Well, how would you like to do a self test on your knowledge to see how much you have retained? Don't worry. There are no teachers present and no-one is going to flunk you. Without looking at any of our illustrations draw a full page illustration of your own showing the major parts of an automobile and how they fit together.

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Now compare that to our illustration.

Answer these questions:

1. What is a solenoid?

2. How does a distributor work?

3. What part of the car re-charges the battery?

4. What passes through the carburetor?

5. What happens if the engine overheats?

6. What takes place inside the engine cylinders?

7. Why is it important to change the oil in your car on a regular basis?

8. What do RPMs measure?

9. What part allows the engine to connect to the transmission?

10. What does a differential do?

Look at the answers. If you missed on a few points no big deal, you may want to just go back and look those sections over again.

Write down a description of how "timing" works. Refer back to the section on timing and see how close you came.

O.K. By now you've got a pretty good understanding of how a car works. Are you ready to find out how to take care of one?

Test Answers

1. A solenoid is a switch that opens the flow of electricity to the starter motor.

2. A distributor takes the electricity from the battery and distributes it as a spark to each of the spark plugs.

3. The alternator re-charges the battery.

4. Fuel and air pass through the carburetor.

5. If the engine overheats the metal parts and seals will warp and melt. The head gasket will blow and the engine head will need to be resurfaced, or replaced if it cracks.

6. The pistons move up and down inside the cylinders. Valves let the fuel mixture in, the piston compresses it, and the spark from the spark plug ignites the fuel. The piston is forced down, transferring power to the crankshaft. The whole action takes place in four strokes of the piston inside the cylinder.

7. Carbon can get in the oil and it loses some of its lubricating quality and so can not protect the engine as well as it should from friction.

8. RPMs measure the number of revolutions per minute of the engine crankshaft.

9. The clutch allows the engine to connect to the transmission. When the clutch engages, it connects to the flywheel gear at the back of the engine, thus transferring the power from the crankshaft to the drive train.

10. A differential distributes the correct amount of power from the transmission to each of the wheels.