What is Flywheel And Drive Plate

Fly Wheel And Drive Plate

The power impulses in an automotive engine follow each other to provide a fairly  even flow of power. To further smooth out power flow, engine have flywheels or drive plates (on automotive transmission ). The flywheel is a large wheel bolted to the end of the crankshaft. The flywheel smooths out the flow of power by resisting any charge in its speed of rotation.

    The flywheel also serves as part of the clutch on cars with manual transmission. Also, the flywheel has teeth on its outer rim. A small pinion gear on the starting motor is operated. This spins the flywheel and the crankshaft so the engine starts. 

    On vehicles using automotive transmission, a drive plate, or "flex plate," takes the plate of the flywheel. The automatic transmission has a doughnut- shaped device called a torque converter. It is attached to the drive plate and the combustion serves the same purpose as the flywheel. Automatic transmission are covered in a later chapter.