In this paper, heat conduction characteristics of the cylinder block of a small 3 - cylinder, 4¬stroke gasoline engine were analyzed using the 3 - dimensional finite element method. Based on the experimental data, the engine cycle simulation was carried out in order to obtain the heat transfer coefficient and the temperature of the gas and the mean heat transfer coefficient of the coolant. Heat transfer data of the gas, which were averaged with respect to exposure time to the wall, were taken as convective boundary conditions corresponding to the operating conditions to obtain the temperature fields of the block. Finally silicon nitride(Si3N4) was taken as the material of the block liner in order to investigate its temperature distribution characteristics and compare the results with the original ones.