What is a camshaft and what is the purpose? Apparently, my mechanic says my camshaft is broken on my 2001 vw passat
by 
iolar1013
ANSWERS: 2
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a camshaft is a shaft with oblong lobes or cams on it,when it spins these lobes open and then close the intake and exaust valves,allowing fuel mixture in and exaust out.Some cars have one others have 2 camshafts,but they all do pretty much the same thing and are usually driven by a belt or a chain running off of the crankshaft.
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http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine.htm/printable Its probably easier to show you than to tell you. The above link will take you to an animated diagram. The cam is in blue at the top. Basically your engine has two rotating shafts. At the bottom is the crankshaft, which is turned by the pistons and keeps the pistons at a fixed location relative to each other. Only one piston can be at top dead center (firing position) at a time. The crankshaft ensures that they come to the top in a specific order and at a specific time. When the spark plug fires and the fuel/air mixture burns, it pushes the piston down and turns the crankshaft which in turn, turns the flywheel and the drivetrain. The camshaft is at the top of the engine and ensures that the valves open and close at the right order and time so that the fuel is there when the spark plug fires and the exhaust gets emptied and the fuel mixture reloaded for the next cycle.
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