Every 360 degrees, cylinder #1 will hit Top Dead Center (TDC). It takes two of these 360 degree cycles to complete a combustion cycle:
- Intake Stroke; 180 degrees of the piston moving from TDC to BDC (Bottom Dead Center) with the intake valve open. In reality, the intake valve opens while the piston is approaching TDC and doesn't close 'till a few degrees ABDC (After Bottom Dead Center).
- Compression Stroke; 180 degrees where both valves are closed, after the intake stroke so there is an air-fuel charge in the cylinder, which makes the total charge more volatile.
- Power Stroke; sometime before the piston reaches TDC on the compression stroke the spark plug fires. This ignites the air/fuel charge and starts it burning. Since fuel has a relatively slow burn time, the spark plug must ignite ahead of time to allow the expanding pressure to push the piston down. The Power Stroke is the only one of the 4 strokes that harnesses energy.
- Exhaust Stroke; after the air/fuel burns, the cylinder is filled with mostly water vapor and carbon dioxide. Before starting the next cycle, the engine must get rid of these contaminants that can in no way contribute to making more power. Exhaust valve opens a few degrees BBDC on the power stroke and usually lasts a few degrees ATDC.
Essentially, a 360 degree rotation facilitates 2/4 of the functions needed to make a 4-stroke engine run. There is overlap with cam timing, valve opening and closing events, and ignition timing.
With that all said, the Cam Sensor tells the ECU if a cylinder is in the Intake/Compression/Power/Exhaust stroke. This really matters with COP and even injector timing. I hope this helps.
I completely agree with what you described! 
Statistics: Posted by AXU_BMWE84 — Wed Apr 23, 2025 2:25 am
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