I want to stump a friend of mine b/c he thinks he is a master mechanic when it comes to cars. So give me a list of weird car parts and their functions to see if I can stump him. Parts with acronyms works too.
IAC motor…Idle air control Motor…a motor used during engine idle to keep enough air moving into the engine to keep it running.
Idler Jet = Automatic transmission fluid injector that creates the “creeper gear.”
Hill Holder = A special release mechanism on early manually shifted cars that allowed simultaneous release of the foot-brake and clutch to smooth out uphill standing starts.
Decimal Inch = This may easily be one of the most perverted mechanical tolerancing formats on this entire planet. Some royal subject (who is justifiably responsible for the complete downfall of the entire British Empire) created a tooling standard based upon tenths of an inch. Please understand that a 0.7" or .08" wrench might only correspond to a single-use unitless measurement tool on Deneb and nowhere else.
Joking:
Hub Cap = Currently replaced with the term “wheel cover.”
Cotter Pin = Currently replaced by (from what I can tell) the term “Carter Pin.”
Bringlish:
Boot = Trunk
Bonnet = Hood
Windscreen = Windshield
Ash Tray = Coin holder
Jake Brake. It’s only on trucks, but it’s one of my favorites.
Here are a few things you can ask to test mechanical knowledge:
**Tappet head - **Denotes the striking surface where the cam hits the lifter
**Knurled piston - **A piston where a raised pattern is machined into the skirt area to increase compression
**Bronze Guide - **This is the “sleeve” that keeps the valves in place
**Race - **A machined area for a bearing to roll in.
**Planetary Gear - **These are the primary gears within an automatic transmission
**Cone Differential - **An older type of “posi-traction” rear, made by Spicer, I think…
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Okay, a few more, now that I think about it:
**Power Valve - **This is part of a four barrel Holley carb.
**Return Spring - **The spring that pulls the throttle closed.
**Closed Chamber - **The area of the head directly above the piston.
**30 over - **Tech term, usually used for the cylinder area, meaning it has been bored out 30 thousands of an inch.
**Deck - **The surface that the heads mate to.
**Hemi - **Denotes a hemispherical firing chamber (Funky valves, too!)
**Runner - **The area of the intake where the fuel/air mixture travels down to meet the intake valve.
**CCV valve- **Closed Crankcase Ventilation valve. Relieves positive air pressure in the oil areas of the engine due to blow by.
**EGR - **Exhaust Gas Recirculation, mixes some of the exhaust back into the intake. Cleans up the exhaust somewhat.
**COP - **Coil-Over-Plug. This replaces the regular coil, which merely collects up a high voltage to make the spark. Now they have one on each cylinder, instead of this big round one connected into the distributor cap.
Ask him the difference between Throttle Body Fuel Injection, and Multi-Port Fuel Injection. What makes them different, and which one is better to have? - The answer being that multi-port injects fuel into the air stream within the intake runner itself, just before the valve. So you have a fuel injector for EACH cylinder. Throttle body EFI is simply injecting fuel sort of like a carburetor, where the air mass enters into the intake, thus you need one injector, but get worse fuel/air distribution. This was the first type of EFI, and is inferior to multi-port.
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Here’s a good one: Guibo!
It’s a disk shaped rubber coupler which goes between the transmission and drive shaft to dampen shock and vibration. Used on BMWs and some other cars.
I’ve always liked the name of the thermal reactor in my high school friend’s old Mazda station wagon.
My dad’s Toyota had a stove in the carburetor.
Well, there is the vague Mouse and Rat motors.
Pitman Arm - Who was this Pitman person, anyhow?
King Pin - What about the Queen or Peasant pin?
Oh, there are sooo many, I’m just drawing a blank right now.
These are awesome, thanks!
bernse, what is a King Pin? I tried google but I didn’t get anything related to car parts?
Does anyone know of some more big rig or bus parts that aren’t found on standard cars?
harmonic compensator
sounds fake, but it has a purpose. It also has another name I can’t think of right now that sounds more “real”
Hall Effect Pickup Assembly = crank trigger system that provides stable & accurate ignition timing.
Gudgeon Pin - British for a wrist or piston pin.
Hog troughs - Sub-floor torque boxes used on Studebaker Avantis.
bernse, I replaced the king pins and bushings in my Hawk last year. My Pitman arm is OK, but the Bendix servo is leaking. What are you driving that still has king pins?
Do you mean Harmonic Balancer?
Oh, I drive nothing that has kingpins! My Cherokee may be old fashioned with its solid front end, but not that old! 
An old steering and suspension component. IIRC, replaced by the ball joint system in the late 50’s/60s by most manufacturers.
How about:
Flat Head
Exhaust Doughnut
Dog House
There are also many, many acronyms such as EGR, PCV, ECM yadda, yadda…
How about a ballast resistor? This was a part used in 1970s Chrysler electronic ignition systems, which is notorious for the symptoms of its failure: the car will seem to start, but will shut off as soon as you let go of the key.
-Andrew L
Escutcheon…the face plate on the car radio.
Banjo fitting…used for coupling oil lines
There was a longer post but the hamsters ate it. I have a few books that I will find and get back to you on this .
Lets start with acronyms
SIR- Supplemental Inflateable Restriant system= Air bags
EEC- IV Electric Engine Controls fourth generation. Ford uses this
AOD Automatic OverDrive- A four speed automatic transmission, also a Ford unit.
Just to warn you most of this is coming from my old Ford manuals.
VMM=Vehicle Maintenance Monitor
RABS= Rear Anti-lock Brake System. Used on Trucks.
EIC= Electronic Instrument Cluster. LED’s on the dash
ISO = International Standards Organization. Ask your friend about “Bubble Flare” brake lines.
A word to try. Rzeppa joint. I did spell it right. It is a comman type of constant velocity joint.
This is fun.
AIR= Air Injection Reactor. Smog pump.
NVH= Noise Vibration Harshness. Three things to elemanate on your Lincoln. They teach classes in this.
Oh a great one to try if he’s not a Ford man. OASIS= On-line Automotive Service Information System.
If you need more e-mail me.