When the pistons reach their respective bottoms, fresh air flows in from ports at the bottom, while exhaust is rejected through ports at the top. That fresh air is squeezed into a small pocket in the ...

You've heard that pistons have rings, but have you ever wondered why there are three? Here's how piston rings work together ...

In a conventional application, there are three rings per piston. The top ring is called the compression ring. Its purpose is to seal the combustion gas pressure, transfer heat from the piston to the ...

There's more to piston shapes than you might think. Whether it's domed, flat, or dished, all pistons have their fair share of pros and cons when it comes to performance and efficiency. Understand that ...

As we begin the last article in this series on the basics of the internal combustion engine, let's stop to review what we've covered during the last five articles. We began last May by detailIing the ...