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I’ve got some random auto questions that I know you guys will be able to answer.
1. My understanding of transmissions is rudimentary at best. Does it increase wear on an automatic transmission to bump it into neutral while going downhill or coasting? My wife’s 2012 Accord is the first automatic that I’ve ever owned, and while coasting I can feel the transmission shifting which drives me crazy.
2. As soon as I finish nursing school this summer I want to take some auto repair and auto body classes. I’d like to take on a mild restoration in that same time frame to give me some experience. I’m an old truck kind of guy, and I might have access to a third generation Chevy C-10 to work on. I don’t know a thing about it as far as which engine it has or which year it is (between ’73 and ’87), but I would appreciate any insight that you guys could offer me for major things that you look for when considering if it is worth your time/ worth the money to restore a vehicle or not. I guess my root question is what are the most important factors in judging the difficulty/expense of a project vehicle?
Thanks for your response!
Will
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1. leave that shifter alone when coasting. The PCM is controlling it for a reason. It is downshifting so that when you do get back on the gas it will be in the proper gear to go smoothly wihtout lugging the motor or building heat in the transmission. Its a weird feeling when you’ve always had a stick shift for sure. I used to own only stick shift vehicles. Every time I got in an automatic I’d reach for the clutch. Really drove me nuts when I was in my teens. Was driving my mom’s Caravan and was about to come near a stop. Instinctively reached to push down the clutch quickly. I wear a size 14 shoe and the edge of my foot snagged the brake pedal. All passengers headed towards windshield. Mom wasn’t pleased until she realized what I did and laughed at me.
2. A lot of tech schools have auto maintenance short courses they off to the public in the summer. It will cover basic things like brakes, tune-ups, simple things which is where you need to start. That would be goo knowledge to start with, but it won’t get you ready to take on a resto job by any means. Also, to do that job you need a lot of tools that will get expensive. What I would do is go to local car shows, meet some of the members. They also might be able to tell you where you could find exactly the truck you’re looking for. Stay away from rustbuckets. They’re money pits. But you might find something that perhaps even runs or could be gotten running with some work that you could handle. Network with these people. If there is an area that you see hot rodders hang out at on Saturday nights in the summer, go hang with them and meet some people. You’ll get to see some of the things they’ve done and they are always enjoying people admiring their work and asking questions about what they’ve built.
I’ve seen a video series from Kevin Tetz called Paint-U-Cation that would give you some good DVDs about how bodywork goes. Don’t try it first on the truck you want to do. I would go to a junkyard and get a crappy fender with a few dings and some rust on it. They would give it to you cheap especially if you told them you want it to practice on and are learning bodywork. I would take a short summer class that is an intro to welding if you’re going to do that. You’ll want at least a 110v MIG welder with shielding gas (no flux core Harbor Freight junk) and that could be one of those things the guys you meet with the car clubs and such will let you use. They could even offer you some tips as you weld and they watch you. Thats how I teach people how to do it.
Start small. Do the basic maintenance. Tackle some brakes, tune-ups and such. Learn to solder, and there are plenty of videos out there showing you how to do so. I like seeing people want to learn new things. Obviously you know how to learn new and complex things. My mom is a surgical nurse, my girl is going to nursing school right now and I help her study as much as I can. You’ve put in a lot of time and these classes aren’t easy that you’ve taken. Good to see more men getting into the field too. The girls will love having you around to lift things and for when you get a violent patient. Being the rooster in the henhouse has its perks too. Congrats on finally getting near the end of your education and best of luck to you on the boards. Also welcome to the world of fixing things yourself.
Nick, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions, thank you. With that said, the AT is driving me nuts!! Most noticeably when I’m braking at low speed I feel it downshift, and it upsets the balance/feel of the car. I’m not racing it around or anything, I drive like a grandpa, in all honesty. I’d like to hear a few other opinions on whether or not to kick it into neutral on an AT while coasting. One caveat I will give is that I am very mindful of when I bump it back into drive that I give the transmission time to engage the proper gear and I come back on the gas very gently.
As far as taking on a mild restoration, I’m really starting to feel like I’m to the point of taking that on. I’ve done all of the basic maintenance like oil changes, plugs, wires, cap/rotor, etc, as well as changing my fuel filter(which involved replacing a short section of fuel line with a compression union and creative tubing bending because my dumb rear end tried to break the banjo bolt loose while it was still on the firewall), and replacing my clutch hydraulic cylinders, along with brake pads and rotors in my past.
As far as tooling up, I’m well acquainted with the cost of it, and with me about to graduate, I also know that I’ll never have disposable income for tools after we start spending it on a monthly basis. As such, my taking auto classes at my local community college will serve two purposes: One, it will give me a formal education on auto repair, and two, it will make me eligible for Snap On’s SEP discount program. Buying $5k worth of tools will be an easier sale to my wife if I can tell her that I have a “degree” in auto repair, that it will pay for itself in the amount of money saved on repair bills in a few years, and that I will NEVER have to replace them. In all honesty my wife has supported me through every hobby I’ve ever taken on. I told her recently that it was ridiculous to spend as much money and time/effort learning to do something I will probably end up hating(nursing) and to begrudge myself for spending a few grand on something I really enjoy doing. Additionally, I like the idea of having a second trade under my belt with Obamacare really starting to take effect this next year. Lastly, in every job is a picture of the man that did it. I like to do things well, and auto repair/restoration is a natural outlet to me for that drive.
Will
Got another one for you. In my MT 93 Accord, I frequently kick the shifter into neutral without pressing the clutch pedal down. Bad for the teeth of the gears?? The transmission never complains, and with 233k on the odometer I’d imagine that they were kind of rounded anyway. I also only do it when the engine and transmission are turning around the same speed.
If you think the transmission is shifting wrongly or harshly I’d get that checked out. But its not a stick shift. You don’t bump it in and out of neutral. It goes in drive and gets left there.
As to your 93 Accord, with the revs matched you can put it into neutral without the clutch and not damage it. Its going into the next gear that causes the damage. I doubt you have rounded teeth on your gears either or it would be noisy and fail early. You’d be surprised how little has to be damaged to be tearing itself apart in short order. I’ve broken down truck transmissions with 800,000 miles on them that just needed some new bearings. All the gear teeth were good to go.
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