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Firing order
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The firing order is the sequence of power delivery of each cylinder in a multi-cylinder reciprocating engine.

This is achieved by sparking of the spark plugs in a gasoline engine in the correct order, or by the sequence
of fuel injection in a Diesel engine. When designing an engine, choosing an appropriate firing order is critical
to minimizing vibration, to improve engine balance and achieving smooth running, for long engine fatigue
life and user comfort, and heavily influences crankshaft design.

Contents
1 Ignition
2 Various firing orders for different engine layouts
3 Cylinder numbering and firing order
3.1 Notes on left/right and front/rear
4 Cylinder numbering and firing orders for various
engine layouts
5 Odd and Even Firing Order
6 Ships For this inline-4 engine, 1-3-4-2 could be a
7 See also valid firing order.
8 References
9 External links

Ignition
In a gasoline engine, the correct firing order is obtained by the correct placement of the spark plug wires on
the distributor. In a modern engine with an engine management system and direct ignition, the Engine
Control Unit (ECU) takes care of the correct firing sequence. Especially on cars with distributors, the firing
order is usually cast on the engine somewhere, most often on the cylinder head, the intake manifold or the
valve cover(s).

Various firing orders for different engine layouts

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number of
firing order example
cylinders
1-2-3 Saab two-stroke, Perodua Kancil engine
3
1-3-2 BMW K75 engine, Subaru Justy engine
Most straight-4s, Ford Taunus V4 engine
1-3-4-2 Some British Ford and Riley engines, Ford
1-2-4-3 Kent engine, Riley Nine
4 1-3-2-4 Subaru 4-cylinder engines, Yamaha R1
1-4-3-2 crossplane
1-2-3-4 Volkswagen air-cooled engine
Proton Wira VDO engine
5 1-2-4-5-3 Straight-five engine, Volvo 850, Audi 100
Straight-6, Volkswagen VR6 engine, Opel
Omega A
1-5-3-6-2-4
Mercedes-Benz M272 engine, Volkswagen
1-4-3-6-2-5
V6's (both engines are 90-degree V6's)
1-6-5-4-3-2
GM 3800 engine
1-2-3-4-5-6
General Motors 60° V6 engine
6 1-4-2-5-3-6
Mercedes-Benz M104 engine, Ford Cologne
1-4-5-2-3-6
V6 engine
1-6-3-2-5-4
Chevrolet Corvair
1-6-2-4-3-5
Subaru Alcyone/XT-6/Vortex ER-27 Flat-6
1-6-2-5-3-4
Porsche Boxster Flat-6
Maserati Quattroporte IV V6-4AC-24

7 1-3-5-7-2-4-6 7-cylinder single row radial engine

1988 Chrysler Fifth Avenue, Chevrolet
1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2
Small-Block engine
1-8-7-2-6-5-4-3
GM LS engine, Toyota UZ engine
1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8
Porsche 928, Ford Modular engine, 5.0 HO
1-5-4-8-7-2-6-3
BMW S65
1-6-2-5-8-3-7-4
Straight-8
8 1-8-7-3-6-5-4-2
Nissan VK engine
1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8
Ford Windsor engine
1-5-6-3-4-2-7-8
Cadillac V8 engine 368, 425, 472, 500 only
1-5-3-7-4-8-2-6
Ferrari V8's, (all are flat-plane crank)
1-2-7-8-4-5-6-3
Holden V8
1-2-7-3-4-5-6-8
Cadillac Northstar Engine
1-10-9-4-3-6-5-8-7-2 Dodge Viper V10
10 1-6-5-10-2-7-3-8-4-9 BMW S85, Ford V10
1-8-7-6-5-4-3-10-9-2 Izusu v10
1-7-5-11-3-9-6-12-2-8-4-10 2001 Ferrari 456M GT V12
1-7-4-10-2-8-6-12-3-9-5-11 1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT
12
1-4-9-8-5-2-11-10-3-6-7-12 3412E
1-12-5-8-3-10-6-7-2-11-4-9 Audi VW Bentley Spyker W12 engine
1L-1R-2L-2R-4L-4R-6L-6R-7L-7R- (Wärtsilä)-Sulzer 14ZV40/48 V14 marine
14
5L-5R-3L-3R diesel
16 1-12-8-11-7-14-5-16-4-15-3-10-6-9-2-13 2003 Cadillac V16 engine

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Although the vast majority of automobile engines rotate clockwise as viewed from the front, some engines
are designed by the manufacturer to rotate counter-clockwise to accommodate certain mechanical
configurations. In these applications, the firing order is shown in a reverse order (though it still starts with 1).
For the most common inline configurations, this gives firing orders of 1-3-2, 1-2-4-3, and 1-4-2-6-3-5. In
addition to the reconfiguration of the plug wires or injector tubes, the valve timing must be accordingly
modified.

Cylinder numbering and firing order

Notes on left/right and front/rear

When referring to cars, the left-hand side of the car is the side that corresponds with the driver's left, as seen
from the driver's seat. It can also be thought of as the side that would be on the left if one was standing
directly behind the car looking at it.

When referring to engines, the front of the engine is the

part where the pulleys for the accessories (such as the
alternator and water pump) are, and the rear of the
engine is where the flywheel is, through which the
engine connects to the transmission. The front of the
engine may point towards the front, side or rear of the
car.

In most rear-wheel drive cars, the engine is

longitudinally mounted and the front of the engine also
points to the front of the car. In front-wheel drive cars
with a transverse engine, the front of the engine usually
points towards the right-hand side of the car. One
notable exception is Honda, where many models have Saab B engine, "firing order 1342" marked on inlet
the front of the engine at the left-hand side of the car. manifold. #1 is towards the front (left side of
picture).
In front-wheel-drive cars with longitudinally mounted
engines, most often the front of the engine will point towards the front of the car, but some manufacturers
(Saab, Citroën, Renault) have at times placed the engine 'backwards', with #1 towards the firewall. One
notable car with this layout is the Citroën Traction Avant. This layout is uncommon today.

See also: Automobile layout

Cylinder numbering and firing orders for various engine layouts

In a straight engine the spark plugs (and cylinders) are numbered, starting with #1, usually from the front of
the engine to the rear.

In a radial engine the cylinders are numbered around the circle, with the #1 cylinder at the top. There are
always an odd number of cylinders in each bank, as this allows for a constant alternate cylinder firing order:
for example, with a single bank of 7 cylinders, the order would be 1-3-5-7-2-4-6. Moreover, unless there is
an odd number of cylinders, the ring cam around the nose of the engine would be unable to provide the inlet
valve open - exhaust valve open sequence required by the four-stroke cycle.

In a V engine, cylinder numbering varies among manufacturers. Generally speaking, the most forward
cylinder is numbered 1, but some manufacturers will then continue numbering along that bank first (so that
side of the engine would be 1-2-3-4, and the opposite bank would be 5-6-7-8) while others will number the
cylinders from front to back along the crankshaft, so one bank would be 1-3-5-7 and the other bank would

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be 2-4-6-8. (In this example, a V8 is assumed). To further

complicate matters, manufacturers may not have used the same
system for all of their engines. It is important to check the
numbering system used before comparing firing orders, because
the order will vary significantly with crankshaft design (see
crossplane).

As an example, the Chevrolet Small-Block engine has cylinders

1-3-5-7 on the left hand side of the car, and 2-4-6-8 on the other
side, and uses a firing order of 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.[1] Note that the
order alternates irregularly between the left and right banks; this
is what causes the 'burbling' sound of this type of engine.[2]
1-3-5-2-4 would be the firing order for this
In most Audi and Ford V8 engines cylinders 1-2-3-4 are on the 5-cylinder radial engine.
right hand side of the car, with 5-6-7-8 are on the left.

This means that GM LS V8 engines and Ford Modular V8s have

an identical firing pattern despite having a different firing order.

An exception is the Ford Flathead V8 where the number 1

cylinder is on the right front of the engine (same as other Ford
V8's) but this cylinder is not the front cylinder of the engine. In
this case number 5 is the front cylinder. A similar situation exists
with the Pontiac V8's 455 etc. where the cylinders are numbered
like a Chevrolet V8 but the right side bank is in front(like a
Ford), this puts cylinder number 2 in front of number 1.

V8
GM & GM GM
Cylinder Audi Ford
Chrysler (Northstar) (Holden)
bank
Right side
1234 1234 2468 1357 1357
of vehicle
The cylinder numbering scheme used by
Left side of
5678 5678 1357 2468 2468 some manufacturers on their V engines is
vehicle
based on "folding" the engine into an inline
type.
Odd and Even Firing Order
Firing order affects the balance, noise, vibration, smoothness, and sound of the engine.

Engines that are even-firing will sound more smooth and steady, while engines that are odd, or uneven firing
will have a burble or a throaty, growling sound in the engine note, and, depending on the crankshaft design,
will often have more vibrations due to the change of power delivery (with the exception of the Crossplane
crankshaft, which has an uneven firing order, found in most V8s and in very few Inline 4s, such as the
Yamaha YZF-R1, and due to the 90° crankshaft arrangement rather than the 180° flat-plane crank, it causes
the engine to have less vibrations than a flat-plane crank and thus no additional balance shaft is necessary).
Most racing engines such as those in Formula One often have an even firing order, mostly for quicker
acceleration, less vibrations, and more efficient exhaust system designs. Most engines that utilize the
Big-bang firing order system will often have an uneven firing order.

Examples of odd-firing engines are any crossplane V8 (such as the GM LS engine), Harley-Davidson
Evolution engines, 2009–present Yamaha YZF-R1, All Ford V10 engines, Audi V10 FSI, GM Vortec 3500
Inline 5, Viper V10, Mercedes-AMG V12s, Aston Martin 6.0L V12, Yamaha V-Max and VMAX, Buick 231

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Odd-Fire V6, and Chevrolet straight-6 engines.

Examples of even-firing engines are most current production inline 4s (with the exception of the Yamaha
R1), most current production V6s, all Ferrari production engines, Lotus Esprit V8, Porsche 918 Spyder,
McLaren M838T engine, Toyota LR engine, and all Lamborghini production engines (with the exception of
stroked Audi FSI V10 engines).

Ships
Contrary to most car engines, a ship's engine or a power plant engine is numbered from the flywheel end
towards the free end.

In ship and power plant V-type engines the numbering is A1... and B1... where the A-bank is on the left hand
side and the B-bank is on the right hand side, looking from the flywheel end.

See also
Engine configuration
Four-stroke engine
Two-stroke engine

References
1. ^ "[Link]" ([Link] Retrieved 2009-02-04.
2. ^ Reyenga, Craig. "Craig's website - V8 engines - exhaust sound" ([Link]
/v8-engines#sound). Retrieved 2009-02-04.

1997 Dakota firing order diagram

External links
Firing Orders, Cylinder Numbering and Distributor Rotation for American V8 engines
([Link]
V8 Engines ([Link] an analysis of firing orders and cylinder
numbering of V8 engines.

Retrieved from "[Link]

Categories: Engine technology

This page was last modified on 2 May 2013 at 23:52.

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