Starting system

To make an engine start it must be turned at some speed, so that it sucks fuel and
air into the cylinders, and compresses it.

The powerful electric starter motor does the turning. Its shaft carries a small pinion
(gear wheel) which engages with a large gear ring around the rim of the engine
flywheel.

In a front-engine layout, the starter is mounted low down near the back of the
engine.

The starter needs a heavy electric current, which it draws through thick wires from
the battery. No ordinary hand-operated switch could switch it on: it needs a large
switch to handle the high current.

The switch has to be turned on and off very quickly to avoid dangerous, damaging
sparking. So a solenoid is used - an arrangement where a small switch turns on an
electromagnet to complete the circuit.

The starter switch is usually worked by the ignition key. Turn the key beyond the
'ignition on' position to feed current to the solenoid.
The ignition switch has a return spring, so that as soon as you release the key it
springs back and turns the starter switch off.

When the switch feeds current to the solenoid, the electromagnet attracts an iron
rod.

The movement of the rod closes two heavy contacts, completing the circuit from
the battery to the starter.

The rod also has a return spring -when the ignition switch stops feeding current to
the solenoid, the contacts open and the starter motor stops.

The return springs are needed because the starter motor must not turn more than it
has to in order to start the engine. The reason is partly that the starter uses a lot of
electricity, which quickly runs down the battery.

Also, if the engine starts and the starter motor stays engaged, the engine will spin
the starter so fast that it may be badly damaged.

The starter motor itself has a device, called a Bendix gear, which engages its
pinion with the gear ring on the flywheel only while the starter is turning the
engine. It disengages as soon as the engine picks up speed, and there are two ways
by which it does so - the inertia system and the pre-engaged system.

The inertia starter relies on the inertia of the pinion - that is, its reluctance to begin
to turn.

The pinion is not fixed rigidly to the motor shaft - it is threaded on to it, like a
freely turning nut on a very coarse-thread bolt.

Imagine that you suddenly spin the bolt: the inertia of the nut keeps it from turning
at once, so it shifts along the thread of the bolt.

When an inertia starter spins, the pinion moves along the thread of the motor shaft
and engages with the flywheel gear ring.

It then reaches a stop at the end of the thread, begins to turn with the shaft and so
turns the engine.

Once the engine starts, it spins the pinion faster than its own starter-motor shaft.
The spinning action screws the pinion back down its thread and out of
engagement.

The pinion returns so violently that there has to be a strong spring on the shaft to
cushion its impact.
The violent engagement and disengagement of an inertia starter can cause heavy
wear on the gear teeth. To overcome that problem the pre-engaged starter was
introduced, which has a solenoid mounted on the motor.

As well as switching on the motor, the solenoid also slides the pinion along the
shaft to engage it.

The shaft has straight splines rather than a Bendix thread, so that the pinion always
turns with it.

The pinion is brought into contact with the toothed ring on the flywheel by a
sliding fork. The fork is moved by a solenoid, which has two sets of contacts that
close one after the other.

The first contact supplies a low current to the motor so that it turns slowly - just
far enough to let the pinion teeth engage. Then the second contacts close, feeding
the motor a high current to turn the engine.

Charging system
A car uses quite a lot of electricity to work the ignition and other electrical
equipment.

If the power came from an ordinary battery, it would soon run down. So a car has
a rechargeable battery and a charging system to keep it topped up.

The battery has pairs of lead plates immersed in a mixture of sulphuric acid and
distilled water.

Half of the plates are connected to each terminal. Electricity supplied to the battery
causes a chemical reaction that deposits extra lead on one set of plates.

When the battery supplies electricity, exactly the opposite happens: the extra lead
dissolves off the plates in a reaction that produces an electric current.

The battery is charged by an alternator on modern cars, or by a dynamo on earlier

ones. Both are types of generator, and are driven by a belt from the engine.

The alternator consists of a stator -a stationary set of wire coil windings, inside
which a rotor revolves.

The rotor is an electromagnet supplied with a small amount of electricity through

carbon or copper-carbon brushes (contacts) touching two revolving metal slip
rings on its shaft.

The rotation of the electromagnet inside the stator coils generates much more
electricity inside these coils.

The electricity is alternating current - its direction of flow changes back and forth
every time the rotor turns. It has to be rectified - turned into a one-way flow, or
direct current.

A dynamo gives direct current but is less efficient, particularly at low engine
speeds, and weighs more than an alternator.

A warning light on the dashboard glows when the battery is not being adequately
charged, - for example, when the engine stops.

There may also be an ammeter to show how much electricity is being generated,
or a battery-condition indicator showing the battery's state of charge.

How the alternator works

Moving a magnet past a closed loop of wire makes an electric current flow in the
wire. Imagine a loop of wire with a magnet inside it.

The north pole of the magnet passes the top of the loop as the south pole passes
the bottom of it. Both passes make current flow in one direction round the loop.

The poles move away, and current stops flowing until the south pole reaches the
top and the north pole the bottom.

This makes current flow again, but in the opposite direction.

A car alternator uses an electromagnet in order to boost output of electric current.

Regulating the current to the

battery
The current from an alternator is rectified into direct current by a set of diodes that
allow current to flow through them in one direction only.

To charge the battery the voltage supplied to it must not be too low or too high.

The alternator has a transistor-operated control device that regulates the voltage by
supplying more or less current - as required - to the electromagnet.

The rectifier and regulator are usually inside the alternator housing, but on some
alternators they are outside, mounted on the alternator body.

A dynamo does not need a rectifier -there is a voltage regulator in a separate box,
which has relays.

One relay controls the voltage level by briefly cutting off the current in the field
coils.

The second relay prevents the dynamo from overcharging and damaging the
battery.

The third relay stops the battery discharging when the dynamo is turning too
slowly to charge it.