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Camshafts from a DOHC Engine
Camshafts from a DOHC Engine
Camshaft: The valves are opened and closed by means of a camshaft.

A camshaft is a rotating shaft that has individual lobes for each valve. The lobe is a "bump" on one side of the shaft that pushes against a valve lifter moving it up and down. When the lobe pushes against the lifter, the lifter in turn pushes the valve open. When the lobe rotates away from the lifter, the valve is closed by a spring that is attached to the valve. Most engines have one camshaft located in the engine block with the lifters connecting to the valves through a series of linkages.
The camshaft must be synchronized with the Crankshaft so that it makes one revolution for every two revolutions of the crankshaft. In most engines, this is done by a "Timing Chain" that connect the camshaft with the crankshaft. Newer engines have the camshaft located in the cylinder head directly over the valves. This design is more efficient but it is more costly to manufacture and requires multiple camshafts on Flat and V-type engines. It also requires much longer timing chains or timing belts which are prone to wear. Some engines have two camshafts on each head, one for the intake valves and one for the exhaust valves. These engines are called Double Overhead Camshaft (D.O.H.C.) Engines while the other type is called Single Overhead Camshaft (S.O.H.C.) Engines.
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