Cylinder head: Difference between revisions

In a [[Reciprocating engine|piston engine]], the '''cylinder head''' (aka "'''head'''") sits above the [[cylinder (engine)|cylinders]],<ref name="Wright 2015 p. 310">{{cite book | last=Wright | first=G. | title=Fundamentals of Medium/Heavy Duty Diesel Engines | publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-284-06705-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5_OCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA310 | access-date=2020-11-07 | page=310}}</ref> forming the roof of the [[combustion chamber]]. In [[sidevalve engine]]s the head is a simple plate of metal containing the [[spark plug]]s and possibly [[Air-cooled engine|heat dissaptiondissipation fins]]. In more modern [[overhead valve engine|overhead valve]] and [[overhead camshaft engine|overhead camshaft]] engines, the head is a more complicated metal block that also contains the inlet and exhaust passages, and often [[Radiator (engine cooling)|coolant passages]], [[Valvetrain]] components, and [[Fuel_injection#Direct injection systems|fuel injectors]].

Engines with a [[V engine|"V" layout]] or [[flat engine|"flat" layout]] typically use two cylinder heads (one for each [[cylinder bank]]), however a small number of 'narrow-angle' V engines (such as the Volkswagen [[VR5 engine|VR5]] and [[VR6 engine|VR6]] engines) use a single cylinder head spanning the two banks.