John Larkin said:
Except for some control details, the internal combustion engine hasn't
changed much in 100 years. Crank, pistons, rings, poppet valves, spark
plugs, camshaft, clutch of some sort, geared transmission, water
jacket, radiator, oil pump. That's impressive.
On one level that is true; on another level, it's not even close.
It is not just IC engines that haven't change in basic principle over the
last 100 years: I was once a reactor operator on a nuclear submarine. A
nuclear ship simply uses a steam engine with a nuclear heat source, and it turns
out that steam plants are another thing that "haven't changed". Back then, I
was able to go down in the engine room of a Spanish-American war-era museum
ship and accurately trace out the function of every major valve and control.
You see, "a steam plant is a steam plant". Does that mean that the propulsion
plant of my SSBN was really anything like that of the old cruiser? Not on your
life!
My first car was a 1955 Ford V8. It managed 6 or 7 MPG back when gas was
19.9 cents a gallon. I drive that car until it had 100,000 miles on the clock.
By 100,000 miles, my engine was so worn out that the pistons were nearly
swapping holes. There was no way that it would have manged another 100,000
miles without a major rebuild. Oh yes, by then the car was on its second drive
train, both transmission and rear end had been replaced. That engine took lots
of routine maintenance. Valves needed to be kept adjusted, oil passages needed
to be purged, the distributer needed regular maintenace, the carb needed
occasional cleaning and rebuilding. It burned oil, but that was OK because I
could buy filtered, used oil at many gas stations for 10 cents a quart. That
car was terrible for the environment! Oh yes, several expensive parts, such as
universal joints and front end joints, were considered temporary "wear" items
back then. It needed a new muffler about once a year. Hell, even the radio
took constant and potentially expensive maintenance (mostly tubes and
vibrators).
Did I mention that I loved my old Ford?
In contrast, my Honda Civic does not even need the spark plugs changed until
after the first 100,000 miles. At that point, I will consider it nicely broken
in. For gas mileage, there is just no comparison between my Civic and that old
Ford. For impact on the environment, there also is no comparison. That Civic
has no carburator and no distributer, so they can't break. There are some very
basic improvements in combustion over my old Ford that improve both efficiency
and emissions. I can start up my Civic on a cold morning and just drive, while
I had to fuss with the Ford and warm it up before it would produce significant
power or exhibit useful driveability.
Saying that the IC engine in my old Ford was anything like the IC engine in
my '01 Civic is only true on the most basic level. Yes, they both use the same
basic cycle, the function of the major internal parts of my Civic's engine would
be obvious to any 1920's auto mechanic, but the comparison stops there!
When it comes to cars, they don't make them like they used to; and I am glad!
Vaughn
