Okay, so i am tired of being that guy. As i am sure many of other people on thi site are. I want to know how my car runs. And not have to ask every time i hear a click or a grumble that i think isnt supposed to be there. Or even know what i am looking at when i open my hood. So i thought this would be a good idea, start a thread that lists books, journals, and logs that can be purchased or aquired to help understand engines in general and of course the wonderful F and K series engines.

So please, if you have any idea of books that will explain from the intake to the exhaust the workings of a four stroke piston driven motor. And the power transfer from engine to fly wheel to tire. Let it be known. And help me to stop being "that guy."

 

Start with the info at howstuffworks.com

There is a ton of info there for anyone that doesn't have a mechanical bone in their body.

 

They have great writeups with diagrams on engines, manual transmissions, clutches, brakes, and tons of other topics.

I don't know if they're still sold, but I learned a great deal when I was a kid from a general automotive repair manual. Back before fuel injection, and electronic ignition, most cars ran pretty much the same. You could buy one manual that discussed general repair for virtually every car sold in the US. I think it was published by Chiltons.

If you can't find a general repair manual, you could always pick up a repair manual for virtually any car and learn a great deal about that particular car. Chiltons and Haynes manuals are sold at all auto parts stores.

If you want to learn more about the S2000, you should probably break down and buy an S2000 Service Manual (There is no off-the-shelf S2000 repair manual). It's pretty technical for just learning about general automotive stuff, but it has some good pictures and drawings showing how to troubleshoot a problem.

 

The Howstuffworks website is great! That's how I got my feet wet on the car stuff. Now if you have a lil cash laying around, I recommend this book called Automotive Technology:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=...9151#ps-sellers

At 1400 pages, it has EVERYTHING you need to learn about every system imaginable down to the most minute detail. What's great about it is that the book assumes the person has no previous knowledge, and slowly submerges the reader into the most difficult parts. Highly recommended.

 

books and websites are great, but NOTHING is better than having an engine right in front of you. grab some tools and start by doing your own work. start with the little things (oil changes, changing brakes, etc) - you'd be amazed at how much you can figure out just by having things in front of you.

do you plan on modding your car at all? have a friend help you put them on!

i have learned more about cars this year than i ever have, since i've been modding like a psychopath.

 

You could also go to a junkyard and buy a cheap junk motor and start taking it apart. Once you have a basic understanding of how an internal combustion engine works, there is no better way to expand your knowledge than to get in and start wrenching. And I recommend a junk motor cause you can pick them up really cheap and you wont have to worry about messing anything up. Having someone there with you to answer questions that inevitably come up will be a big help too.

I think its great that you want to learn about this stuff!!

 

Use the search on this site, it works pretty good and you can find a lot of info.

 

yea, goto a junkyard and buy a 75$ engine, then take it apart. you learn so much faster when you touch things.. mmm touching

 

I believe that while taking things apart is a very fast way to learn, one runs the risk of becoming a "parts swapper" and not someone who truly understands how things work and why they are designed in the way they are. Taking an engine apart will not teach things like metal composition, clearances, etc etc. That's where having a good text comes in handy. In other words, you can't have one without the other.

 

Yes thats true but you really have to be shown in person the proper way to do things. I went to a Marine technology course for 18 months. Going in i knew alot but i came out a much better tech. You can read all the books you want but you need an engine or object to work on to see how things are done. i dont think there is anything wrong with "Being that guy". Everyones knowledge on this site is priceless. I owned many hondas before and know alot about b-series engines but nothing about all the tricks with S2k's untill i owned one and joined this site