Firing order - wikipedia Firing order 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. For this inline - 4 engine, 1 - 3 - 4 - 2 could be a valid firing order. 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 Even and uneven firing order 6 Ships 7 See also 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 a direct ignition and the Engine Control Unit ( ECU ) or Engine Management system 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 number of cylinders firing order example 1 - 2 - 3 1 - 3 - 2 Saab two - stroke, Perodua Kancil engine BMW K75 engine, Subaru Justy engine 1 - 3 - 4 - 2 1 - 2 - 4 - 3 1 - 3 - 2 - 4 1 - 4 - 3 - 2 Most straight - 4s, Ford Taunus V4 engine Some British Ford and Riley engines, Ford Kent engine, Riley Nine Subaru 4 - cylinder engines, Yamaha R1 crossplane Volkswagen air - cooled engine 5 1 - 2 - 4 - 5 - 3 1 - 3 - 5 - 4 - 2 Straight - five engine, Volvo 850, Audi 100 GM Atlas engine 6 1 - 5 - 3 - 6 - 2 - 4 1 - 4 - 3 - 6 - 2 - 5 1 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 1 - 4 - 2 - 5 - 3 - 6 1 - 4 - 5 - 2 - 3 - 6 1 - 6 - 3 - 2 - 5 - 4 1 - 6 - 2 - 4 - 3 - 5 1 - 6 - 2 - 5 - 3 - 4 1 - 4 - 2 - 6 - 3 - 5 Mercedes - Benz M104 engine, Maserati 3500 GT I6, Volkswagen VR6 engine, Opel Omega A, Nissan L Engine, Chrysler_Slant - 6_engine Mercedes - Benz M272 engine, Volkswagen V6 's ( both engines are 90 - degree V6 's ) GM 3800 engine, Rover KV6 engine General Motors 60 ° V6 engine, Mazda JE 3.0 litre 60 - degree V6 engine, Chrysler Pentastar engine, Ford Cologne V6 engine, Ford Essex V6 engine ( UK ) Chevrolet Corvair Subaru Alcyone / XT - 6 / Vortex ER - 27 Flat - 6 Porsche Boxster Flat - 6 Maserati Quattroporte IV V6 - 4AC - 24 Toyota HZ engine 7 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 2 - 4 - 6 7 - cylinder single row radial engine 8 1 - 8 - 7 - 3 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 2 1 - 8 - 7 - 2 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 1 - 8 - 4 - 3 - 6 - 5 - 7 - 2 1 - 6 - 2 - 5 - 8 - 3 - 7 - 4 1 - 5 - 6 - 3 - 4 - 2 - 7 - 8 1 - 5 - 4 - 8 - 7 - 2 - 6 - 3 1 - 5 - 4 - 8 - 6 - 3 - 7 - 2 1 - 5 - 4 - 2 - 6 - 3 - 7 - 8 1 - 5 - 3 - 7 - 4 - 8 - 2 - 6 1 - 3 - 7 - 2 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 8 1 - 2 - 7 - 8 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 3 1 - 2 - 7 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 8 Nissan VK engine GM LS engine, Toyota UZ engine Chrysler and Dodge V8s, Chevrolet Small - Block engine, Pontiac, Rover V8 Straight - 8 Cadillac V8 engine 368, 425, 472, 500 only BMW S65 Ford Modular 5.0, Ford Flathead, Bentley L410 V8 ( from 1959 to 1986 ) Ford Small Block 221 / 255 / 260 / 289 / 302, FE Series 352 / 360 / 390 / 406 / 410 / 427 / 428, 385 Series Big Block 429 / 460 Ferrari V8 's, ( all are flat - plane crank ) Porsche 928, Ford Modular V - 8, 351 Windsor, 5.0 H.O., 335 series ( 351C / 351M / 400M ), Bentley L410 V8 ( from 1987 to present ) Holden V8 Cadillac Northstar Engine 9 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 9 - 2 - 4 - 6 - 8 9 - cylinder single row radial engine Lycoming R - 680 - 13 engine 10 1 - 10 - 9 - 4 - 3 - 6 - 5 - 8 - 7 - 2 1 - 6 - 5 - 10 - 2 - 7 - 3 - 8 - 4 - 9 1 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 10 - 9 - 2 Dodge Viper V10 BMW S85, Ford V10 Isuzu 10PE1 12 1 - 7 - 5 - 11 - 3 - 9 - 6 - 12 - 2 - 8 - 4 - 10 1 - 7 - 4 - 10 - 2 - 8 - 6 - 12 - 3 - 9 - 5 - 11 1 - 4 - 9 - 8 - 5 - 2 - 11 - 10 - 3 - 6 - 7 - 12 1 - 12 - 5 - 8 - 3 - 10 - 6 - 7 - 2 - 11 - 4 - 9 1, 12, 7, 6, 3, 10, 11, 2, 5, 8, 9, 4 1, 12, 4, 9, 2, 11, 6, 7, 3, 10, 5, 8 2001 Ferrari 456M GT V12 1997 Lamborghini Diablo VT Caterpillar Inc. 3412E Audi VW Bentley W12 engine Rolls - Royce Merlin 2011 Lamborghini Aventador 14 1L - 1R - 2L - 2R - 4L - 4R - 6L - 6R - 7L - 7R - 5L - 5R - 3L - 3R ( Wärtsilä ) - Sulzer 14ZV40 / 48 V14 marine diesel 16 1 - 12 - 8 - 11 - 7 - 14 - 5 - 16 - 4 - 15 - 3 - 10 - 6 - 9 - 2 - 13 2003 Cadillac V16 engine 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. Saab B engine, `` firing order 1342 '' marked on inlet manifold. # 1 is towards the firewall ( right side of picture ). 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 the front of the engine at the left - hand side of the car. 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. 1 - 3 - 5 - 2 - 4 would be the firing order for this 5 - cylinder radial engine. 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. The cylinder numbering scheme used by some manufacturers on their V engines is based on `` folding '' the engine into an inline type. 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 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. Note that the order alternates irregularly between the left and right banks ; this is what causes the ' burbling ' sound of this type of engine. In most Audi and Ford V8 engines cylinders 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 are on the right hand side of the car, with 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 are on the left. Likewise, the firing pattern is the same for Chevrolet & Chrysler V8 engines with a firing order of 1 - 8 - 4 - 3 - 6 - 5 - 7 - 2, and for Ford 's V8 engines with a firing order of 1 - 5 - 4 - 2 - 6 - 3 - 7 - 8. 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 Cylinder bank Ferrari Audi Ford GM & Chrysler GM ( Northstar ) GM ( Holden ) Porsche Right side of vehicle 4321 1234 1234 2468 1357 1357 1234 Left side of vehicle 5678 5678 5678 1357 2468 2468 5678 Even and uneven firing order Firing order affects the balance, noise, vibration, smoothness, cooling, and sound of the engine. Evenly spaced firing order ( also called even firing order or even firing interval ) means that the angle between each firing is equal. In four - stroke engines this requires a firing interval of 720 ° divided by the number of cylinders. On the other hand, engines with unevenly spaced firing order ( sometimes called odd firing order ) not all angles between firings are equal, for example a six - cylinder engine with unevenly spaced firing order can have a combination of 90 ° and 150 ° firing intervals compared to a six - cylinder engine with even firing order which must have 720 ° / 6 = 120 ° firing interval. 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 unevenness of power delivery. Most racing engines such as those in Formula One often have even firing intervals in all or the most part ( e.g. within each bank of a V - engine ) of their firing order, mostly for easier packaging of performance exhaust systems. Engines that employ some variation on the Big - bang firing order theme will often have an uneven firing order, because the torque pulses arising from the second order kinetic imbalance of a traditional inline four have a worse effect on rear wheel traction than uneven power delivery as RPM increases. Examples of odd - firing engines are Harley - Davidson Evolution engines and most 4 - stroke V - Twins, 2009 -- 2014 Yamaha YZF - R1, Audi V10 FSI as used in the Audi R8 V10 and 2nd / 3rd generation Lamborghini Gallardo, Viper V10, Yamaha V - Max and VMAX, Buick 231 Odd - Fire V6. Examples of even - firing engines are Honda NSR500V and most 2 - stroke V - Twins, most current production inline 4s ( with the exception of the Yamaha R1 ), most current production V6s, Lotus Esprit V8, Porsche 918 Spyder, McLaren M838T engine, Audi V10, 1st generation Lamborghini Gallardo and Toyota LR engine. Ships Contrary to most car engines, a ship 's main engines and auxiliaries are numbered starting from the power output, or reversing clutch, towards the other free end of the block. Large diesel truck and loco engines, particularly of European manufacture, may also be numbered this way. Individual cylinder numbers will usually be stamped or cast on the side of the block. 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 Jump up ^ `` Toyota 1HD 1HZ 1PZ_Engine Service Manual '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2016 - 05 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Boxwrench.net ''. Retrieved 2009 - 02 - 04. Jump up ^ Reyenga, Craig. `` Craig 's website - V8 engines - exhaust sound ''. Retrieved 2009 - 02 - 04. 1997 Dakota firing order diagram External links Firing Orders, Cylinder Numbering and Distributor Rotation for American V8 engines V8 Engines, an analysis of firing orders and cylinder numbering of V8 engines. Firing order of cylinders Automotive engine Part of the Automobile series Basic terminology Bore Compression ratio Crank Cylinder Dead centre Diesel engine Dry sump Engine balance Engine configuration Engine displacement Engine knocking Firing order Hydrolock Petrol engine Power band Redline Spark - ignition engine Stroke Stroke ratio Wet sump Main components Connecting rod Crankcase Crankpin Crankshaft Crossplane Cylinder bank Cylinder block Cylinder head ( crossflow, reverse - flow ) Flywheel Head gasket Hypereutectic piston Main bearing Piston Piston ring Starter ring gear Sump Valvetrain Cam Cam follower Camshaft Desmodromic valve Hydraulic tappet Multi-valve Overhead camshaft Overhead valve Pneumatic valve springs Poppet valve Pushrod Rocker arm Sleeve valve Tappet Timing belt Timing mark Valve float Variable valve timing Aspiration Air filter Blowoff valve Boost controller Butterfly valve Centrifugal - type supercharger Cold air intake Dump valve Electronic throttle control Forced induction Inlet manifold Intake Intercooler Manifold vacuum Naturally aspirated engine Ram - air intake Scroll - type supercharger Short ram air intake Supercharger Throttle Throttle body Turbocharger Twin - turbo Variable - geometry turbocharger Variable - length intake manifold Warm air intake Fuel system Carburetor Common rail Direct injection Fuel filter Fuel injection Fuel pump Fuel tank Gasoline direct injection Indirect injection Injection pump Lean - burn Stratified charge engine Turbo fuel stratified injection Unit injector Ignition Contact breaker Magneto Distributor Electrical ballast High tension leads Ignition coil Spark plug Wasted spark Electrics and engine management Air -- fuel ratio meter Alternator Automatic Performance Control Car battery ( lead -- acid battery ) Crankshaft position sensor Dynamo Drive by wire Electronic control unit Engine control unit Engine coolant temperature sensor Glow plug Idle air control actuator MAP sensor Mass flow sensor Oxygen sensor Starter motor Throttle position sensor Exhaust system Automobile emissions control Catalytic converter Diesel particulate filter Exhaust manifold Glasspack Muffler Engine cooling Air cooling Antifreeze ( ethylene glycol ) Core plug Electric fan Fan belt Radiator Thermostat Water cooling Viscous fan ( fan clutch ) Other components Balance shaft Block heater Combustion chamber Cylinder head porting Gasket Motor oil Oil filter Oil pump Oil sludge PCV valve Seal Synthetic oil Underdrive pulleys Portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Firing_order&oldid=827743572 '' Categories : Engine technology Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español Italiano 日本 語 Svenska 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 26 February 2018, at 13 : 48. 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Question: where is the number 6 cylinder on a ford v8
Answer: on the left