Four-stroking
Four-stroking is what happens when something called a spark ignition engine isn't working quite right. You know how you breathe in and out? Well, an engine needs to do that too. There are four things it needs to do to work right: suck in air and fuel, squash it up real tight, set it on fire, and blow it out so it can start over again.
But sometimes, the engine isn't doing all those things in the right order. It might suck in too much air and fuel but not squash it up enough, so it can't really get the fire going. This is called four-stroking because the engine is only doing two out of the four things it's supposed to do.
If you're not sure how to tell if an engine is four-stroking or not, you can listen to the sound it's making. When an engine is running smoothly, it has a nice, steady hum to it. But if it's four-stroking, it might sound like it's going UPupUPupUPup instead of just humming along.
It's kind of like when you're riding your bike and you're trying to go up a really big hill. If you're not pedaling fast enough, your bike might start going upUPupUPup instead of just rolling smoothly. So basically, when an engine is four-stroking, it's like it's trying to go up a hill but it can't quite make it over the top.
But sometimes, the engine isn't doing all those things in the right order. It might suck in too much air and fuel but not squash it up enough, so it can't really get the fire going. This is called four-stroking because the engine is only doing two out of the four things it's supposed to do.
If you're not sure how to tell if an engine is four-stroking or not, you can listen to the sound it's making. When an engine is running smoothly, it has a nice, steady hum to it. But if it's four-stroking, it might sound like it's going UPupUPupUPup instead of just humming along.
It's kind of like when you're riding your bike and you're trying to go up a really big hill. If you're not pedaling fast enough, your bike might start going upUPupUPup instead of just rolling smoothly. So basically, when an engine is four-stroking, it's like it's trying to go up a hill but it can't quite make it over the top.