Reddit mentions: The best automotive engine mechanics books
We found 24 Reddit comments discussing the best automotive engine mechanics books. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 18 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.
1. How to Tune and Modify Engine Management Systems (Motorbooks Workshop)
- Composed of durable, long lasting materials
- Long, stable handle extends reach and cleaning capabilities
- Designed to effectively clean almost any sized drain from any angle
- 6" Blue Cup
Features:
Specs:
Height | 10.63 Inches |
Length | 8.25 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | February 2004 |
Weight | 1.9 Pounds |
Width | 0.62 Inches |
2. Engineering Fundamentals of the Internal Combustion Engine (2nd Edition)
Specs:
Height | 9.48817 Inches |
Length | 7.12597 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 1.97093262228 Pounds |
Width | 0.90551 Inches |
3. Two-Stroke Engine Repair and Maintenance
McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing
Specs:
Height | 9 Inches |
Length | 6 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 0.62170357884 Pounds |
Width | 0.5 Inches |
4. Modern Diesel Technology: Diesel Engines
Specs:
Height | 10.75 inches |
Length | 8.5 inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 1.8959754532 pounds |
Width | 0.75 inches |
5. Introduction to Internal Combustion Engines
- Used Book in Good Condition
Features:
Specs:
Height | 9.25 Inches |
Length | 6 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Width | 1.5 Inches |
6. Small Engine Repair Up to 20 Hp
Chilton Book Company
Specs:
Height | 9 Inches |
Length | 6 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 0.7275254646 Pounds |
Width | 1 Inches |
7. Rochester Carburetor Haynes TECHBOOK (Haynes Repair Manuals)
- affordable proucdts
Features:
Specs:
Height | 10.75 Inches |
Length | 8.38 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | May 1994 |
Weight | 1 Pounds |
Width | 0.5 Inches |
8. Gasoline Engine Management
- Sybex
Features:
Specs:
Height | 9.350375 Inches |
Length | 6.73227 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 1.93124941512 Pounds |
Width | 1.031494 Inches |
9. How to Rebuild Mopar Magnum V8 Engines HP1431
Specs:
Height | 10.82 Inches |
Length | 8.48 Inches |
Release date | August 2004 |
Weight | 0.80027801106 Pounds |
Width | 0.29 Inches |
10. Chevrolet & GMC Full-size Vans (68-96) Haynes Repair Manual (Does not include information specific to 454 engine or diesel engine information, or 1996 ... and Savana models.) (Haynes Repair Manuals)
Haynes Chevrolet and GMC Vans (68 - 95) Manual (24080)
Specs:
Height | 10.5 Inches |
Length | 8.25 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | December 1996 |
Weight | 1.90038469844 Pounds |
Width | 0.62 Inches |
11. Principles of Automotive Engines (Mechanics and Hydraulics)
- SUPERCHARGE CHEMICALS - Bonide Turbo Spreader Sticker is a biodegradable, combination spreading, sticking and penetrant agent designed to provide better distribution and adhesion of all types of insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides.
- EVEN DISTRIBUTION - This wetting, penetrating, and adhering agent improves the performance of all lawn and garden chemicals by dispersing the application uniformly across your yard.
- INCREASE EFFECTIVENESS - By providing better distribution and adhesion of lawn and garden chemicals you can achieve greater effectiveness from your sprays and reduce leaching and product waste.
- REDUCE CHEMICAL USAGE - With greater effectiveness from active agents in your chemicals, you achieve control of insects, diseases and unwanted vegetation faster with fewer applications, reducing your usage of insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides.
- OPTIMAL RESULTS - For better distribution and adhesion, we recommend using a pump sprayer with a tank. This helps ensure even administering of your chemicals.
Features:
Specs:
Release date | January 2013 |
12. How to Rebuild Small-Block Mopar Engines
Specs:
Height | 10.84 inches |
Length | 8.5 inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | January 1987 |
Weight | 1.45 Pounds |
Width | 0.35 inches |
13. Introduction to Internal Combustion Engines
Used Book in Good Condition
Specs:
Height | 9.5 Inches |
Length | 7.25 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 2.75 Pounds |
Width | 1.25 Inches |
14. How to Rebuild 4.6-/5.4-Liter Ford Engines
- Used Book in Good Condition
Features:
Specs:
Height | 11.0236 Inches |
Length | 8.50392 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 0.79586876582 Pounds |
Width | 0.3173222 Inches |
15. Small Engine Care & Repair: A step-by-step guide to maintaining your small engine (Briggs & Stratton)
- Used Book in Good Condition
Features:
Specs:
Height | 10.75 Inches |
Length | 8.25 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 1.15081300764 Pounds |
Width | 0.5 Inches |
16. Modern Diesel Technology: Light Duty Diesels
Used Book in Good Condition
Specs:
Height | 11 Inches |
Length | 8.5 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 1.96652337704 Pounds |
Width | 0.75 Inches |
17. ASE Test Preparation - A1 Engine Repair (Automobile Certification Series)
Specs:
Height | 10.75 Inches |
Length | 8.25 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 1.30734121366 Pounds |
Width | 0.5 Inches |
18. Ford Fuel Injection & Electronic Engine Control: How to Understand, Service, and Modify : All EEC-IV Systems on Ford, Lincoln, Mercury Cars and Light Trucks 1988-1993
- Ford Fuel Injection and Electronic (FIE) Engine Control book for 1988 - 1993 vehicles
- Written with assistance of Ford Racing engineers
- Includes a special chapter with inside tips
- Includes the most up-to-date information
- Over 400 pages and 500 photos and illustrations
Features:
Specs:
Height | 11.0236 Inches |
Length | 8.50392 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Weight | 2.29 Pounds |
Width | 0.925195 Inches |
🎓 Reddit experts on automotive engine mechanics books
The comments and opinions expressed on this page are written exclusively by redditors. To provide you with the most relevant data, we sourced opinions from the most knowledgeable Reddit users based the total number of upvotes and downvotes received across comments on subreddits where automotive engine mechanics books are discussed. For your reference and for the sake of transparency, here are the specialists whose opinions mattered the most in our ranking.
I was for the most part doing other stuff in the shop but when I was over there it was pretty sweet. The coolest thing about this set up is that when they bar it over (turn the crank by hand) everything works. We had it cut so that you could see everything work.
As far as learning more I would just use wikipedia or how stuff works has a pretty good basic concept of two strokes. But if you have the money and wish to learn more there are a lot of books out there that are very helpful. I used a similar edition to this in school. You don't have to buy it you can thumb through it and get a pretty good understanding.
Hope that helps!
Oh man, I grew up in VT, I would actually take you up on that if I was still in the northeast. A buddy of mine works for a race shop up there, does a lot of Porsche and D Sports Racer type stuff. Fun city and I know a girl up there who's definitely worth the trip on her own merits. Who knows, maybe I'll message you about that someday :)
If you want some further reading, I recommend checking out A Graham Bell's Four Stroke Performance Tuning then Gordon Blair's Design and Simulation of Four Stroke Engines. Those two really focus on combustion and intake/exhaust work, which is the bread and butter of the aftermarket world, but also get into some of the fun theoretical stuff on mean effective pressure and volumetric characterizing. Stone's Introduction to Internal Combustion Engines is a nice whole-system look at the engine from an engineers standpoint and will be a bit more general, I haven't been through it in as much detail as the other two but it has a lot more mechanical information on the rotating assembly and the like.
Tip: I have heard unsubstantiated rumors that I can neither confirm nor deny that some or all of these books are available digitally on the seedier side of the web. I would advise keeping your eyes open for cheap paper copies though, as I find they make great reference books and they're more palatable off the screen.
http://www.amazon.com/Modify-Management-Systems-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0760315825/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300143812&sr=1-3
this is another good book. it helped me figure out my boost leak issue and adjusting my apexi safc unit. get a boost guage and wide band reader to start. good luck!
Well they are not really that complex at that scale but I'm sure if you wanted you could find any number of books on the subject like the following.
http://www.amazon.com/Small-Engine-Repair-Up-20/dp/0801983258
IF you decide to essay the rebuild yourself, I recommend THIS manual which is an all-in-one resource and covers operating theory, tools and techniques and walks you through the rebuild. It has plenty of pictures and diagrams and is aimed at those with little or no experience. I think it's out of print now, but apparently Amazon has a few copies left. The information available on the net is good, of course, but this is something you can have open on your workbench without fear of getting gasoline on your computer.
Pick up a mechanic's textbook. Or something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Two-Stroke-Engine-Repair-Maintenance-Dempsey/dp/0071625399#customerReviews
And be careful - there are a lot of well intention people out there who pro's classify as 'knows enough to be dangerous'. Take advice / learn from the wrong person and things will go wrong very quickly.
Cheers & gl :)
S
i personally wouldn't tune for knock, the power should be a bell curve so as you hone in on the best settings power should rise then fall after maximum power is reached, then start to drop off before it knocks.
so that is what i'd tune for. at worst knock tuning would be a disaster on some engines, and on others you're likely loosing power . at the dyno i've often seen people say tune to knock then back off a whatever a good number/% they've heard is.
you have to know a lot of about the math of specific engine you're tuning for to do proper calcs to get you base maps that are close, so since not all that is available, VE being the most useful, it often does become iterative and you just get a feel for it.
dynos aren't that complex, they just measure torque. the manual for them usually has the operation procedure in them, or the rep shows you. but basically you just do a pull on it while it measures rpm/tq and AFR then it plots an HP/TQ graph usually with some compensation for loss, or which conversion factor to use, SAE etc (where a lot of the online battles take place on dyno figures)
i prefer dynapak's myself, mostly since theyre a lot safer and i don't walk over the roller when concentrating on the laptop, and i've felt they're more controllable/repeatable but YMMV
https://www.dynomitedynamometer.com/dyno-dynamometer-article.htm has a good overview of the different styles.
these are some of the books i have
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0837603005
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470057572
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0837611083 (general motronic overview)
https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-Automotive-Handbook-Robert-GmbH/dp/0837617324
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0837615410
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932494421 good starter book
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760315825
https://www.amazon.com/Auto-Math-Handbook-HP1554-Calculations (updated ver)
http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Vehicle-Dynamics-Premiere-Books/dp/1560911999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425872946&sr=8-1&keywords=1560911999
http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Fundamentals-Internal-Combustion-Engine/dp/0131405705/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425872963&sr=8-1&keywords=0131405705
These are the two books I could find that professors at Embry-Riddle, for the high performance vehicle design option of mechanical engineering, use. Im sure there are others, but i dont know where to find them as im not a mechanical engineering student. I'd say go to:
http://www.neebo.com/embry-riddle-aeronautical-university-daytona/textbooks
And search around for courses that relate to your interest and find the books they require
Not hard at all. Can be done with basic tools. The hardest part was getting it into the truck.
The Master rebuild kit cost me about $650 and about $400 for the machine work. Assembled the motor outside in my shed.
I HIGHLY recommend getting yourself a copy of this book before you try and tackle the job. Read it through to get yourself mentally prepared. It covers every single thing you'll need to do, or may encounter when you rebuild a 5.2/5.9 Magnum.
Oh, that's great! Thanks a lot! I was reading this, but that's just engine.
I'd just go with a Haynes or Chilton manual.
https://www.amazon.com/Chevrolet-Vans-Haynes-Repair-Manuals/dp/1563921979
If you try eBay you might find one for your particular van, but I always liked the Haynes and Chilton manuals over the official factory service manuals.
here's a couple of kindle books for examples... there's plenty of online books on the subject. these are a place to start. 1 and 2
check the online resources at your local library too. they often have books you can check out to your computer, if you don't have time to look through the shelves. there are a lot of web sites with free ebooks too.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Rebuild-Small-Block-Mopar-Engines/dp/0895861283
http://www.amazon.com/Small-Block-Mopar-Engines-Present-273-318-340-360/dp/0895864797
The second link is fantastic.
I took a course on Internal Combustion Engines.
I dont know what part of automotive you'll be working on. But if you want to learn about engines, we used This Book and it was a good resource.
I mean every book I've read on engine design or even fundamental theory behind combustion refers to ice when it comes to vehicles. A few stick with saying internal combustion engine but that's a mouthful
Edit: This book, originally published in the 90s, often uses the term ICE and is one of the most commonly used books for basics of engines. It certainly wasn't the first to use the term, nor will it be the last. The term internal combustion engine started when they were first being developed as a way to distinguish them from earlier heat engines which either used external combustion or some other heat source.
It would be pointless (and inaccurate) to not include the pump work from the additional turbo when finding the thermal efficiency of a turbocharged engine.
https://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Fundamentals-Internal-Combustion-Engine/dp/0131405705
My source.
I've used the test prep books from Delmar. You can buy them online, or check you local library.
https://www.amazon.com/ASE-Test-Preparation-Engine-Learnings/dp/1111127034
Modern Diesel Technology: Light Duty Diesels
Small Engine Repair Up to 20 Hp
Start tearing them down and building them up. Not a lot to it, I've been working on them since I was 12.
http://www.amazon.com/Small-Engine-Repair-step---step/dp/158923121X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404313106&sr=1-3
Here you go.
http://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-4-6-5-4-Liter-Ford-Engines/dp/1613250436
Carbed fox body mustang ex-owner here: The early carbed mustangs were choked to death with vacuum tubes, in fact see my user name kurby-car to represent my vacuum powered 1983 mustang 5.0. I did a fuel injection conversion to a early 90's t-bird fuel injection system and the car ran better but the prehistoric EFI system was a PITA to work with. I studied early Ford fuel injection for years while I owned that car using this book: https://www.amazon.com/Ford-Injection-Electronic-Engine-Control/dp/0837603013
Even though the EFI system had a learning curve it was better than dealing with the 3 miles of vacuum tubing required to keep that 5.0 running on a carb.
My advice: Unless you are hot rodding don't ever buy a car older than 1997. the automotive dark ages started in the mid-70's and lasted until about 1997 when OBDII was standardized.