Manual Transmissions 101

The manual transmission is less common now than it used to be, but is still a desired feature for the car aficionado. Ever wonder how a manual transmission works? Here is a brief overview of the system. Auto repair and care is very important to make sure your vehicle runs smoothly. Muffler repair Austin TX is very important to the overall health of your vehicle. Consult with your local auto mechanic Austin Texas and find out the answers to all of your vehicle repair questions.

A Long Process
Describing how a manual transmission works is a little difficult. The easiest way to visualize how a transmission works is to think about a ten speed bicycle. When you click your bicycle into first gear, your chain drops down to the smallest sprocket on the bicycle’s wheel. At this level, the wheel turns slowly and a great deal of energy is expended getting the bike to move. As you speed up, you move to higher gears where you expend less leg energy and move faster due to the momentum you’ve built up. If you leave the bicycle in first gear as you go faster, you will expend more energy. Conversely, if you are in a higher gear and try to start from a sitting position, it will be hard for your bicycle to move at all.
This principle works the same with your car, but substitutes an internal combustion engine for your legs. Instead of a chain your engine uses a variety of linking metal gears. The same as a bicycle the smaller gears are used to build up momentum and the larger gears are to increase your pace once you have built momentum. An automatic transmission senses when the gears need to change and moves them automatically up and down the gear sizes as needed.
With a manual transmission, gear changes are handled by the car’s driver. A manual transmission knob, or stick shift, usually located in the floorboard is used to switch the gears. A foot pedal called a clutch is used to move through the gears. Manual transmissions have between three to five gears, plus a reverse gear.
Moving from gear to gear is accomplished by the use of the clutch, operated by a foot pedal usually located between the accelerator and the brake.
The clutch has the function of disconnecting and reconnecting the gears as you move from one gear to another. The clutch is pressed down, the shifting knob is moved to the next chosen gear, and then the clutch is released to engage the gears again. The engaged gear connects to the drive shaft which turns the wheels. Just as in the bicycle, lower gears go slower and consume the most energy, higher gears consume less energy and allow the car to go faster, but provide the least power.
Early manual transmission engines tended to grind when gears were changed. This was caused by gears having to be turning at the correct rate in order to mesh together. This system required you to get a feel for your car to know exactly when the gears needed to be changed. This also caused a great deal of wear on the system. Current manual transmissions have synchromesh which basically keeps the gears meshed together and moves the drive shaft connection from gear set to gear set. If you have questions about flowmaster exhaust Austin Texas and automotive repair Austin Texas we can help. Your local auto shop is the best place to call.