How to Understand Manual Transmissions
Understanding how a transmission works will help you to be able to operate a vehicle with a manual transmission. In a car with an automatic transmission, the transmission “automatically” selects the appropriate gear depending on the engine speed that the car is operating at. A manual transmission vehicle puts that decision point on the driver.
When driving a car with a manual transmission, the driver has to determine the appropriate gear.
- Understand torque. Torque is essentially force applied in order to achieve movement. The amount of torque required in order to make the car move, and keep it moving at a particular speed will vary depending on the weight of the car, as well as road conditions and incline. The transmission selects the gear that will achieve the optimal amount of torque.
- Understand the gearbox components. The forward shaft is the input shaft. The input shaft is mounted at the front of the gearbox. The front end of the input shaft aligns with the clutch disc, while the rear end aligns with a drive gear at the end of the layshaft. This is a single unit, which indicates the number of gears that the transmission has – typically five plus reverse. The output shaft is fixed in place and resides inside the transmission, and is located at the end of the gearbox.
- Put it all together. All of the possible gears are mounted on the shaft. Each gear lines up perfectly with its counterpart, which sits directly below it on the layshaft. Directly below that, are the gear teeth, which are cut to produce a desired ratio, which thus creates torque, and drives the engine.
- Respect your transmission. If you want to achieve long life for your transmission, it must be properly maintained. The gearbox is the heart and soul of your transmission, and it needs regular, and proper maintenance. Neglecting your transmission will often result in expensive repairs.