpg

A rotating cutaway engine, - may be of interest to some here..

[Jman1984]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Please excuse my profound ignorance on this subject.

So is #1 the fuel distribution/manifold unit? Is the fuel mixed with air by this stage or does that come later?

Item #4 arrows are pointing to the nozzle with the blue nut thing on it. Is this where fuel is metered into the cylinder?

Also, do the large chrome pipes at the bottom of each cylinder carry away exhaust fumes?

I have the ATC Aircraft General Knowledge theory book but i'm just having trouble identifying the components I have learnt about on the "real thing".

[baron_beeza]

Sorry Jman, you don't have a grasp of this at all.
Best thing is to approach a friendly hangar while an aircraft is on a Check.
I am sure one of the guys will give you a quick intro to the parts you need to know about.
You are not alone at guessing here.
I spend a lot of time doing this with pilots and I know only too well the level of knowledge both before and after a quick run down.
The engine depicted is not the best example either, - I assume you are a student pilot and as such you really need to be looking at a carburetted engine, with fixed pitch. They would be the norm for training aircraft.
If you just keep it simple and close to basics you should be fine. Leave the tricky stuff to the guys that are actually licenced and rated on the gear.
You won't need to know too much to get through the pilot exams...

[bekolblockage]

Long time since I've flown Jman1984 and I'm not an engineer so ready to be corrected by someone with greater knowledge, but my answers would be;

#1 is just the fuel distribution unit. This is a fuel injected engine (hence the 'I' in IO-360). The fuel (no air) is directed to the injectors in the correct sequence from this unit via the narrow silver pipes you can see coming from it. The fuel and air are mixed in the right ratio in the inlet port just prior to entering the cylinder.

I don't believe you can see the injectors from this angle.

The chrome pipes are the air inlet manifolds to each cylinder. The exhaust manifold is not attached to the engine in this picture. It would normally bolt onto the cylinder heads just ahead of where the chrome pipes are. Looks like they've been blanked off in this picture. You can see the inlet throttle just below the alternator.

Also in case you are wondering, there are a pair of spark plugs for each cylinder, the other set can be seen on the top side.

Hope I haven't given you a bum steer.

[baron_beeza]

This may be a better engine to use as a basis...

320 Series Engines - Lycoming (http://www.lycoming.textron.com/engines/series/320-series-engines.html)

I am sure you will find better photos somewhere also. These ones are missing carbs, exhaust and a few other vital components. You should be able to recognise vac pump etc also.
However the link does give a little more info that you may find helpful.

All the best with it.

[baron_beeza]

http://www.lycoming.textron.com/engines/series/pdfs/320ci%20Engine%20Insert.pdf

[bekolblockage]

baron beeza is right though.
Ask the guys in the hangar if they mind you watching them doing maintenance sometimes. As long as you don't bug the hell out of them with 100 questions, I'm sure you'll get a better idea of whats going on.
Alternatively, you can do what a friend of mine did many years ago and go and buy the cheapest old VW beetle engine you can find at the wreckers and pull it apart (and then put it back together). Pretty much the same as a Lycoming or Continental.

[Peter Fanelli]

#1 is just the fuel distribution unit. This is a fuel injected engine (hence the 'I' in IO-360). The fuel (no air) is directed to the injectors in the correct sequence from this unit via the narrow silver pipes you can see coming from it. The fuel and air are mixed in the right ratio in the inlet port just prior to entering the cylinder.


There is no sequencing of the fuel, aircraft fuel injection is a constant flow to all the injectors.

[bekolblockage]

Thanks for the correction Peter. :ouch:
Obviously tried to elaborate beyond my own knowledge.Stupid statement in retrospect. :O

bb

[baron_beeza]

It wasn't a bad effort for all that. Would get a pass in an exam but had very little technical jargon... at least the correct aviation stuff. Obviously car or motorbike inspired.

It is the other 20% that is the problem of course. This is bit like reading a newspaper article that you know something about. Don't you just cringe when the reporter thinks all light aircraft are Cessna's. And every crash is some how related to every other crash, - even if only happened in the same period.

If you want to know about an aircraft engine, either read the appropriate technical publications or ask the guys that actually know the answers.

Just remember that a vast percentage of pilots see the engine through the oil filler flap of a 152 or 172. That is about the extent of their knowledge. Period.

If an instructor has no idea, then what chance has the student got. Just look at some of the inane comments been bandied about here.
Does an NDB provide glide slope information ? After-all it is a nav aid.
You would be laughed out of the bar..

I had one instructor in the States try to taxi the aircraft out with me, and it had a stuck exhaust valve. Probably would have passed his run-up also if I had allowed him to get that far.

If you want the correct answer then go to the guys that know.

I am sure Jman will get the answers soon, if he doesn't get terribly confused here first.
Perhaps he may be prepared to share his new found knowledge !!

[Peter Fanelli]

Couldn't agree more with what others have said about spending time with LAME's around the field. I used to be good friends with a (now deceased) often ill spoken of engineer at Parafield and I learned a hell of a lot from him about aircraft and their systems. If you asked a stupid question he would call you a dumb c**t and tell you to think about it a little. If you couldn't come up with an answer the education would begin. Great bloke he was.

Of course I guess many of today's generation would be too thin skinned to deal with him. :rolleyes:

[Stationair8]

Never be afraid to ask an engineer a question!

Talking to a young bloke doing his CPL at the local flying school, I said when the aircraft goes in for a 100 hourly go and spend a couple of days in the hangar with the engineers and find out whats under the cowls, get your hands dirty etc. The reply was, "no read the POH and if i need to know anything I can always Google it"