Choose Your Engine Blocks Help Topic Below
Cylinder Sleeve – How To Install A Cylinder Sleeve To Salvage A Block
Ball Hone – How To Get The Perfect Finish For Piston Ring Sealing
Piston Rings – Signs Of Worn Piston Rings And How To Replace Them
Engine Bottom End Components – Know The Parts Inside Your Engine
Cylinder Bore Deglazing – Purpose – Crosshatch – Roughness And Angle
Engine blocks, also known as a cylinder block; contain all of the major components that make up the bottom end of a engine. This is where the crankshaft spins; and the pistons move up and down in the cylinder bores. Along with the piston rings scraping the cylinders. But, On some engine designs; it also holds the camshaft.
Usually made from an aluminum alloy on modern cars. But, On older vehicles and trucks it was commonly cast iron. Its metal construction gives it strength; and the ability to transmit heat from the combustion processes. Aluminum blocks typically have; an iron sleeve pressed into them for the piston bores.
So, The engine block includes the cylinder bores; the water cooling jacket, oil passages, and the crankcase. This water jacket; is an empty system of passages, used for circulating coolant. The starter motor also bolts to the engine block.
Common problems with engine blocks
Being a big, precision machined; hunk of metal, the engine block is designed to last the lifetime of the car. But sometimes things do go wrong. These are the most common engine block failures:
External engine coolant leak
Puddle of water/antifreeze under the engine? The block can crack and begin leaking; or a freeze out plug could work its way loose or rust out. Freeze out plugs can be easily replaced; but cracks are usually terminal.
Worn/cracked cylinder
Eventually, after hundreds of thousands of miles; the smooth machined walls of the cylinders will wear; to a point where the piston rings can’t seal them. Consequently, the cylinder wall can develop a crack, which will quickly result in a motor needing a rebuild.
Porous engine block
Caused by contaminants which got into the metal during the manufacturing process; voids in the casting often cause no issues at all for a long time. Eventually a poorly cast block can start to seep and leak; either oil or coolant, from the area where the imperfections are. So, There’s nothing you can do about a porous engine block; because it’ll have been faulty from the day it was molded.
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