Engine - College

One of the main practical projects involved working as part of a team to investigate and repair an engine that had experienced a loss of performance. The two scenarios involved an exhaust valve that was allowing compression to escape and a suspected piston ring failure. We were tasked with identifying the faults, carrying out the necessary repairs and rebuilding the engine.

Investigation

Before carrying out the repairs, I had to understand how the different engine components worked and what could be causing the loss of compression.

This involved carrying out compression and leak-down tests, analysing the results and identifying potential causes of the faults. I also had to research the correct repair procedures and use technical data from Autodata to ensure the engine components were inspected and reassembled correctly.

Throughout the course, I also developed my understanding of fuel injection, cooling and lubrication systems, gear ratios, clutches and differentials. This helped me understand how the different systems work together and how they can affect vehicle performance and reliability.

Working as part of a team, I helped strip down and rebuild the engine. This involved removing the cylinder head, rocker arms, pushrods and other components to access the areas requiring repair.

For the exhaust valve issue, we carried out valve lapping, replaced the valve stem oil seals and checked the cylinder head for warping. We also checked the valve clearances using feeler gauges before reassembling the engine.

For the piston ring issue, we removed the necessary components to access the pistons, identified a broken piston ring and replaced it before rebuilding the engine.

I also carried out routine engine servicing, including oil and filter changes, using the correct technical specifications and tools such as torque wrenches.

Throughout these tasks, I had to plan how long each stage would take, record the actual time and evaluate how efficiently we had completed the work.

Helped Achieve a distinction

These projects taught me how important it is to understand the cause of an engineering problem before attempting to fix it. They also improved my practical mechanical knowledge and my ability to use testing and technical data to investigate faults.

One important lesson was how organisation can affect efficiency. During one of our engine rebuilds, we lost time because bolts from different components had been stored together. However, during another rebuild, we improved our organisation, which helped us complete the work more efficiently.

This taught me the importance of planning, teamwork and continuous improvement, as even small changes to how a task is carried out can save time and reduce the likelihood of mistakes.

Most importantly, the projects strengthened my interest in understanding why mechanical components fail and how faults can be identified and prevented to improve reliability.