Shifting to 'P' before pulling the handbrake is how you damage your automatic transmission, Automotive : Today Indya

Shifting to 'P' before pulling the handbrake is how you damage your automatic transmission

Automotive

wapcar

An article from fortune.com back in 2016 suggested that a car spends about 90% of its time parked. Is there any truth to that? Well, even if you did drive 2 hours a day, it would only amount to 8.3% of the 24 hours we have in a day. There’s still a good 91.7% left.

If you drive an automatic, you need to shift to “P” and engage the parking brake to park the car. There are however, two different types of people in terms of the sequence of action. Some shift to “P” first, and then engage the parking brake, while some engage the parking brake first, and then shift to “P”.

Is there a right and wrong for this sequence?

Well, yes, sort of.

There is no difference when parked on a level surface. However, when parked on a hill, you might notice a rather unpleasant “clunk” when shifting out of “P”.

What is that sound?

That is the sound of your parking pawl trying to move against the transmission output shaft.

What is a parking pawl?

A parking pawl is a pin/lock on the transmission output.

When you shift, into “P”, the parking pawl engages and locks the output shaft of your transmission. The pawl disengages when you shift out of “P”.

Engaged and disengaged parking pawl of a Ford

When you shift into “P” first, lift your foot of the foot-brake, and then engage the parking brake, the weight of the car rests on that tiny metal bit we call the parking pawl. That’s not great. When you do this, you will hear the unpleasant “clunk” when shifting out of “P” later.

Is it wrong to let the car's weight rest in the parking pawl?

Well, parking pawls can break. It might not look like much, but this little broken piece can be nuisance to fix. Sure, it’s a tiny metal bit, but that tiny broken piece can jam up some crucial parts in your transmission.

Sometimes, you might even notice people shifting into “P” at traffic lights. It’s not a great habit.

So how do you avoid the “clunk” sound?

Take the following steps when parked on a hill.

1. Bring the car to a full stop.

2. Keep the foot brake pressed.

3. Shift to "N".

*Now all the weight is on the foot brake.

4. Engage the parking brake.

5. Lift your foot of the foot brake.

*Now all the weight is on the parking brake.

6. Press the foot brake. (to prevent reversing)

7. Shift the gear into “P”.

8. Lift your foot of the foot brake.

*Now all the weight is on the parking brake while the parking pawl acts as a fail-safe if the parking brake fails.

In short, it is better to let the weight of your car rest on the parking brake than the parking pawl (especially on a hill). You wouldn't want to have a broken parking pawl in your transmission.

Article Original Source : https://www.wapcar.my/news/parking-your-car-shift-to-%E2%80%9Cp%E2%80%9D-or...

#handbrake damage automatic

There's Nothing More Expensive Than a $900 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Automotive

caranddriver

A used S-class might be a $900 car when you buy it, but it's still a $100,000 car when it needs a repair.

A $900 car isn't necessarily bad, but a $900 S-class most certainly is. I knew that when I bought it, from a guy who loved it but couldn't afford to tithe at the Church of Bruno Sacco. It had the looks, definitely—a 1990 300SE, its deep-black paint with a matching leather interior seemingly unscathed by 233,000 miles of travel, rolling on real AMG monoblocks, the 18-inch Belgian-made ones that came on the W210 E55. With its short wheelbase and blacked-out lower cladding, the three-figure 300 looked poised and purposeful, a proto-AMG in looks if not in substance. There was only one immediately evident problem, admittedly a big one: The engine sounded like it was filled with castanets and bocce balls. But better to face one big problem than a litany of smaller ones, or so I thought as I drove the 300 onto a trailer for the ride back to my driveway.

Where it proceeded to sit, for the better part of a year. I drove it down the street a couple of times, wincing at the knocks and clangs issuing from beneath the hood. I washed it and shined it up and marveled at its presentation. But I also began to catalog the other things that needed fixing, besides the engine. Because of course there were other things. Like, the driver's-side seat wouldn't move. The interior hood-release handle was broken, as was the power antenna on the left rear fender. One of the front tires kept going flat. And, ominously, the heater circuit was bypassed under the hood. Which meant that it probably needed either the monovalve (not too bad) or the heater core (certain doom, in that a W126 heater core is about as accessible as the Earth's molten core).

Eventually, I decided to cut my losses by not incurring any in the first place. I'd grab some stock wheels and tires from a junkyard ($175), then sell the AMGs and the car separately. The wheels were probably worth the price of the car, so even at scrap prices I'd do okay. I listed the ol' Benz for sale and immediately began hosting a parade of tire kickers in the driveway and lowballers online. But I knew somebody was going to buy it. What I didn't guess is that the next dreamer would be my own mother. Apparently, unfounded optimism is hereditary.

I was on the phone with her a few days after I listed it, and I casually mentioned the Benz was for sale. "I want it! Take down the listing!" she said. I told her she really didn't want it, that it would be a nightmare, that it needed an engine and that might just be the beginning. Basically, I argued that a $900 car would turn into a $4000 car right quick. "So?" she said. "It seems like $4000 isn't bad for a car like that, if it's running fine." Damn. I kind of agreed with that.

I found a used M103 3.0-liter straight-six for $800, shipping included. Since engine swaps are beyond my pay grade, I sent it to a local shop, Euro Auto Service, to get its heart transplant. Euro's owner, Dean Segovis, called a couple of weeks later to let me know that the new engine was installed and running . . . and had water in the oil, but hopefully that was just condensation and not the head gasket. The old engine looked like it had a patched-up hole in the oil pan, hinting at the cause of its demise. The car also had a cracked starter, so it got a new one of those and some other odds and ends that took the tab to $2500. That's not the final bill, but that's where we're at in what's hopefully the home stretch. So the $900 car is now a $4200 car, as I foretold.

That still seems like a good deal for a classic S-class, but I haven't investigated the cost of seat modules or monovalves or any of the other small insults that accrue over 30 years. If I do, I'll have to be the bearer of bad news to the Benz's new owner. But it's not like I didn't warn her—there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes. Except maybe a free boat.