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The Collaborative International Dictionary
crankcase

crankcase \crankcase\ n. the housing for a crankshaft and connecting parts in an internal-combustion engine.

Wiktionary
crankcase

n. the part of an engine that contains the crankshaft

WordNet
crankcase

n. housing for a crankshaft

Wikipedia
Crankcase

In an internal combustion engine of the reciprocating type, the crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below the cylinder(s), which in a multicylinder engine is usually integrated into one or several cylinder blocks. Crankcases have often been discrete parts, but more often they are integral with the cylinder bank(s), forming an engine block. Nevertheless, the area around the crankshaft is still usually called the crankcase. Crankcases and other basic engine structural components (e.g., cylinders, cylinder blocks, cylinder heads, and integrated combinations thereof) are typically made of cast iron or cast aluminium via sand casting. Today the foundry processes are usually highly automated, with a few skilled workers to manage the casting of thousands of parts.

A crankcase often has an opening in the bottom to which an oil pan is attached with a gasketed bolted joint. Some crankcase designs fully surround the crank's main bearing journals, whereas many others form only one half, with a bearing cap forming the other. Some crankcase areas require no structural strength from the oil pan itself (in which case the oil pan is typically stamped from sheet steel), whereas other crankcase designs do (in which case the oil pan is a casting in its own right). Both the crankcase and any rigid cast oil pan often have reinforcing ribs cast into them, as well as bosses which are drilled and tapped to receive mounting screws/bolts for various other engine parts.

Besides protecting the crankshaft and connecting rods from foreign objects, the crankcase serves other functions, depending on engine type. These include keeping the motor oil contained, usually hermetically or nearly hermetically (and in the hermetic variety, allowing the oil to be pressurized); providing the rigid structure with which to join the engine to the transmission; and in some cases, even constituting part of the frame of the vehicle (such as in many farm tractors).

Crankcase (Transformers)

Crankcase is the name of several characters in the various Transformers universes.

Crankcase (G.I. Joe)

Crankcase is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's A.W.E. Striker driver and debuted in 1985.

Crankcase (disambiguation)

A crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft of an engine.

Crankcase can also mean:

  • Crankcase (G.I. Joe), a fictional character in the G.I. Joe universe
  • Crankcase (Transformers), a fictional character in the Transformers universe

Usage examples of "crankcase".

He tried to get me to back a chain of filling stations whose gimmick would be a special brand of oil-filtered crankcase drainings, picked up for a song, dyed orange and handsomely packaged.

It was bitter and strong and swirled in his stomach like discarded crankcase drippings.

The two men were clad in raggedy snowmobile suits that smelled of crankcase oil and bore ten years of decorative sew-on Quest patches.

Whatever it was tasted like vinegar laced with used crankcase oil and spiced with extra-soapy cilantro.

Speeding until they dared go no faster, Able Team tore up the trail with their heavy semi-chopped Harleys, scraping fancy stone steps with their crankcases, rutting beds of rare California wild flowers.

There were gummy stains on it, too, like crankcase drainings or old strawberry jam.

The batteries were so gummed up by the cold that they couldn't even have turned over a hot engine, far less one in which the crankcase, transmission and differential were all but locked solid in lubricating oil that had lost all power to lubricate anything and had been turned into a super viscous liquid with the consistency and intractability of some heavy animal glue.

They had removed the cylinder head and washed out the cylinders with fresh water and had hosed out the crankcase, Keith rejecting a proposal that they should take off the sump again as being quite unnecessary.

But the magnesium in the accessories and crankcase on number-three engine flared like an incendiary bomb, burning through its mounts and wing spar.

I went over the rear axle casing, propeller shaft tunnel, flywheel housing, crankcase flanges and trays while the building creaked and the draught chilled my bones and the bastard began laughing softly with that awful laugh of his that turned to coughing because of the cigarette smoke.