Crankcase

In an internal combustion engine of the reciprocating type, the crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below the cylinder(s), which in a multicylinder engine are usually integrated into one or several cylinder blocks. Crankcases have often been discrete parts, but more often they are integral with the cylinder bank(s), forming an engine block. Nevertheless, the area around the crankshaft is still usually called the crankcase. Crankcases and other basic engine structural components (e.g., cylinders, cylinder blocks, cylinder heads, and integrated combinations thereof) are typically made of cast iron or cast aluminium via sand casting. Today the foundry processes are usually highly automated, with a few skilled workers to manage the casting of thousands of parts.

A crankcase often has an opening in the bottom to which an oil pan is attached with a gasketed bolted joint. Some crankcase designs fully surround the crank's main bearing journals, whereas many others form only one half, with a bearing cap forming the other. Some crankcase areas require no structural strength from the oil pan itself (in which case the oil pan is typically stamped from sheet steel), whereas other crankcase designs do (in which case the oil pan is a casting in its own right). Both the crankcase and any rigid cast oil pan often have reinforcing ribs cast into them, as well as bosses which are drilled and tapped to receive mounting screws/bolts for various other engine parts.

Besides protecting the crankshaft and connecting rods from foreign objects, the crankcase serves other functions, depending on engine type. These include keeping the motor oil contained, usually hermetically or nearly hermetically (and in the hermetic variety, allowing the oil to be pressurized); providing the rigid structure with which to join the engine to the transmission; and in some cases, even constituting part of the frame of the vehicle (such as in many farm tractors).