Cars Flashcards
Cars
List the steps of jumping your car.
1. Attach a red clip to dead + terminus
2. Attach a red clip to live + terminus
3. Attach a black clip to live - terminus
4. Attach a black clip to dead metal surface (unpainted and away from the battery)
5. Run the live** vehicle for a few minutes (then try the **dead)
Cars
Your car is clicking and the lights are dim when you try to start the engine (which maybe rolls over once or twice but doesn’t really engage).
What is the likely issue?
A bad alternator
Cars
What is the likely cause of clunking or creaking in your car?
Worn-out suspension components
Cars
What is the likely cause of ticking in your running car?
Timing belt issues
Cars
What is the likely cause of ‘squealing’ in your running car?
Power steering belt issues
(especially if noise present when turning the wheel)
Cars
What is the likely cause of popping or bangs coming from your running car?
Engine backfires
(from worn-out spark plugs, an imbalanced air/fuel mixture, out-of-sync ignition timing, or dirty air filters)
Cars
What is the likely cause of a grinding noise coming from your running car?
Transmission issues
(an issue with gears meshing together - especially if associated with rough shifting)
Cars
What is the likely cause of a bubbling or gurgling noise coming from your running car?
Air-fluid mixing
could be a leak in the coolant system (allowing air into the radiator) or a blown gasket head (allowing exhaust out of the engine)
Cars
Car vibrations might be coming from what engine issue?
Worn/loose engine mounts
Cars
Car vibrations whenever you touch the brake pedal might be coming from what issue?
Warped brake rotors
Cars
Serious car shaking could be caused by what engine issue?
Timing belt issues
Cars
Which wornout parts of the car might typically cause the car to pull or lean to one side?
Wheels/tires, steering, suspension, or shocks
Cars
Spongy brakes don’t respond well and are most often caused by what?
Air in the brake lines
or
low/old brake fluid
Cars
If your steering wheel feels loose, it is likely due to an issue in which car parts?
Tie rods and tie rod ends
Cars
If your steering wheel feels difficult to turn, it is likely due to an issue in which car parts?
Either the power steering fluid, pump, or belt
Cars
If your car has a moldy/mildewy smell which does not come from the cabin interior, from where is it likely arising?
A dirty cabin air filter
or
water in the AC
Cars
A smoky smell in your car could most likely indicate what?
Leaking fluid that’s burning up on hot engine or exhaust surfaces
(also could be a worn clutch if in a manual transmission vehicle)
Cars
Smelling persistent exhaust in your car could most likely indicate what?
A hole in the fuel or exhaust system
Cars
A sulfur smell in your running car indicates a problem in which components?
Battery
or
catalytic converter
Cars
A sweet smell in your running car indicates a problem in which components?
A coolant leak
Cars
About how often should engine oil be changed?
Every 4,000 - 5,000 miles driven
Cars
About how often should you get your tires rotated?
Every 5,000 - 7,500 miles driven
Cars
When should you first get your engine air filter replaced?
How about the fuel filter?
30,000 miles driven
30,000 miles driven
Cars
About how long do most car batteries last?
4 - 5 years
Cars
About when should brake fluid and pads be replaced?
Before 45,000 miles driven
Cars
What is the name for the aluminum alloy frame that makes up most of your car engine and acts as a housing?
Cylinder block
Cars
List the three major structures that make up your car engine’s combustion chamber.
(1) Cylinder
(2) Cylinder head
(3) Piston
Cars
What is combined in your car engine’s combustion chambers to create the expansive energy which moves the pistons?
Fuel, air, pressure, electricity
Cars
What is the name for the large piece of metal that sits over the top of your car engine’s cylinders?
Cylinder head
Cars
What structure converts the up-down motion of the pistons in your car’s engine into rotational energy?
The crankshaft
Cars
What large piece of metal sits at the bottom of your car engine’s cylinder block and houses the crankshaft?
The crankcase
Cars
What structure acts as the ‘brain’ of your car’s engine and works in conjunction with the crankshaft via a timing belt to make sure intake and outtake valves open and close at just the right time for optimal engine performance?
The camshaft
Cars
What structures are connected via your car engine’s timing belt/chain?
The crankshaft and camshaft
Cars
The _________ is the mechanical system that’s mounted to the cylinder head and controls the operation of the valves. It consists of valves, rocker arms, pushrods, and lifters.
The valvetrain is the mechanical system that’s mounted to the cylinder head and controls the operation of the valves. It consists of valves, rocker arms, pushrods, and lifters.
Cars
Identify the role of each of the following portions of your car engine’s valvetrain:
Valves
Rocker arms
Identify the role of each of the following portions of your car engine’s valvetrain:
Valves - (intake) bringing in air and fuel; (outtake) removing exhaust
Rocker arms - timing connections between the camshaft and valves
Cars
What structure of you car’s engine provides fuel to the combustion chambers?
What structure of you car’s engine provides electricity to the combustion chambers?
Fuel injectors
Sparkplugs
Cars
Modern combustion engines are _______-stroke engines.
Modern combustion engines are four-stroke engines.
Cars
Describe the four steps of action of a piston / combustion chamber in a four-stroke engine.
Cars
What structure within your car recharges the battery by turning mechanical energy into electrical energy?
The alternator
(thus running the car’s electrical system)
Cars
What is the function of your car’s alternator?
The alternator generates electricity that transfers mechanical energy into electrical energy by an alternating current (AC). In cooperation with the battery, it is used to provide power to the vehicle’s electrical system.
As the vehicle moves, the alternator uses the mechanical energy created to recharge the battery. Battery struggles can be the result of overcharging from the alternator.
Cars
What part of your car is specifically used to cool down the engine?
The radiator
Cars
Which component of your car is a gearing device that provides variable ratios between the engine output and the differential input?
The transmission
Cars
Car transmissions are gearing devices that provides variable ratios between the engine output and the differential input.
They shift via automatic transmission ________ controlled by a ________.
Car transmissions are gearing devices that provides variable ratios between the engine output and the differential input.
They shift via automatic transmission fluid controlled by a computer.
Cars
What is the name of the car shaft that carries the engine’s power through the transmission to the axles and wheels?
The drivetrain
Cars
What devices transmit the energy of your car’s drivetrain out laterally through into the wheels (a perpendicular turn in both directions)?
U-joints to differentials
Cars
Describe a little bit of the complex mechanism of the rear differential in your car.
Cars
What is the purpose of a catalytic converter in certain vehicles?
To remove pollutants and make exhaust gasses less harmful to the environment.
The catalytic converter is an automotive exhaust-system component, made of stainless steel, containing a catalyst to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOX), and/or hydrocarbon (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO), in tailpipe emissions.
Cars
What portion of your vehicle reduces the noise emitted by the car exhaust system?
The muffler
