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Automotive vocabulary · Engine and Fuel Systems

Cylinder

Meaning in automotive, with examples

/ˈsɪlɪndər/nounCore term

In automotive, cylinder means: One of the round chambers in an engine block where a piston moves up and down and the fuel is burned. Most car engines have three, four or six cylinders.

In Turkish: silindir

How it is used

Engines are described by the number and layout of cylinders: a four-cylinder, an inline six, a V8. Technicians do a compression test on each cylinder; the cylinder head sits on top of the cylinder block.

Example sentences

  1. Compression in cylinder two is much lower than in the other cylinders.

  2. The new 1.0-liter engine has three cylinders and a turbocharger.

Common collocations

  • cylinder head
  • cylinder block
  • four-cylinder engine
  • cylinder bore
  • compression test
  • pistonA short metal cylinder that moves up and down inside an engine cylinder. The force of combustion pushes it down, and a connecting rod passes this movement to the crankshaft.
  • engineThe machine that burns fuel, usually petrol or diesel, to produce the power that moves a vehicle. It turns the energy of burning fuel into rotation of the crankshaft.
  • misfireA failure of the fuel and air in one or more cylinders to burn properly. The engine shakes, runs rough and loses power, and unburned fuel can overheat the catalytic converter.
  • spark plugA part screwed into the cylinder head of a petrol engine that makes an electric spark to ignite the fuel and air mixture. Diesel engines do not have spark plugs.
  • fuel injectorAn electrically controlled valve that sprays a precise amount of fuel into the engine at the right moment. The ECU decides how long each injector stays open.

More terms: Engine and Fuel Systems

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