How it Works! Welcome to Auto 101

marsha7

performed at 3 different Goodyear shops and all of them hand torque the lugnuts as SOP...

littlewonder

I parked my 2002 mini cooper on a friend's driveway tonite (manual transmission) and an hour later when I went to back out it wouldn't let me back it out. It goes into gear fine but when I hit the gas and try to move it act as if the emergency brake is still engaged. I called a tow truck and he came out but wouldn't put it up on the flatbed because he said the rear wheels are locked up and he is afraid to damage the car by pulling it (dragging it). He said it would be too much pressure on the eyehook thingy that they hook the chain up to inorder to hoist the car onto the truck. So alas the car is still sitting in the driveway. Any ideas/suggestions as to what I should do?

Mr_Shiftright

Well they could tow it on a dolly. Either that cable has stuck or the brake master cylinder refuses to release pressure. I suppose you could crack open a brake line, but before I did that I'd jack up each wheel individually and see if TWO are locker or all four. If it's TWO is probably the emergency brake and if it's FOUR it's probably the master cylinder.

bolivar

Another possibility - Is it super cold there? Did you drive thru some water just before parking? Has it continued super cold? Did you set the park brake?

If so, the brakes and/or the park brake cable or levers might have physically frozen in place. Water might have gotten into the calipers and frozen the pads/shoes compressed onto the rotor/drum.

This is only a slight possibility, but I have seen it happen.

british_rover

I had that happen on my 2004 MINI Cooper S when I left it parked for a few weeks without driving it. I just figured it was rust build up from not driving it. I just reved it up and drove backwards till the pads freed themselves from the rotors.

I am not necessarily recomending you trying that as your problems sounds more unique being that you were only parked an hour and not four weeks...

I would try and jack up each wheel indvidual and see exactly which one is frozen and which isn't.

If it is just one wheel then possibly jacking up that wheel, putting chocks under the other wheels and gently tapping the rim with a plastic/rubber mallet might free the pad from the rotor.

If it has been really cold then maybe there is ice so spraying warm water on the pads/rotors might be good.

littlewonder

Actually it has been really warm here in New Jersey,about 55 degrees, and no rain to speak of lately, just a sprinkling. I tried backing it up and it fought me tremendously, as if I were trying to force it over a log, so I stopped.

Mr_Shiftright

Ii wouldn't try to force it any more. Why don't you try this--get in and hit the brake pedal vigorously 5 or ten times.

littlewonder

Well, after having the Mini dealer tow my baby for a whopping $125, the problem was ascertained to be a loose bolt that holds the caliper in place.

Mr_Shiftright

That's kind of scary. I trust they checked the bolts on the other calipers? I sure would.

So I guess one wheel jammed because the caliper, being loose, "cocked" into a weird position?

I dunno---the explanation sounds a bit odd, but they were there and I wasn't.

Call them and ask if other bolts were checked.

british_rover

Yeah that sounds kind of odd.

Did you have any brake work done recently?

liarose

Hi, I am having a similar problem, however it has been very cold the last couple of days( below 10degrees) when this problem started. My rear drivers side brake seems to be stuck, the wheel is turning but after driving a short way I smell something burning, could my brake line be frozen, or the emergency brake? any suggestions? thanks?

Mr_Shiftright

How old is this car? Has the brake fluid been flushed out within the past 2 to 3 years?

liarose

The is a 99 audi A4 wagon, I had the front brakes done last march.

jipster

Infinite number of gears? How exactly does this work?. Seems to be popular in last couple years... reliablity been an issue? Pluses/minuses? Thanks.

teresita

Honestly, I've been driving a manual transmission for 20 years. Last week I had to get a new "gear plate" on my 2002 VW GTI, which has only 36k miles on it. Service tech said it was way too soon for me to be getting this repair at 36k. That I am probably not shifting correctly, riding clutch, etc.
I thought I knew how to drive a stick shift.
Now, I'm not so sure.
There are many tutorials online, but they are for reading, and I find them hard to follow.
Does anyone know where I can get a videotape that clearly shows how to drive a manual transmission??
I don't want to have to go through that expense ($1,500!)
for a long time.
thanks

Mr_Shiftright

Well unless you are crunching the gear box all day every day (do you do that?) or shifting without the clutch pedal in, I don't see how you can ruin a gearbox just by being a little less skillful in shifting than the average person. It would be much easier to ruin a clutch by a lack of skill, since with a clutch you may not realize you are damaging it. But a gearbox is comprised of very tough hardened steel gears, and if you are ruining a gearbox it's going to protest to you with very loud, dramatic noises of gear crushing together and screaming in protest.

I think VW may be blaming the victim here, but I don't know...I can't see you drive....

teresita

No, I don't crunch the gear box all day at all,
and I DO shift with the pedal in. Like I said, I really thought I knew how to drive a stick.
I'm not sure if it's the "gear box" as you call it.

What they replaced looks like a plate. It is a round metal plate made of steel, I guess. And they did show me the one that they took out, and compared it to a new one. The old one was scratched, whereas the new one had a rough black surface.
I don't think this VW dealer is dishonest. They are good people, and they DID show me the old one compared to the new one.
Anyway, I still want to know if there is a video out there that shows how to drive a manual correctly.
Does anyone know?
te

Mr_Shiftright

Oh you must mean the pressure plate or the clutch plate. Okay, so you burned out a clutch.

Well okay, maybe you could have better driving habits.

Here are some good ways to kill a clutch. See if you have any of these bad habits.

1. Holding a car on a hill, say at a light, by working the clutch pedal in and out.

2. Resting your foot on the clutch pedal while the car is moving but you are no longer shifting....so your foot is resting while you are waiting to shift....your foot keeps constant light pressure on the clutch pedal.

3. "Lugging" the engine by a combination of too high a gear (like 4th or 5th) and too low a speed. The engine starts to chug and THEN you downshift after this warning.

4. Downshifting to brake the car at traffic lights on level ground.

5. Slipping the clutch to get out of snow or icey parking spaces.

So what's your score?

teresita

Okay, I am guilty of #2 -- maybe a little. I am aware that this is not a good thing to do, so I try not to do it.
Still, there are times when it just can't be avoided, like when you're making a turn, or slowing down ....
and also guilty of #3. But again, it's not like I do it EVERY day.

The others I don't do at all.
But I'll work on #2 and #3 from now on.
Still, I wish I could observe someone who really knows how to drive a manual transmission.

bolivar

1)It's a VW. They are known to be high maintenance vehicles.

2)A 5 year old car with 36,000 miles. If the majority of these miles where driven in city traffic, with a lot of stop-and-go, then 36,000 miles is about the expected, and accepted milage for a clutch/pressure plate. Therefore, nothing is wrong with your driving techniques.

Next to last manual car I had needed a clutch at about 36 or 40,000 miles. And it was almost all in-town driving.

mcdawgg

6. Too much slipping of the clutch when starting off, even on a level surface. To explain further, releasing the clutch too slowly and/or giving too much gas when starting off in first gear. This will wear out a clutch quick!!

auto_guy

can someone explain what it does and why is it found only in automatic transmissions? p.s. I have searched the internet and the carspace forms but I what a more technical definition. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mr_Shiftright

It's a simple switch connected to the automatic transmission shift lever that will not allow the car to start when the lever is in Drive or Reverse. If you didn't have this switch, you'd start the car in drive and fly off into something or someone.

A manual transmission car CAN be started in gear, but it's hard...usually it doesn't start, it just "hops" and stalls itself---so it has a kind of built in safety feature. But an automatic transmission, if started in drive, would just...GO, and quickly too. It would be very dangerous.

jerrywimer

Many manual cars now have some sort of "clutch switch" that works the same way as the neutral safety does in an automatic. So if the clutch isn't fully depressed (sometimes also a secondary switch requires the parking brake to be set) the car won't start (or bump forward).

Mr_Shiftright

That's true although if you start a clutch car in gear the chances of it taking off aren't very high...at worst you'd scare someone or nudge another car...but with an automatic, you can really take off in gear.

user777

dang, so you can't push-start the MT car?

jipster

Maybe, my question about CVT should be in the more advanced "How it works...Auto 102"?

Shiftwrong... you seem to know about stuff like this?

Mr_Shiftright

I thought I knew but then I started typing an explanation and got confused myself --LOL!

It's hard to describe a CVT without diagrams.

Here, let this website do the work for me!

CVT: How it Works

ryan77300d

Think snowmobile!

At least for the CVT's that use the VDP set up. (I'm starting to get confused myself here!)

jipster

Ryan, I've never ridden a snowmobile... but thanks.

Shifty, Yikes... that CVT stuff in your link is really confusing. I don't blame you guys at all for wanting to bail on that question.

But, better fuel economy and improved engine performance between a narrow range of something or other will work for now.

Mr_Shiftright

Well look, insteand of having a certain size gear driving other gears that vary in size (as you shift or as the automatic transmission shifts for you) by meshing teeth with each other, in this case we have a two pulleys with a belt in between then and these pulleys can vary in their diameter.

In both cases, you get "ratios"

jipster

o.k, that makes sense. But,if you have the time, how does a pulley vary in its diameter? If not, I have a pretty good picture now. "snowmobile" making more sense. Thanks.

kiawah

Think of a split pulley (saw the pully in half). You now have two pieces )( . The width of the belt is fixed. If you allow the two pieces of the pulley to move apart )-( the belt will ride down to the center of the pulley, where it will be a very small diameter. The opposite pulley would be very large (so the belt length remains the same). If the small pulley was attached to the engine, you would have lots of power (small pulley driving a big pulley), but minimal speed.

Now take the first pulley and squeeze the sides together. It would force the belt outward to the outside circumference edge of the first pulley, thereby increasing the diameter of what that belt surface is riding on. The second pulley, at the same time, would decrease in size. Now when the engine turns, it is a large pulley driving a small pulley, lots of speed, but low torque...ie 5th gear.

So instead of 5 (or X) specific gears, it is infinite. The belt can ride at any spot in this pulley set. The constant velocity terminology, comes from the fact that the engine could (almost) theoretically run at say 1K RPM. When you start out the pulley set up gives you more power. As your vehicle speed increases, the drive pulley compresses more and more, thereby continuing to increase vehicle speed up to your desired MPH.

jipster

gotcha... much clearer now. Thanks all.

Oh, one last question(s) then I'll leave you guys alone. Is this CVT the transmission of the future? And any idea on if the CVT will be more or less expensive to repair/replace than a standard 4/5 speed automatic trans.? By the way it is described, it sounds to be less expensive to repair.

I'm thinking of getting a Nissan Altima in the next year or two, and I understand all models have the CVT transmission. Thanks.

kiawah

I gave you the above theory, as I've been involved w/projects (non-auto) years ago where this was used to vary the speed of the final drive axle.

I am not aware of the details of current transmission technology. I looked at a Nissan Murano a year ago (wifes request) which had a CVT and drove it, ended up not buying it because of other family criteria. I've driven a CVT vehicle as a rental vehicle on a business trip couple months ago, it was a SUV of some sort and I thought a Ford. Unfortunately I flew in at about 2am, drove it to the hotel and then business meeting, then back out. I didn't have time to really investigate further or even remember the model.

The thing you notice when driving CVT is you don't feel it shifting, but the Nissan I test drove was sluggish when trying to quickly accelerate, or when a regular automatic would be 'downshifting'. When think about what is happening, you actually have to get a number of rotations on both pulleys before the belt is able to crawl it's way up to a different position on the pulley. You have to remember that both pulleys have to change the circumference at the same time. When one pulley diameter is getting smaller, the other has to be squeezed to get larger the equivalent amount....to keep the belt tension the same. If one pulley gets smaller and the other doesn't get bigger, the belt would just completely slip.

I don't know the belt technology that is in use in current CVT's. The pulley's I was involved with before is pulley and fiber belt technology, and I can't imagine what we think of as 'fan belts', holding up under 100K miles of transmission service. I'd imagine they'd have to have some metal or kevlar reinforcement, or may even be metal for all I know. Hard to wear gears of an normal automatic or manual transmission out. Current manual shift clutches aren't wearing or slipping when fully engaged. CVT's to me, would always have the potential of slippage/wear of the belt.

I personally figured I'd be a laggard in adopting this technology, same reason I haven't bought a hybrid, because I keep cars 10+ years and 6 digit mileage. Not sure of the resale values either couple years from now.

If you lease vehicles, and it's always under warranty....I'd look into it.

Mr_Shiftright

I drove a new Dodge Caliber with CVT and I didn't much like it. It's not terribly responsive.

jipster

Thanks again for the input gentlemen... you too Shifty.

kork13

This forum's been quiet recently, but maybe someone can still help... I'm about 2 weeks out from buying my first new car (I've only driven used to now), and for a long time I've heard the phrase "breaking a car in" or similar. What does that mean? What are you doing for the car, what do you need to do to 'break it in', how long does this process take, etc... basically, I've no idea about any of it, so any help would be appreciated. thanks

kiawah

When ever you put a bunch of new moving parts together, their tolerances and alignment are never perfect....and hence need to wear down slightly to mate better. You don't want to drive in a manner which causes excessive wear during this period of time. You want the wear to occur gently. Materials expand when they are hot, and shrink when they are cold.

For instance in brakes, the new brake pads need to wear down to completely contact the rotors. The rotors actually need to go thru some warming and cooling cycles. You don't want to brake to hot and heavy during the break in period, as rotors can warp.

The piston rings need to wear slightly to align with the cylinder walls. Each bearing in each moving part will begin to wear.

You'll find everyone has an opinion on this, and can be totally different. I personally like to drive a little like 'a granny' in light city traffic, going thru a lot of heat up and cool down cycles, avoiding long highspeed interstate driving. Get the vehicle up to operating temperature, and then let it cool down. I keep the revs under 2K, and very easy on the braking. You'll find references to avoiding constant speed, during the break in period.

Usually by a thousand miles, things are pretty well initially broken in and all the parts wear points are mated. I suspect even up to 3-5K things are still slightly wearing to align.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah I'd agree, by 1K miles you're pretty much done---and with modern engines, you don't have to be all that careful either, like in "the old days". Just avoid extremes and the engine will break itself in without asking you for very much help.

There are a few limited production cars that have fussier engines, like the Viper. You get too heavy a foot on those engines from zero miles and you'll be putting in a crate engine soon enough. Some other exotics are broken in before you take delivery, because the horsepower needs to be verified.

marsha7

old school...while my intellect says it is now unnecessary, my old training says that for a measly $50, I can put my mind at ease...

Whenever I bought a new car, I always changed the oil and filter at 1000 miles, to clean out any metal shavings, filings, rocks, boulders, chainsaws, and any other material left in the engine, that stays in suspension and is drained with the removal of the hot oil...

They say that is no longer necessary, because engines are assembled in a cleaner environment, yada, yada, yada...

Considering all the criticisms of car quality today, I feel that it is worth the $50 (I use synthetic, so it costs a little more), since it will only pass the 1000 mile mark once, and after that I am in total control of the oil change schedule...so just like I wash new jeans to get the "newness" out of them, since they are only new once, I still change the oil in a new car at 1000 miles, just for my peace of mind...

Thinking about it, I would do it within 1000 miles of a used car, since I may not know when it was last performed unless I have maint records...

I just feel that if the oil is clean, even if "overchanged" it can never hurt the engine, as anything that keeps the inside clean can only help it last longer...

mysticsoul

hey there all..

I'm new to this forum, have a Hyundai Elantra 01, 4dr sedan.

I'll be grateful if anyone could help me with this, the windshield washer doesnt work anymore, I had a look at it, its not the water being empty, or the pipes being clogged, so I think its the windshield-washer motor, cause I dont hear the motor sound anymore, any idea where the motor is located or how do I access it? short on money so i'll have to fix it myself.

Thanx

Mr_Shiftright

Most motors are attached to the bottom of the tank. Sometimes you can just clean the wire connection. You might also be able to buy a "universal" motor at Autozone or some such.

So pull the tank out of its slide and the motor should come out with it.

user777

some manufacturers put a special oil into the engine which helps break it in. some manufacturers like Honda say, let it go 7500 miles on the first change.

since they are truly experts in engine design, manufacture and racing, i tend to think they know what's best for their engines.

me personally? I'd let a break in oil get about 4500-5000 in a new engine. by that time, it's likely to have done it's thing, and the engine has probably reached the point achieving most of it's fuel economy potential.

after that, if it's a honda and i'm using regular oil, not much past the same mileage. i have no history with synthetics. they seem very expensive to me.

mysticsoul

Thanx for the really quick reply [Mr_Shiftright].

The thing is , how do I pull it out? I cant do it from above, looks like i might have to take it to the garage so that they can lift the car and try to pull it out from below. Also is there anyway to know if its the motor thats not working.

Thanx

Mr_Shiftright

Sorry I don't know your particular car. Sometimes you can access them by taking off a front wheel.

You can hear the motor when you activate the stalk switch on the dash. Once the motor is out, it is easily bench-tested.

bolivar

What about taking the entire tank out, if the pump is attached at the bottom.

There might even be braces, wiring, etc about the tank that need to be taken off also.

mysticsoul

Thanx for the replies...

ya the motor is at the bottom, and the worst part is, i cant pull it or slide off from the top,found a high pavement and pulled it out from below. the worst part is that the replacement i found has a different power socket so now to friggin go down and try to a re wire it.

Mr_Shiftright

Okay, just get a wire splicer and a couple of those crimp-on connectors. I think Autozone sells a whole wire splicing kit for about $7.

Was the dealer part very expensive? Maybe, if it's not too costly, it would be easier to just buy the "right" motor and return the other one.

mysticsoul

Well the original part was $65 + tax (just for the motor), so I got a knock off for $15 even and the good thing was that it came along with a couple of crimp-on connectors too, so found a nice high footpath , and fixed it, and its workin now. thanx