How to Use crankshaft in a Sentence

crankshaft

noun
  • The crankshaft whipping through the oil in the oil pan causes oil to foam.
    — Paul Weissler, Popular Mechanics, 31 Aug. 2020
  • Every crankshaft has a pulley, which is held on by a bolt on the front of the engine.
    — Ray Magliozzi, courant.com, 28 July 2019
  • The crankshaft was replaced, and the exhaust tuned for flow rather than volume.
    — Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Pistons bop up and down, connecting rods sway their hips, and the crankshaft spins around.
    — Jared Gall, Car and Driver, 10 Mar. 2020
  • But a bicycle makes no noise apart from the whir of its crankshaft and the chu-chunk of its derailleurs.
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 31 Aug. 2022
  • The rest—spark plugs, crankshafts, windshields, tires and whatnot—are supplied by third parties.
    — Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 18 Aug. 2024
  • Connecting rods and pistons are forged, and both crankshaft and camshaft are made from billet steel.
    — Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 15 Dec. 2020
  • These include revisions to the valve guides as well as the crankshaft and piston main bearings.
    — Peter Jackson, Robb Report, 2 Nov. 2021
  • Each cylinder in a four-stroke engine fires once for every two rotations of the crankshaft.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 17 Sep. 2017
  • The pistons moving up and down rotate the crankshaft, which (with a few more connections) turns the wheels.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 7 July 2023
  • To quell bad vibes, a balance shaft is mounted just above the crankshaft in the M640.
    — Csaba Csere, Car and Driver, 23 Feb. 2022
  • There are no moving pistons, no rings, no crankshaft, no connecting rods or bearings.
    — Ray Magliozzi, courant.com, 9 Sep. 2019
  • If the oil is too thick, the engine requires more energy to turn the crankshaft, which is partly submerged in a bath of oil.
    — Paul Weissler, Popular Mechanics, 31 Aug. 2020
  • Without getting too deep in the weeds, a flat-plane crankshaft reduces engine weight and improves airflow.
    — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 6 Nov. 2021
  • Instead, eTorque's point of connection is at the engine's crankshaft.
    — Matthew Jancer, Popular Mechanics, 19 Sep. 2018
  • To get rotational motion, levers and crankshafts are connected to the moving combs.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Also, if the oil is too thick the engine requires more energy to turn the crankshaft, which is partly submerged in a bath of oil.
    — Timothy Dahl, Popular Mechanics, 18 Jan. 2018
  • How about a crankshaft that weighs 3400 pounds—as much as an entire Olds Cutlass?
    — Rich Ceppos, Car and Driver, 29 Apr. 2023
  • Also, if the oil is too thick, the engine requires more energy to turn the crankshaft, which is partly submerged in a bath of oil.
    — Paul Weissler, Popular Mechanics, 31 Aug. 2020
  • The distributor, fan, valve train, alternator, and oil pumps are driven from the rear of the crankshaft.
    — Car and Driver, 27 Jan. 2023
  • The dashboard also features a plaque made from the powder of the ground-up crankshaft from the race-winning GT.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 5 Oct. 2022
  • The recall sought to address a potential issue in the engine crankshaft that could lead to engine failure.
    — Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2025
  • His initial design was for a four-cylinder epicycloidal engine, in which the cylinders as well as the crankshaft rotated.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 31 May 2019
  • In addition, the camshaft and crankshaft pulleys, fuel injectors and coil packs prove that this was in fact a working power plant at one point.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 18 Jan. 2023
  • Hanging above the bar, looking for all the world like modern art, are a couple of crankshafts, a nod to the brewery's flagship beer, Krankshaft kolsch.
    — Julia Thiel, Chicago Reader, 25 Jan. 2018
  • As a result, there's less charge heating on the induction side, less restriction on the exhaust side, and more power out the crankshaft.
    — Don Sherman, Car and Driver, 8 Mar. 2023
  • In a car, an engine sits with its crankshaft parallel to the ground and (normally) mates directly to a transmission.
    — David Beard, Car and Driver, 15 Aug. 2020
  • When the automaton is activated, the crankshaft spins and the 16 cylinders move up and down.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 19 Aug. 2024
  • The system has a 48-volt battery pack and a motor generator that sends power to the crankshaft during gear changes.
    — CBS News, 22 July 2024
  • Of note, the original crankshaft, which was previously missing from the car, has been found and now comes with the vehicle, though not installed.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 3 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crankshaft.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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