IOE engine

Yale IOE engine from 1911

The intake/inlet over exhaust, or "IOE" engine, known in the US as F-head, is a four-stroke internal combustion engine whose valvetrain comprises OHV inlet valves within the cylinder head and exhaust side-valves within the engine block.[1]

IOE engines were widely used in early motorcycles, initially with the inlet valve being operated by engine suction instead of a cam-activated valvetrain. When the suction-operated inlet valves reached their limits as engine speeds increased, the manufacturers modified the designs by adding a mechanical valvetrain for the inlet valve. A few automobile manufacturers, including Willys, Rolls-Royce and Humber also made IOE engines for both cars and military vehicles. Rover manufactured inline four and six cylinder engines with a particularly efficient version of the IOE induction system.

A few designs with the reverse system, exhaust over inlet (EOI), have been manufactured, such as the Ford Quadricycle of 1896.

  1. ^ V.A.W Hillier: Fundamentals of Motor Vehicle Technology, 4th edition, Standly Thornes, Cheltenham 1991, ISBN 9780748705313, p. 39+40

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