How a Turbocharger Works. A significant difference between a turbocharged diesel engine and a traditional naturally aspirated gasoline engine is the air entering a diesel engine is compressed before the fuel is injected. This is where the turbocharger is critical to the power output and efficiency of the diesel engine.

Very simply, a turbocharger is a kind of air pump taking air at ambient pressures (atmospheric pressure), compressing to a higher pressure and passing the compressed air into the engine via the inlet valves. At the present time, turbos are used mainly on diesel engines, but there is now a move towards the turbo charging of production petrol engines.

04/12/2000 · Turbochargers are a type of forced induction system. They compress the air flowing into the engine (see How Car Engines Work for a description of airflow in a normal engine). The advantage of compressing the air is that it lets the engine squeeze more air into a cylinder, and more air means that more fuel can be added.

02/05/2019 · The way a turbo works is quite unique. Since we all know that the engine pushes out exhaust gasses when running, the gasses are forced through the natural piping from the combustion chamber and pushed into the turbine (turbo).