Repair And Fix it

A gasoline internal combustion engine combines a mist made of air and fuel in its intake manifold. When the intake valves open, a spark plug fires to ignite this mixture, pushing the piston downward to turn the crankshaft. The revolution of the crankshaft pushes the next piston up, and the process repeats to continue the rotational motion.

The transmission connects to the engine via a torque converter or a clutch plate or plates, depending on the type of transmission. Power from the engine turns the input shaft and then transfers through the transmissions gears to attain the desired output ratio.

In some cars, the differential bolts directly to the transmission in a single housing. In others, it mounts on the rear axle and connects to the transmission via the driveshaft. The differential is responsible for flipping the rotational motion of the driveshaft onto the separate axis of the axle turning the wheels.

The valve train consists of the valves and the camshaft in your engine. The valves open and close to allow air and fuel into the cylinder, and then to allow exhaust out of the cylinder. The camshaft is a rotating metal rod with different sized bumps along its length. This rod lifts and drops the valves according to cylinder and combustion order as it turns.

The valve train linkage is the part or parts that attach the camshaft to the valves themselves. Some engines have valves that sit directly on the cam, others have rods and lifters that link the two parts.

As in most mechanical things, fewer parts means less potential for problems. This would make the direct or short linkage engine preferable to an engine with a complicated valve train linkage. Many older cars were built with the more complicated system.