7 yrs over the road, have seen some helacious adventures..... like one kid hauling a U-hual trailer in his subaru at about 90mph in the high dollar lane, came to a dip in the road and the trailer tongue jumped the ball hitch. The only thing connecting the trailer to the vehicle was safety chains. You know, those chains that loosely connect between the vehicle hitch and trailer, often dangling and causing *sparks** when they touch down on the highway.

Anyting is possible.

But I dont think it would have coinsided exactly with me revving the engine after climbing the hill. Never happening before or after.

I did go check the chains. No scrapes.

I was thinking how I first saw the sparks. I really did not see the sparks first but the glow from them reflected in the stuff on the trailer ( lawnmower, tablesaw, etc) .

My very first thought was a wheel berrng on the trailer had gone. I had just repacked them with grease before the trip. And I constantly screw things up.

Anyhoo, after getting over being scared that something bad had happened to the car, I thought it was really cool that maybe my old car had been driven so gently for so long that it had a bunch of carbon built up, that I just might have burnt out.

I wish I had more accurate 0 to 60 times. It sure seems to run better now.

Love you all, yes even you.

RichC

__________________

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
Jimi Hendrix

This can happen. As for the carbon being highly flamable, that is simply wrong. Otherwise, how would cars develop excessive carbon deposits on the pistons?

More BS. Plenty of people have shifted plenty of MT cars at 100+.

EDIT- I do not know enough about the synchros do decide if they would be excessively worn, but I do know that I rev match when I shift a MT car. Also, you get back into gear with straight cut gears by double clutching. I double clutch my MT cars when I downshift to extend synchro life.

Hello All

I think I will hijack my own post here, kinda. The transmission shifting question kinda worries me.

I shift into neutral from drive alot of time when I will be coming to a stop, like at a red light. Then shift back do drive when the light changes.

Am I causing excessive wear on the transmission doing this ?

Thanks for all your help.

RichC

__________________

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
Jimi Hendrix

Been on the Sherwin (didn't know it was called that) in the SDL and lots of other high grades in the Sierras and nearby. Just got to take it slow and steady, car does fine. Touches 110-120C every now and then but cools quickly on the down hill.

__________________
-livin' in the terminally flippant zone

Why?

I guess I got used to driving a standard transmission, and kinda miss it. And partially to maybe save some fuel.

__________________

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
Jimi Hendrix

I do the same thing as well. These cars don't coast well and I can usually time lights by coasting so i don't have to stop.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

another moron wants to know why shifting out of the trans, when moving, is harmfull...

If I go 55 down a hill by my house, and shift into nutral by the cop turnaround, i can be going 52ish at the bottom.... They REALLY dont coast well (why's that also?)

I do shift back into gear, but I try my best to rev match

There wasnt much reason for you to rev the snot out of your engine, under no load, you're asking for trouble if you do it alot...



~Nate

__________________
95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

Shifting out of gear (In an auto) and shifting back without coming to a stop puts hella stress on the tranny.

The tranny won't just go back to 4th like nothing happened. It will start in 2nd, then quickly shift into 3rd and then into 4th (assuming you have the throttle released). It slams hard on the planetary gears and clutch packs. Almost as bad as a neutral drop.

Carbon can't burn, but it can sure glow. It can cause detonation in a g@sser from a hot spot in the combustion chamber.

Dragging brakes or a VERY strong head wind. Any car put into neutral while traveling downhill should accelerate.

Hellol All

Question: Is nate calling me a moron at the begginning of his post?

And what the heck else is he talking about?

To nate: If you have some info about shifting an automatic transmission out of gear while moving, then coming to a stop and shifting back to drive, please, lets hear it. That is why I asked the question. I do not know.

__________________

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
Jimi Hendrix

no no no no......

I'm sorry if it came out that way, it was 3:30am, sorry.

I said "another moron" because I'm absoultly clueless on that subject, calling myself a moron in frustration (because of possible trans damage)... Trans arent cheap to rebuild, so I wont do that anymore...

I dont think my brakes are dragging, but I do need to do a brake service before next summer (I'll daily drive it then)


Sorry for the confusion, didnt mean for it sound like that

~Nate

__________________
95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

Hello All

Good to hear that Nate.

Whew, I thought things were getting really tough around here. One member calling my posts bull and another calling me a moron.

Glad to hear that I was just confused.

Any body know about the transmission shifting stuff ??

I really dont want to destroy my tranny.

Thank You
RichC

__________________

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
Jimi Hendrix

I think the idea is not to do it again. Shifting to N while at speed and shifting back to D is like shocking the transmission because it's not like a manual where there's just a clutch.

Have it checked and if you're really paranoid, have the fluid replaced if it became darker. Hopefully you didn't see any blue smoke out the back (burning ATF) because of that.

No idea about the sparks, may be carbon build up or the chains. Hope it's not the transmission...

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

You misread my sarcasm ther, speaking of "highly flamable" carbon deposits shooting out the tailpipe like balls of fire.

"Even the clutch, synchro-mesh and gears on a manny tranny would lose years off their life if you pulled a stunt like that [shifting the car to neutral and letting it coast]. Hell with straight cut gears you wouldnt get back into gear at all."

Actually the gears slow down drastically and hardly move at all when bypassed by shifting to neutral. The neutral shaft bypasses the gears and rests on top of the rest. Probly the best way to destroy a manual tranny is tow the car with wheels on the ground with tranny in neutral. There will be no splash oil lubrication of needle bearings in the neutral shaft and it will quickly self-destruct.

Ever heard of a clutch-brake? It slows down and stops the gears from moving with the clutch fully depressed. And without matching speed of the gears with engine speed you will NEVER get back into gear. Otherewise you can float most straight-cut gears without using the clutch at all - provided that you go from one gear to another, matching engine speed, WITHOUT spending alot of time in neutral. And duh yeah, either you double clutch straight cut gears or you never touch the clutch at all.