Valve Overlap and

Valve Timing
 Definition & Description

• Valve overlap is the period during engine operation

when the intake and exhaust valves are open at the
same time. 
• Valve overlap occurs when the piston nears TDC
between the exhaust event and the intake event.
Duration of valve overlap is between 10° - 20° of
crankshaft rotation, depending on the engine design.
 Cont…

• In other word Not all camshafts have overlap. If

they do, it happens at the end of the exhaust
stroke and the beginning of the intake stroke.
(Hint: If your intake valve opens before TDC
and/or your exhaust valve closes after TDC, you
may have overlap.)
Cont..
•TDC = Top dead centre
•BDC = Bottom dead centre
•IO = Inlet valve opens
•IC = Inlet valve closes
•EO = Exhaust valve opens
•EC = Exhaust valve closes
 How is it measured?
• Exhaust Closing Point + Intake Opening Point = Overlap
• For example, this camshaft
Opens Closes
has the following opening and closing
points:
Intake
13° BTDC 51° ABDC

Exhaust 66° BBDC 8° ATDC

 o
• The exhaust valve closes AFTER TDC, but the intake valve opens
BEFORE TDC. In this example, there will be overlap.
8° + 13° = 21° of overlap
 Can I adjust the amount of overlap?
• You can't adjust the overlap on your camshaft. You will need a 
New Camshaft.
For more overlap, you need more Duration and/or less 
Lobe Separation.
For less overlap, you need less duration and/or more lobe
separation.
• The Lobe Separation Angle (LSA) is the distance between the
centerlines of the intake and exhaust lobes on the camshaft. It is
measured in degrees of camshaft rotation.Summary Cam Card.docx
How is it measured?
You can calculate the LSA using the centerlines
of the intake and exhaust lobes. (This information
should be listed on your Cam Card. If not, you
can find them using a 
Dial Indicator and Degree Wheel.)
The formula for LSA is:
Intake Centerline + Exhaust Centerline ÷ 2
For example, if the intake is 107° and the exhaust
is 117°:
107° + 117° = 224°
224° ÷ 2 = 112° (LSA)
 How does it affect performance?
• Combined with Duration, the LSA determines Valve Overlap.
This overlap has a significant impact on Engine Vacuum and
idle quality.
• Camshafts with a "tight" LSA (106° - 109°) will usually have
more overlap.
• Camshafts with a "wide" LSA (110° - 118°) will have less
overlap.
How does it affect performance?(Valve overlap)

• At high rpm, overlap takes advantage of the Scavenging Effect. However,

at idle and low rpm, overlap will produce low Engine Vacuum and a rough
idle. This is great for a race car, but not so much for other vehicles.
• Any camshaft with a significant amount of overlap is not recommended
for street-driven cars. The engine will have poor low-end power. For
vehicles with power brakes, Low Vacuum also makes for a very hard
brake pedal. Overlap also contributes to Exhaust Reversion, which isn't
good.
Valve Timing
 Basic Theory
• After multi-valve technology became standard in engine
design, Variable Valve Timing becomes the next step to
enhance engine output, no matter power or torque.
• As you know, valves activate the breathing of engine.
The timing of breathing, that is, the timing of air intake
and exhaust, is controlled by the shape and phase
angle of cams.
We begin with the piston all the way at
the top with both valves closed. Just a
few degrees ago the spark plug fired
and the explosion and the expansion of
the gasses is forcing the piston
towards the bottom of the cylinder.
This is the event that actually pushes
the crankshaft around to create the
power and is referred to as the "power
stroke" (figure 1).
 Cont…

• Each "stroke" lasts one half crankshaft revolution or

180 crankshaft degrees. Since the camshaft turns at half
of the speed of the crank, the power stroke only sees
one fourth of a turn of the cam, or 90 camshaft degrees.
• As we move closer to the bottom of the cylinder, a little
before the piston reaches the bottom, the exhaust valve
begins to open. By this time most of the charge has been
burned and the cylinder pressure will begin to push this burnt
mixture out into the exhaust port. After the piston passes the
true bottom or Bottom Dead Center, it begins to rise back to
the top. Now we have begun the exhaust stroke, another 180°
in the cycle (figure 2).
 Cont…

• This forces the remainder of the mixture out of the

chamber to make room for a fresh, clean charge of air-
fuel mixture. While the piston is moving toward the top
of the cylinder, the exhaust valve quickly opens, goes
through maximum lift and begins to close.
• Now something quite unique begins to take place. Just before
the piston reaches the top, the intake valve begins to open
and the exhaust valve is not yet fully closed. This doesn't
sound right, does it? Let's try to figure out what is happening.
• The exhaust stroke of the piston has pushed out just
about all of the spent charge and as the piston
approaches the top and the intake valve begins to open
slowly, there begins a siphon or "scavenge" effect in
the chamber. The rush of the gases out into the exhaust
port will draw in the start of the intake charge. This is
how the engine flushes out all of the used charge. Even
some of the new gases escape into the exhaust.
 Cont…
• Once the piston passes through Top Dead Center and starts back
down, the intake charge is being pulled in quickly so the exhaust
valve must close at precisely the right point after the top to keep
any burnt gas from reentering. This area around Top Dead Center
with both valves open is referred to as "overlap". This is one of the
most critical moments in the running cycle, and all points must be
positioned correctly with the Top Dead Center of the piston.
 Cont…

• We have now passed through overlap. The exhaust

valve has closed just after the piston started down and
the intake valve is opening very quickly. This is called
the intake stroke (figure 3), where the engine
"breathes" and fills itself with another charge of fresh
air/fuel mixture.
• The intake valve reaches its maximum lift at some
defined point (usually about 106 degrees) after top
dead center. This is called the intake centerline, which
refers to where the cam has been installed in the engine
in relation to the crankshaft. This is commonly called
"degreeing".
• The piston again goes all the way to the bottom and as
it starts up, the intake valve is rushing towards the seat.
The closing point of the intake valve will determine
where the cylinder actually begins to build pressure, as
we are now into the compression stroke (figure 4).
When the mixture has all been taken in and the valves
are both closed, the piston begins to compress the
mixture. This is where the engine can really build some
power. Then, just prior to the top, the spark plug fires
and we are ready to start all over again.
• To optimise the breathing, engine requires different
valve timing at different speed. When the rev increases,
the duration of intake and exhaust stroke decreases so
that fresh air becomes not fast enough to enter the
combustion chamber, while the exhaust becomes not
fast enough to leave the combustion chamber.
• Therefore, the best solution is to open the inlet valves
earlier and close the exhaust valves later. In other
words, the Overlapping between intake period and
exhaust period should be increased as rev increases.
• In a piston engine, the valve timing is the precise timing of the opening
and closing of the valves.
Cont…
Valve Clearance Adjustment
 Overhead valves with rocker shaft

• Valve clearances are the small gaps between the tops of

the valve stems and the part of the mechanism which
presses on them to open the valves.
• Check the clearances at regular intervals as specified in the
car service schedule, and adjust if necessary. Reset the
clearances whenever the cylinder head has been removed.
 Cont…
• The job is commonly called adjusting the tappets.
• A few cars have hydraulic tappets, which are self adjusting
and do not need checking.
 Cont…
• Before starting, make sure you know the type of valve
mechanism commonly called valve gear - fitted to your 
engine , and the relative valve clearances. The car
handbook should tell you the clearances - if not, consult a
dealer or the car service manual. feeler gauge.jpg
 Cont…
• The valve gear fitted to your engine will be either pushrod
(OHV) or overhead camshaft (OHC) .There are two types of
OHC valve gear direct acting and indirect acting.
• The tappets on an OHC engine are usually adjusted by
placing shims of a predetermined size under them.
 Cont…
• The valve clearance on OHC engines
with indirect-acting mechanisms are
measured between the cam and the
cam follower pivot post.
• That is a job best left to a garage which
has a micrometermicrometer.jpg for
measuring shims, and a wide selection
of them. But you can check the
clearances yourself, and decide whether
they need adjusting.
 Cont…
• You must know the firing order of the engine,
which cylinder is No. 1, which are inlet and exhaust valves
and which rockers or cams operate them. Make a plan of
all this information on paper.
• Find the correct valve clearances for inlet and exhaust
valves, and whether they should be adjusted with the
engine hot or cold.
 Direct-acting overhead cam Click icon to add picture

• A direct acting OHC separates the valves

through tappets which are sometimes
adjusted by shims.
• `Hot' means that the engine must be
warmed to normal working temperature,
then switched off - and you must work
quickly before the engine cools.
• `Cold' means absolutely cold: the engine
must not have run for at least six hours -
check in the car handbook.
 Indirect-acting overhead cam
Click icon to add picture
• Measure the gap between cam and
follower with the lobe pointing directly
away from the follower.
• On overhead-cam engines with finger-
type cam followers, measure he gap
when the top of the lobe is pointing
directly away from the finger. Adjust by
turning the pivot post at the opposite
end of the finger from the valve, hold
the post to stop it turning while you
slacken or tighten the locknut.
 Engine Test Stand 
• An engine test stand is a facility used to develop, characterize and test engines.
• A sophisticated engine test stand houses several sensors (or 
transducers), data acquisition features and actuators to control the
engine state. The sensors would measure several physical variables of
interest which typically include:
• crankshaft torque and angular velocity
• intake air and fuel consumption rates, often detected using
volumetric and/or gravimetric measurement methods
 Cont…
• air-fuel ratio for the intake mixture, often detected using an 
exhaust gas oxygen sensor
• environment pollutant concentrations in the exhaust gas
such as carbon monoxide, different configurations of 
hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and 
particulate matter
• temperatures and gas pressures at several locations on the
engine body such as engine oil temperature, spark plug
 temperature, exhaust gas temperature, intake manifold
 pressure
 Determination Of Fuel Properties

•  What is Fuels?
• A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other
substances so that it releases chemical or nuclear energy as heat
or to be used for work.
• Types of Fuels Available
Solid (Coal, Wood, Dung etc.)
Liquid (Petroleum, ethanol etc) ‘
Gas (Methane, Hydrogen, Propane, Coal Gas
 Cont…
• Fuel properties can be divided into those that are
physical properties of the liquid (e.g., density, viscosity, volatility,
heating value, or sulfur), and those that are not (e.g., cetane
number, flash point, or lubricity).
• Diesel fuel is a mixture of hydrocarbons obtained by distillation of
crude oil. The important properties which are used to characterize
diesel fuel include cetane number (or cetane index), fuel volatility,
density, viscosity, cold behavior, and sulfur content. Diesel fuel
specifications differ for various fuel grades and in different
countries.
 Cont…
• Some common properties of liquid fuels are that they are
easy to transport, and can be handled with relative ease.
Physical properties of liquid fuels vary by temperature,
though not as greatly as for gaseous fuels. Some of these
properties are:
 Cont…
•  flash point, the lowest temperature at which a flammable
concentration of vapor is produced; 
• fire point, the temperature at which sustained burning of vapor
will occur; 
• cloud point for diesel fuels, the temperature at which
dissolved waxy compounds begin to coalesce, and 
• pour point, the temperature below which the fuel is too thick to
pour freely. These properties affect the safety and handling of
the fuel.
 Petroleums

• Most liquid fuels used currently are produced

from petroleum. The most notable of these is gasoline.
Scientists generally accept that petroleum formed from
the fossilized remains of dead plants and animals by
exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth's crust.
Gasoline and Desiel
Kerosene
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
 Non-petroleum fossil fuels
Synthetic fuel
• When petroleum is not easily available, chemical processes such
as the Fischer-Tropsch process can be used to produce liquid fuels
from coal or natural gas. Synthetic fuels from coal were
strategically important during World War II for the German military.
Today synthetic fuels produced from natural gas are manufactured,
to take advantage of the higher value of liquid fuels in
transportation.
Natural gas
Biodiesel
 Alcohols

• Generally, the term alcohol refers to ethanol, the first 

organic chemical produced by humans,[1] but any alcohol can be
burned as a fuel. Ethanol and methanol are the most common,
being sufficiently inexpensive to be useful.