DICTIONARY OF AUTOMOTIVE TERMS - "Ad"

Ad

An abbreviation for a classified advertisement

A/D

Acronym for Analog to Digital Converter

Adapter (Also spelled adaptor)

1. A device used to connect two different types or sizes of electrical terminals
2. A Connector which links two items usually of dissimilar structure or size.
3. A Bracket on Disc brakes on which the Caliper mounts, or slides or floats. Bolted to the Spindle or Steering knuckle, or the Rear axle or Control arm.

Also See
Bit adapter
Caliper mounting bracket
Carburetor adapter
Engine adapter
Increasing adapter
Ratchet adapter
Reducing adapter
Transmission adapter
Wheel adapter

Adapter carburetor

A device attached to a gasoline carburetor which permits an internal combustion engine to run either on gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LP gas).

Adapter Controller Module

See
Digital Ratio Adapter Controller Module

Adapter plate

A flat piece of material which is placed between two different parts in order to join them.

Also See
Transfer plate

Adaptive control

1. A control device which learns from repeated input so that under particular circumstances the control gives the learned response.
2. The ability of a control unit to adapt its closed-loop operation to changing operating conditions, such as engine wear, fuel quality or altitude, to maintain proper air-fuel mixture control, ignition timing or idle rpm. Also referred to as self-learning

Adaptor

See
Adapter

Adcock antenna

A directional antenna with pairs of vertical wires used for direction finding.

A/D converter

Circuitry to convert analog information into numeric form for use in a digital computer

Addition agent

A substance added to the electrolyte in an electrodeposition process to improve the formed deposit

Additive

A substance (liquid or powder) which is added to Gasoline or oil and is intended to improve the characteristics of the original product.

Also See
Anti-knock additive
Fuel additive
Oil additive

Add-on

An accessory.

ADEFA

Acronym for Asociacion de Fabricas de Automotores (Argentina).

ADF

Acronym for Automatic direction finding.

Adhere

To stick or be glued to something. Opposite to Abhere

Adherend

1. Each surface that is to stick to another
2. A material which is stuck together by an adhesive.

Adhesion

1. The force which causes two surfaces to stick together
2. The sticking together of surfaces in contact with each other
3. The bonding of materials with adhesives (glues, cements, binders, etc), in which the intermolecular forces between Adhesive and Adherend provide the bonds.
4. The sticking together of two metals as a result of compressing them together
5. The sticking together of two dissimilar metals because of electrical transference of electrons.
6. The ability of paint, Primer, or glue to stick to the surface to which it is applied.
7. The ability of a tire to grip the surface of the road.
8. Mutual forces between two magnetic bodies linked by magnetic flux, or between two charged non-conducting bodies which keeps them in contact
9. Intermolecular forces which hold matter together, particularly closely contiguous surfaces of neighboring media, e.g., liquid in contact with a solid.

Also See
Intercoat adhesion failure
Limits of adhesion

Adhesion failure

See
Intercoat adhesion failure

Adhesive

1. A substance (like glue) that is used to join two substances. An adhesive must bond both mating surfaces through specific adhesion (molecular attraction), through mechanical anchoring (by flowing into holes in porous surfaces), or through fusion (partial solution of both surfaces in the adhesive or its solvent vehicle). Various descriptive adjectives are used with the term adhesive to indicate types, such as

   a. physical form

   Liquid adhesive, film adhesive, etc.

   b. composition

   Resin adhesive, rubber adhesive, silicone based, mastic, etc.

   c. end use

   Metal-to-metal adhesive, plastic adhesive, rubber adhesive

   d. application

   Sprayable adhesive, hot melt adhesive, etc.

2. Agent for joining materials by adhesion, usually polymeric material. May be based on thermoplastic resin (e.g., polystyrene cement) or thermoset (e.g., epoxy resin). Viscosity is important for gap filling (high, as in epoxies) or surface penetration (low, as in cyano-acrylates). Also called binder, cement, or glue

Also See
Adhesive film
Automotive adhesive
Air drying adhesives
Epoxy Adhesive
Heat Curing Adhesives
Impact adhesive
Pressure Sensitive Adhesive
Separate-application adhesive
Silicone Adhesives

Adhesive bonding

The union of two materials with some chemical adhesive between them

Adhesive film

A thin layer of dried Adhesive. Also describes a class of adhesives provided in dry film form with or without reinforcing fabric and which are cured by means of heat and pressure

Adhesive tape

A tape with a sticky substance on one side. It usually comes in a roll of various widths. Sometimes used to insulate electrical wires (e.g., electrical tape) or to wrap a larger object (e.g., duct tape). Often the non-sticky side is shiny (but not always) to distinguish it from the sticky side.

Adhesive weight

Lead wheel weights which have a sticky backing. It comes in strips and is applied to a wheel rim to balance a wheel. Also called tape weight..

Adiabatic

A property of being able to maintain heat evenly. It does not gain any heat or lose it.

Also See
Thermal efficiency

Adiabatic change

Without changing the temperature of an enclosure or its surroundings, there is a change in the volume and pressure of the contents of the enclosure.

Adiabatic compression

Compressing refrigerant gas without removing or adding heat.

Adiabatic efficiency

The ratio of that work required to compress a gas adiabatically to the work actually done by the compressor piston or impeller.

Adiabatic engine

An engine which is very efficient in transferring combustion heat to those parts of the engine which are being cooled by the flow of anti-freeze coolant -- thus maintaining an even temperature of the engine. In this way the engine is warm enough for efficient running and it does not overheat.

ADJ

See
OCT ADJ

Adjust

The action of putting something into its proper alignment or position. It may involve one component (e.g., He adjusted the gasket to fit properly.) or a series of components (e.g., He adjusted the poor idle -- might mean he set the ignition timing, adjusted the carburetor screws, changed the choke setting, cleaned or replaced the spark plugs, etc.)

Also See
Tweak

Adjustable

A characteristic of something that can be changed, removed, or give different properties.

Also see
Height adjustable steering column

Adjustable bottom bracket

1. A component of a bicycle through which the crank fits. It has two bearing cups on either side. One cup is fixed in place while the other is removable or adjustable.
2. This is the older type of Bottom bracket before sealed cartridge bottom brackets became prevalent. The adjustable bottom bracket requires fixed and adjustable cup tools to properly tension the bearings. The bearings are not sealed, but they're easily accessible for cleaning and lubrication.

Adjustable cup

The left-hand Cup in a Bottom bracket of a Bicycle, used in adjusting the Bottom bracket bearings and removed during Bottom bracket Overhaul. The other cup is the Fixed cup.

Adjustable off-idle air bleed

Some emissions-era Rochester carburetors have a separate air passage to bleed air past an adjustment screw into the idle system. This screw is preset by the factory to produce precise off-idle air/fuel mixture ratios to meet emission-control requirements.

Adjustable part throttle

(APT) a supplementary circuit on some carburetors that can be adjusted to control part-throttle mixtures more accurately than a fixed orifice. The APT detours around the main jet, going directly from the float bowl to the discharge nozzle feed well.

Adjustable-pitch propeller

See
Propeller

Adjustable-port proportioning valve

Air and fuel valves for oil or gas burners, motor operated in unison by automatic temperature-control equipment.

Adjustable rocker arm

A type of rocker arm with an adjusting nut that can be tightened or loosened to adjust valve lash.

Adjustable shock

See
Adjustable shocks

Adjustable shock absorbers

Shocks with adjustable jounce and rebound characteristics can be stiffened to compensate for wear or to fine tune a suspension for a particular application such as rough roads, heavy loads, or racing.

Adjustable shocks

Click to supersize
Adjustable shock absorber

A type of Shock absorber which can compensate for varying needs of stiffness or softness. Manual types (especially on motorcycles) require that you physically make the adjustment from one Level to another by rotating securing rings. Automatic types are controlled by a Computer as it senses particular changes in road condition.

Adjustable spanner

British term for Adjustable wrench.

Adjustable speed drives

Drives that save energy by ensuring the electric motor's speed is properly matched to the load placed on the motor. Terms used to describe this category include Polyphase motors, motor oversizing, and motor rewinding.

Adjustable steering

See
Height adjustable steering column

Adjustable steering column

See
Height adjustable steering column

Adjustable variable exhaust port

A device used on Two-stroke engines which automatically alters or varies the Exhaust port size.

Adjustable wrench

A Crescent wrench or Pipe wrench. A tool which has a fixed jaw and a movable jaw which is controlled by a spiral gear. It is used to install or remove bolts and nuts of various sizes. The wrench itself comes in a variety of lengths and jaw sizes. A crescent wrench has smooth jaws while a pipe wrench has serrated jaws. British term is adjustable spanner

Adjusted

See
Factory adjusted

Adjusted electricity

A measurement of electricity that includes the approximate amount of energy used to generate electricity. To approximate the adjusted amount of electricity, the site-value of the electricity is multiplied by a factor of 3. This conversion factor of 3 is a rough approximation of the Btu value of raw fuels used to generate electricity in a steam-generation power plant.

Adjuster

A device for moving something into the correct position or into a different position -- usually a better position.

Also See
Automatic adjuster
Automatic wear adjuster
Brake adjuster
Horizontal adjuster
Inter-cable Adjuster
Jet adjuster
Manual Adjuster
Ride-height adjuster
Seat adjuster
Slack Adjuster
Snail-cam Chain Adjuster
Star-wheel Adjuster

Adjuster cam

A device for moving the shoes on drum brakes closer to the drum itself so that there is less travel when the brakes are applied.

Adjuster mechanism

A mechanism used with Drum brakes that maintains the proper Lining clearance as wear takes place.

Adjusting

See
Electrode adjusting tool
Headlight adjusting screw
Self-adjusting

Adjusting cams

Eccentric bolts that adjust the shoe-to-drum clearance. Located in the Backing plate of Drum brakes, the cam positions the shoe(s) closer to the drum. Some adjust automatically and some manually.

Adjusting gage

See
Adjusting gauge

Adjusting gauge

A tool used to determine the small distance between two parts so that they can be brought within specifications.

Adjusting screw

A small screw usually found on carburetors, brakes, or headlights which change the way something operates, such as increasing or decreasing the amount of fuel entering the engine; or changing the idle speed; or tightening up the brakes; or changing the setting on rocker arms; or the level of the headlights.

Also see
Headlight adjusting screw
Valve adjusting screw

Adjusting shim

A thin washer or plate which reduces or increases the clearance between two components (depending upon where they are placed). While some valves are adjusted by screws on the rocker arm, others are set by inserting a shim to make the same adjustment.

Adjusting sleeve

A small threaded cylinder on the end of the tie rod which shortens or lengthens the rod to make changes in the Toe-in and Toe-out.

Adjusting spanner

See
Brake adjusting spanner

Adjusting tool

See
Brake adjusting wrench
Electrode adjusting tool

Adjusting wrench

See
Brake adjusting wrench

Adjustment

1. Changing or modifying the position or alignment of two components.
2. The distance of travel that a component has.

Also See
Fore and aft adjustment
Idle mixture screw
Idle speed adjustment

Adjustment Factor

See
Reactivity Adjustment Factor

Adjustment screw

See
Idle mixture screw

Adler

The brand name of a vehicle. With required application the 1925-48 models are Classic cars.

Admiralty brass

See Tobin bronze

Admission

The point in the working cycles of a steam or internal-combustion engine at which the intake valve allows entry of the working fluid into the cylinder.

A-dos

See
Dos-a-dos

A-drier

See
A-dryer

A-dryer

A paint dryer which has the heating elements below the paint drying line.

ADS

1. Acronym for Association of Diesel Specialists.
2. Acronym for Air data system

Adsorbent

Substance with the property to hold molecules of fluids without causing a chemical or physical change.

Adsorption

The bonding that takes place when a gas or vapor comes into contact with a solid. The opposite is Desorption.

Adsorption canister

See
Activated carbon canister

ADU

Acronym for Analog-Digital Unit

Advance

1. The act of changing the Ignition timing so that the Spark occurs earlier in the cycle. The opposite is Retard.
2. It may refer to the device which makes this adjustment.
3. The length of railway track beyond a signal which is covered by that signal

Also See
Angle of advance
Automatic advance
Centrifugal advance
Electronic spark advance
Ignition advance
Ported vacuum advance
Spark advance
Speed control vacuum advance
Vacuum advance

Advance capsule

See
Vacuum advance

Advance Control

See
Orifice Spark Advance Control

Advance curve

As the speed of the engine increases the ignition advance also increases. On paper, a pattern is drawn as a curve to represent this relationship.

Advanced

1. A condition in which something occurs early.
2. A product which is on the cutting edge of technology and shows the latest in new ideas and concepts.

Advanced rim taper

A rim where both bead seats are tapered 5°.

Advance mechanism

See
Vacuum advance

Advance spring

Advance spring

Located in the Distributor, one of two small springs which pulls the advance weight back as the engine slows down.

Advance System

See
Fuel Advance System

Advance unit

See
Vacuum advance

Advance weight

Advance weight

One of two small weights located in a centrifugal advance assembly of a distributor.

Advantage

See
Mechanical Advantage

Advertising

A colloquial term for a police car with its emergency lights flashing.