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Car Forum / UK Car Forums / Car Maintenance (UK group) / May 2008

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Idiotic TDC query.

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A.Lee - 24 May 2008 06:43 GMT
I've got the cylinder head off, and have turned over the block a few
times now.
There is a mark on the crank pulley to indicate TDC, and obviously the
pistons can be seen.
As it is a 4 stroke (Audi 1.8 20v), I've now got a worry in my head that
it'll be on the wrong stroke when it is put back together (i.e., instead
of being at compression TDC, it'll be at exhaust TDC).

Put my mind at ease and tell me where my thinking has gone wrong.
Thanks
Alan.

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Rob graham - 24 May 2008 08:03 GMT
> I've got the cylinder head off, and have turned over the block a few
> times now.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> Thanks
> Alan.

The issue is not what stroke is it on now, but what stroke is it on when you
have connected all the valve gear back on. The cam drive will determine (and
define) what stroke it's on. If you connect the drive up according to the
timing marks then it will automatically be OK.

Rob Graham
smarshall@gmx.co.uk - 24 May 2008 08:05 GMT
> I've got the cylinder head off, and have turned over the block a few
> times now.
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> --
> To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

I wouldn't worry, that is what the cam position sensor is for, its the
only way the engine knows which cylinder ison compression stroke etc.
Paul Giverin - 24 May 2008 20:39 GMT
In message
<ed4ba93a-3e4e-40a9-ab8a-e2b74151c1e9@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com>,
smarshall@gmx.co.uk writes
>> I've got the cylinder head off, and have turned over the block a few
>> times now.
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>I wouldn't worry, that is what the cam position sensor is for, its the
>only way the engine knows which cylinder ison compression stroke etc.

That's not true. The camshaft sensor is responsible for initiating the
fuel injectors at the right time. Its the position of the cams in
relation to the crank which determines what stroke the cylinder is on.

Signature

Paul Giverin

British Jet Engine Website:-    www.britjet.co.uk

My photos:-  www.pbase.com/vendee

smarshall@gmx.co.uk - 24 May 2008 22:24 GMT
> In message
> <ed4ba93a-3e4e-40a9-ab8a-e2b74151c...@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com>,
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> fuel injectors at the right time. Its the position of the cams in
> relation to the crank which determines what stroke the cylinder is on.

No, you are wrong. The crank position sensor is responsible for
initiating fuel injectors, the cam sensor is to tell the ECU which of
the possible 2 conditions exist at start up, i.e cylinder 1 on
compression at TDC or exhaust at TDC. The ECU cannot tell this by
looking at the crank position sensoe alone, it must look at the Cam
sensor. Some engines only use this sensor at start up, after that it
is no longer used, all timing comes from the crank sensor. The cam
sensor on non variable cam timing engines gets one on and one off
signal per 2 revolutions of the crank shaft, this is not enough to
accurratly control injection and spark timing.
Paul Giverin - 25 May 2008 07:42 GMT
In message
<1e6c34b9-d62d-45f6-a191-8a2576ad8483@8g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
smarshall@gmx.co.uk writes
>> In message
>>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>signal per 2 revolutions of the crank shaft, this is not enough to
>accurratly control injection and spark timing.

Yes I appreciate that the cam sensor works in conjunction with the crank
sensor. And I also know that in many cases the cam sensor is only read
at start up (and can often be disconnected after start up), but the
point I was making is that its the cam sensor which initiates the
injection sequence on the correct stroke. Yes I know that the crank
sensor fires the injectors (through the ECU) when the engine is running
but its the cam sensor which provides the initial timing.

Signature

Paul Giverin

British Jet Engine Website:-    www.britjet.co.uk

My photos:-  www.pbase.com/vendee

Andy Dingley - 29 May 2008 01:47 GMT
>No, you are wrong. The crank position sensor is responsible for
>initiating fuel injectors, the cam sensor is to tell the ECU which of
>the possible 2 conditions exist at start up, i.e cylinder 1 on
>compression at TDC or exhaust at TDC.

Which one of these two electronic sensors is it that tells the valves
whether to mash into the pistons or not?

The OP has the head off, thus has disturbed the relative timing of
cranks and camshafts. That's what he need to re-align. Once that's set,
the ECU can read the sensors without further intervention.
Dave Plowman (News) - 29 May 2008 12:12 GMT
> >No, you are wrong. The crank position sensor is responsible for
> >initiating fuel injectors, the cam sensor is to tell the ECU which of
> >the possible 2 conditions exist at start up, i.e cylinder 1 on
> >compression at TDC or exhaust at TDC.

> Which one of these two electronic sensors is it that tells the valves
> whether to mash into the pistons or not?

Neither. With variable valve timing the valves can't hit the pistons with
any fault on the 'variable' mechanism. Only if the cam drive fails.

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*The longest recorded flightof a chicken is thirteen seconds *

   Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
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Adrian - 24 May 2008 08:33 GMT
alan@darkroom.+.com (A.Lee) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying:

> I've got the cylinder head off, and have turned over the block a few
> times now.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Put my mind at ease and tell me where my thinking has gone wrong. Thanks

Simple. You're forgetting that with the head off, there's no difference
whatsoever between compression and exhaust TDC, because there IS
currently no compression or exhaust - that's all governed by the cams,
which are on the head...

As long as the relationship between crank and cams is correct, it'll be
fine.
Dave Plowman (News) - 24 May 2008 08:41 GMT
> I've got the cylinder head off, and have turned over the block a few
> times now.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> it'll be on the wrong stroke when it is put back together (i.e., instead
> of being at compression TDC, it'll be at exhaust TDC).

Assuming an overhead cam it doesn't matter. It does matter if the cam (or
distributor) is in the block as those run at half crank speed, and you
haven't disconnected the drive to those.

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*If a mute swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?

   Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
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