i have 2 questions

My first question is..where exactly does oil flow in your engine? I dont understand that when you fill your engine with oil you pour it into the valve cover..wouldnt this eventually leak through the valves and into the pistons? Where does it go when you pour it in? Also what do piston rings do?

thanks in advance

Well, if the oil was confined to the space above the head, it would likely get past the valve seals sooner or later... Luckily it's not trapped up there.

The precise oil flow path in your engine will depend on the specifics of the design, but the following statements are true for a variety of passenger car engines:

* the area above the head (immediately under the valve cover) has drain holes that allow oil to flow to the sump (bottom of oil pan, bottom of engine)
* the oil pump picks up oil from the sump and sends it through the oil filter
* the oil leaving the oil filter travels through an oil gallery and exits at several key locations, such as the crankshaft main bearing breakouts
* oil is carried through drillings in the crankshaft to the conrod big end bearings
* oil is either squirted or splashed onto the cylinder walls
* oil is transferred via the oil gallery or via the pushrods to the top of the engine (where you poured it in)

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piston rings peform several functions, the most important of which are:
* they seal the combustion gases in the chamber
* they keep oil from traveling up the liner and into the chamber

On many passenger car engines, each piston has 3 rings. Two of the rings are compression rings, and one (the lowest) is called an oil control ring. The top two rings perform both of the aforementioned tasks, while the bottom one just scrapes oil off of the liner and sends it back down into the crankcase.

try the following link for more info on both subjects:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/engine2.htm