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Well hello guys…
I’ll try to shorten this as much as possible, but, I once was driving with my aunt, and she saw me put the car in N when stopped, then trew the shift stick to L to start on a slow traffic. She though that I was wearing that transmission, but someone else told me about putting the car in N will help prevent overheat, as the transmission fluid will flow more freely trough the torque converter (I guess he owned a mercedes and heard about the overheat problems on some of their transmissions) And I even heard Eric on the “wintering your car” video about going down to L when stuck in snow is going to put lessd stress on it and all that. So, I came up with this idea of asking you about the myths you’ve heard about wear. So there’s mine.I almost forget, I recently heard about a man who just don’t use the clutch pedal to disengage gears on a manual (ovbiously, he does when engaging) and he says that he didn’t get into any abnormal wear because of that…
So, would be cool to have a ETCG1 video about myths on wear. yeah… what do you think?
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Great topic. Lets see if we can get others to post more ‘myths’ here. This way I can have a list of myths to work with. Perhaps I’ll do one of my ‘live hang outs’ on the topic.
Post to this thread if you have a myth you’re looking to debunk.
I’ve heard another transmission-related myth:
When going into 1st gear from a standstill, it’s better to select 2nd, then 1st as the synchros line up and will last longer. Thoughts?Sounds fun… Eric does a mythbusters episode!
Hmmm… Here is my contribution…
As a mechanic back in my Army days I was always told never to put batteries directly on concrete (for a period of a day or even less)… That it would suck the voltage out of them… If you did leave one on the ground even for a minute, boy did you get smoked….. Have since heard it was a wives tale, but I still can’t bring myself to put them on concrete to this day…
Nitrogen is better than regular air in tires… (this has probably been beat to death on many, many forums)
Putting the tailgate down on a truck gets better gas mileage (I think this has been busted though)….
The Higher octane is better for your car (burns better), even though your car only needs 87…. I can’t remember if you have explained this one….
-Karl
[quote=”ToyotaKarl” post=72832]
The Higher octane is better for your car (burns better), even though your car only needs 87…. I can’t remember if you have explained this one….
[/quote]
Hmm, I remember that I’ve read something about that… I guess that higher octane allows you to have more boost as the gasoline will not auto-ignite due to air pressure/temperature. Also they tend to use higher quality additives on Premium gasoline.Forgot to mention… About my myth on putting the car on N, this will also save a few dollars on gas if you’re stopped. Think of it as with your AC compressor, or a supercharger. Now I use the N a lot more after that… Well, if my car were out the shop (EVAP related issues, I posted that somewhere else in the Forum)
I’ve always heard that if you get two tires of different sizes on the rear, or front that it effects your speedometer, Is this true Eric? Thanks.
[quote=”grimreap93″ post=72867]I’ve always heard that if you get two tires of different sizes on the rear, or front that it effects your speedometer, Is this true Eric? Thanks.[/quote]
Well, it might be…
I’m a computer systems engineer, and I can tell you that, according to the math related to RPM to m/s conversion, gear ratio as well as wheel size does matter (because wheel size is gear ratio too), because, as far as I know, the speedometer reads the revolutions per minute on a tire, or maybe just on the axle, or the output of the transmision, and then applies some simple math to get the speed, but it has no way to know what size the wheels are.
You can see it this way:
The speedometer thinks that for example, 4000 RPM on the output of the transmission is, for instance, 60 MPH.
At that RPM, the wheels of a determined size, let’s say, 17″ run at 60 MPH. (The maker suposes that you’ll use this size of wheel, because they specified it on the manual, and have engineered the car that way). Now, think of putting bigger tires, so, each tire revolution will actually move the vehicle further than with the smalles ones, so the speedometer will still read 60 MPH (or 4000 RPM) but the wheels, even if they spin at this velocity, will travel more. You can search on the internet for a PI number animation, and it will give you an idea of what’s happening.[quote=”ToyotaKarl” post=72832]Sounds fun… Eric does a mythbusters episode!
Hmmm… Here is my contribution…
As a mechanic back in my Army days I was always told never to put batteries directly on concrete (for a period of a day or even less)… That it would suck the voltage out of them… If you did leave one on the ground even for a minute, boy did you get smoked….. Have since heard it was a wives tale, but I still can’t bring myself to put them on concrete to this day…
Nitrogen is better than regular air in tires… (this has probably been beat to death on many, many forums)
Putting the tailgate down on a truck gets better gas mileage (I think this has been busted though)….
The Higher octane is better for your car (burns better), even though your car only needs 87…. I can’t remember if you have explained this one….
-Karl[/quote]
I’d love to see a video talking about all these topics!
Guess what… I just heard the weirdest of all myths yet…
If for some reason your radiator is profusingly leaking, you can lower or even eliminate the leak in a temporary manner by using an.. EGG?
Yes.. as you read. Eggs can stop a leak in a case of extreme emergency (NOT RECOMMENDED though) just enough so you can take your car to a repair garage to sawp the failing radiator or leaking hose. Note that the car must be on and hot, so the egg can cook into the leaks. It’s a very old trick, and it inspired current Stop Leak products.You’re right, that is an old one. You can also use black pepper. Although I don’t advise either in a modern vehicle. I don’t advise stop leak for that matter.
I’m not sure if this is considered a myth, but I suppose it’s something that can be discussed.
How about putting tires that are more worn (as opposed to the others) on the front or rear of your vehicle? Taking into consideration the vehicles drive type.
Of course, having all tires evenly worn is ideal.
Tire industry guidelines are whenever putting on two tires they always go on the rear no matter what. This is the same for tires on the vehicle the better ones always on the rear. This is because most of the vehicle weight is on the front tires, Exception is a 1 ton dually with a trailer loaded hanging off the rear.
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