Repair 7

Ford Engine Cylinder Identification

Cylinders are cut from the engine block to house the pistons and handle rapid piston movement. Ford offers 4, 6 and 8-cylinder engines of different sizes, cylinder numbering and firing order. Variations on traditional cylinder-numbering occur on front-wheel drive engines.

V8 And V6 Numbering

All Ford engines follow the same cylinder numbering system. While facing the front of a V8, starting on your left, the cylinder closest to the fan is number 1. cylinders 2, 3 and 4 follow in order. On the right side, cylinder 5 is closest to the fan and the remainder follow in order. V6 engines follow the same pattern, with only 6 cylinders.

Inline 6 and 4-Cylinder Numbering

On both inline (straight) 6-cylinder and 4-cylinder engines, when looking at the engine from the front, the cylinder closest to the fan is cylinder 1, with the remaining following in order towards the rear of the engine..

Front-Wheel Drive Numbering

Front-wheel drive engines have a side-to-side engine orientation, which changes the cylinder locations. On front-wheel drive V8s, while looking at the engine from the front, the row of cylinders nearest the windshield begin with cylinder one to the left and follow in order to the right. Cylinder 5 is on the front left-hand side, with 6, 7 and 8 going towards the right. V6 engines follow the same pattern. Ford 4-cylinder front-wheel drive engines start with cylinder 1 on the far left when facing the engine.