Firing order

The firing order is the sequence of power delivery of each cylinder in a multi-cylinder reciprocating engine.

This is achieved by sparking of the spark plugs in a gasoline engine in the correct order, or by the sequence of fuel injection in a Diesel engine. When designing an engine, choosing an appropriate firing order is critical to minimizing vibration, to improve engine balance and achieving smooth running, for long engine fatigue life and user comfort, and heavily influences crankshaft design.

For this inline-4 engine, 1-3-4-2 could be a valid firing order.

Ignition

In a gasoline engine, the correct firing order is obtained by the correct placement of the spark plug wires on the distributor. In a modern engine with a direct ignition and the Engine Control Unit(ECU) or Engine Management system takes care of the correct firing sequence. Especially on cars with distributors, the firing order is usually cast on the engine somewhere, most often on the cylinder head, the intake manifold or the valve cover(s).

Various firing orders for different engine layouts

number of cylinders firing order example
3 1-2-3
1-3-2		 Saab two-stroke, Perodua Kancil engine
BMW K75 engine, Subaru Justy engine
4 1-3-4-2
1-2-4-3
1-3-2-4
1-4-3-2		 Most straight-4s, Ford Taunus V4 engine
Some British Ford and Riley engines, Ford Kent engine, Riley Nine
Subaru 4-cylinder engines, Yamaha R1 crossplane
Volkswagen air-cooled engine
5 1-2-4-5-3
1-3-5-4-2		 Straight-five engine, Volvo 850, Audi 100
GM Atlas engine
6 1-5-3-6-2-4

1-4-3-6-2-5
1-6-5-4-3-2
1-2-3-4-5-6
1-4-2-5-3-6
1-4-5-2-3-6
1-6-3-2-5-4
1-6-2-4-3-5
1-6-2-5-3-4
1-4-2-6-3-5

 Mercedes-Benz M104 engine, Straight-6, Volkswagen VR6 engine, Opel Omega A, Nissan L Engine

Mercedes-Benz M272 engine, Volkswagen V6's (both engines are 90-degree V6's)
GM 3800 engine, Rover KV6 engine
General Motors 60° V6 engine, Mazda JE 3.0 litre 60-degree V6 engine, Chrysler Pentastar engine
, Ford Cologne V6 engine , Ford Essex V6 engine (UK)
Chevrolet Corvair
Subaru Alcyone/XT-6/Vortex ER-27 Flat-6
Porsche Boxster Flat-6
Maserati Quattroporte IV V6-4AC-24
Toyota HZ engine [1]

7 1-3-5-7-2-4-6 7-cylinder single row radial engine
8 1-8-7-3-6-5-4-2

1-8-7-2-6-5-4-3

1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2

1-6-2-5-8-3-7-4

1-5-6-3-4-2-7-8
1-5-4-8-7-2-6-3

1-5-4-8-6-3-7-2

1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8

1-5-3-7-4-8-2-6

1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8
1-2-7-8-4-5-6-3
1-2-7-3-4-5-6-8

 Nissan VK engine

GM LS engine, Toyota UZ engine
Chrysler Fifth Avenue, Chevrolet Small-Block engine, Pontiac, Rover V8

Straight-8

Cadillac V8 engine 368, 425, 472, 500 only
BMW S65

Ford Modular 5.0, Ford Flathead, Bentley L410 V8 (from 1959 to 1986)

Ford Small Block 221/255/260/289/302, FE Series 352/360/390/406/410/427/428, 385 Series Big Block 429/460

Ferrari V8's, (all are flat-plane crank)

Porsche 928, Ford Modular V-8, 351 Windsor, 5.0 H.O., 335 series (351C/351M/400M), Bentley L410 V8 (from 1987 to present)
Holden V8
Cadillac Northstar Engine

9 1-3-5-7-9-2-4-6-8 9-cylinder single row radial engine
Lycoming R-680-13 engine
10 1-10-9-4-3-6-5-8-7-2
1-6-5-10-2-7-3-8-4-9
1-8-7-6-5-4-3-10-9-2		 Dodge Viper V10
BMW S85, Ford V10
Isuzu 10PE1
12 1-7-5-11-3-9-6-12-2-8-4-10
1-7-4-10-2-8-6-12-3-9-5-11
1-4-9-8-5-2-11-10-3-6-7-12
1-12-5-8-3-10-6-7-2-11-4-9
1,12,7,6,3,10,11,2,5,8,9,4
1,12,4,9,2,11,6,7,3,10,5,8
 2001 Ferrari 456M GT V12
1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT
Caterpillar Inc. 3412E
Audi VW Bentley W12 engine
Rolls-Royce Merlin
2011 Lamborghini Aventador
14 1L-1R-2L-2R-4L-4R-6L-6R-7L-7R-5L-5R-3L-3R (Wärtsilä)-Sulzer 14ZV40/48 V14 marine diesel
16 1-12-8-11-7-14-5-16-4-15-3-10-6-9-2-13 2003 Cadillac V16 engine

Although the vast majority of automobile engines rotate clockwise as viewed from the front, some engines are designed by the manufacturer to rotate counter-clockwise to accommodate certain mechanical configurations. In these applications, the firing order is shown in a reverse order (though it still starts with 1). For the most common inline configurations, this gives firing orders of 1-3-2, 1-2-4-3, and 1-4-2-6-3-5. In addition to the reconfiguration of the plug wires or injector tubes, the valve timing must be accordingly modified.

Cylinder numbering and firing order

Notes on left/right and front/rear

When referring to cars, the left-hand side of the car is the side that corresponds with the driver's left, as seen from the driver's seat. It can also be thought of as the side that would be on the left if one was standing directly behind the car looking at it.

Saab B engine, "firing order 1342" marked on inlet manifold. #1 is towards the firewall (right side of picture).

When referring to engines, the front of the engine is the part where

the pulleys for the accessories (such as the alternator and water pump) are, and the rear of the engine is where the flywheel is, through which the engine connects to the transmission. The front of the engine may point towards the front, side or rear of the car.

In most rear-wheel drive cars, the engine is longitudinally mounted and the front of the engine also points to the front of the car. In front-wheel drive cars with a transverse engine, the front of the engine usually points towards the right-hand side of the car. One notable exception is Honda, where many models have the front of the engine at the left-hand side of the car.

In front-wheel-drive cars with longitudinally mounted engines, most often the front of the engine will point towards the front of the car, but some manufacturers (Saab, Citroën, Renault) have at times placed the engine 'backwards', with #1 towards the firewall. One notable car with this layout is the Citroën Traction Avant. This layout is uncommon today.

Cylinder numbering and firing orders for various engine layouts

In a straight engine the spark plugs (and cylinders) are numbered, starting with #1, usually from the front of the engine to the rear.

1-3-5-2-4 would be the firing order for this 5-cylinder radial engine.

In a radial engine the cylinders are numbered around the circle, with the #1 cylinder at the top. There are always an odd number of cylinders in each bank, as this allows for a constant alternate cylinder firing order: for example, with a single bank of 7 cylinders, the order would be 1-3-5-7-2-4-6. Moreover, unless there is an odd number of cylinders, the ring cam around the nose of the engine would be unable to provide the inlet valve open - exhaust valve open sequence required by the four-stroke cycle.

The cylinder numbering scheme used by some manufacturers on their V engines is based on "folding" the engine into an inline type.

In a V engine, cylinder numbering varies among manufacturers. Generally speaking, the most forward cylinder is numbered 1, but some manufacturers will then continue numbering along that bank first (so that side of the engine would be 1-2-3-4, and the opposite bank would be 5-6-7-8) while others will number the cylinders from front to back along the crankshaft, so one bank would be 1-3-5-7 and the other bank would be 2-4-6-8. (In this example, a V8 is assumed). To further complicate matters, manufacturers may not have used the same system for all of their engines. It is important to check the numbering system used before comparing firing orders, because the order will vary significantly with crankshaft design (see crossplane).

As an example, the Chevrolet Small-Block engine has cylinders 1-3-5-7 on the left hand side of the car, and 2-4-6-8 on the other side, and uses a firing order of 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.[2] Note that the order alternates irregularly between the left and right banks; this is what causes the 'burbling' sound of this type of engine.[3]

In most Audi and Ford V8 engines cylinders 1-2-3-4 are on the right hand side of the car, with 5-6-7-8 are on the left.

This means that Chevy Generation 1 Small Block V8 engines and Ford 302 V8s (5.8L, 5.0L, 7.5L) have an identical firing pattern despite having a different firing order.

Likewise, the firing pattern is the same for Chevrolet & Chrysler V8 engines with a firing order of 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2, and for Ford's V8 engines with a firing order of 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8.

An exception is the Ford Flathead V8 where the number 1 cylinder is on the right front of the engine (same as other Ford V8's) but this cylinder is not the front cylinder of the engine. In this case number 5 is the front cylinder. A similar situation exists with the Pontiac V8's 455 etc. where the cylinders are numbered like a Chevrolet V8 but the right side bank is in front(like a Ford), this puts cylinder number 2 in front of number 1.

V8 Cylinder bank Ferrari Audi Ford
 GM & Chrysler GM (Northstar) GM (Holden)
Right side of vehicle 4321 1234 1234 2468 1357 1357
Left side of vehicle 5678 5678 5678 1357 2468 2468

Even and uneven firing order

Firing order affects the balance, noise, vibration, smoothness, cooling, and sound of the engine.

Evenly spaced firing order (also called even firing order or even firing interval) means that the angle between each firing is equal. In four-stroke engines this requires a firing interval of 720° divided by the number of cylinders. On the other hand, engines with unevenly spaced firing order (sometimes called odd firing order) not all angles between firings are equal, for example a six-cylinder engine with unevenly spaced firing order can have a combination of 90° and 150° firing intervals compared to a six-cylinder engine with even firing order which must have 720° / 6 = 120° firing interval.

Engines that are even-firing will sound more smooth and steady, while engines that are odd, or uneven firing will have a burble or a throaty, growling sound in the engine note, and, depending on the crankshaft design, will often have more vibrations due to the unevenness of power delivery. Most racing engines such as those in Formula One often have even firing intervals in all or the most part (e.g. within each bank of a V-engine) of their firing order, mostly for easier packaging of performance exhaust systems. Engines that employ some variation on the Big-bang firing order theme will often have an uneven firing order, because the original point was to roughen up the power delivery to affect traction behaviour.

Examples of odd-firing engines are Harley-Davidson Evolution engines and most 4-stroke V-Twins, 2009–2014 Yamaha YZF-R1, Audi V10 FSI as used in the Audi R8 V10 and 2nd / 3rd generation Lamborghini Gallardo, Viper V10, Yamaha V-Max and VMAX, Buick 231 Odd-Fire V6.

Examples of even-firing engines are Honda NSR500V and most 2-stroke V-Twins, most current production inline 4s (with the exception of the Yamaha R1), most current production V6s, Lotus Esprit V8, Porsche 918 Spyder, McLaren M838T engine, Audi V10, 1st generation Lamborghini Gallardo and Toyota LR engine.

Ships

Contrary to most car engines, a ship's main engines and auxiliaries are numbered starting from the power output, or reversing clutch, towards the other free end of the block. Large diesel truck and loco engines, particularly of European manufacture, may also numbered this way. Individual cylinder numbers will usually be stamped or cast on the side of the block.

In ship and power plant V-type engines the numbering is A1... and B1... where the A-bank is on the left hand side and the B-bank is on the right hand side, looking from the flywheel end.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Toyota 1HD 1HZ 1PZ_Engine Service Manual" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  2. ↑ "Boxwrench.net". Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  3. ↑ Reyenga, Craig. "Craig's website - V8 engines - exhaust sound". Retrieved 2009-02-04.

1997 Dakota firing order diagram

{{Navbox |name =Automotive engine |state =collapsed |title =Automotive engine |listclass =hlist

|above =Part of the Automobile series

|group1 =Basic terminology |list1 =

|group2 =Main components |list2 =

|group3 =Valvetrain |list3 =

|group4 =Aspiration |list4 =

|group5 =Fuel system |list5 =

|group6 =Ignition |list6 =

|group7 =

Electrics and engine
management

|list7 =

|group8 =Exhaust system |list8 =

|group9 =Engine cooling |list9 =

|group10 =Other components |list10 =

|belowclass =hlist |belowstyle =font-weight:bold; |below =

}}

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.