1 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tex Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: stuff dot com. Every Hey there, everyone a d Welcome 3 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: to tech Stuff. I'm Jonathan Strickland, and and today we 4 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: wanted to talk about Well, let's let one of our 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: listeners decide what we're gonna talk about. This comes from 6 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: Eric via Twitter, and he says, have you guys ever 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: done an episode in transmissions? I think it'd be interesting. 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: The answer to that is no, we are assuming of 9 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: course he's talking about automotive transmissions. Yes, because he could 10 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: be talking about radio transmissions, in which case we already 11 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: did a podcast on that, but we haven't done one 12 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: on automotive ones, right, because usually we don't actually do 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: stuff about automotive technology, because we have a whole separate 14 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: show about that. Yeah, car stuff. Scott and Ben they 15 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: covered actually, let's be fair, Scott covers it, Ben asks questions, Uh, 16 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: and we wouldn't have it any other way. Scott is brilliant, 17 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: Scott Benjamin, he's ourn auto editor here at how Stuff Works, 18 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: and he he's one of those quietly brilliant people who's 19 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:13,039 Speaker 1: just who's just silent until he just absolutely blazes you 20 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,839 Speaker 1: with something ridiculously intelligent. Yeah, you asked him a question, 21 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: and you're you're still wanted to run deep man? Uh? Yeah, 22 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: he's a he's a he's a force to be reckoned with. 23 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: And we actually checked with them first to see if 24 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: they had done an episode on transmissions, and according to Ben, 25 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: they have not, so we thought, well, heck, we'll tackle 26 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: this one and uh and then maybe Car Stuff will 27 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,919 Speaker 1: will school us later on down the line. But and guys, 28 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: if you have not listened to Car Stuff, go check 29 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: it out. It's it's really for everyone, from someone who 30 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: is a real automotive enthusiast to a newbie who finds 31 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: these card terms to be really really difficult to grasp, 32 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: like me. I mean, I am not a car guy, 33 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: so I really enjoyed them. But I know that people 34 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: who are gear heads, who you know, like to get 35 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: in there and really work on vehicles themselves, they love 36 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: it too. So if you're technical but also extremely clear, 37 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: yeah yeah, so definitely check that out. And and Ben 38 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: kind of acts acts as the voice for the person 39 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: who has no idea what's going on, because that's who 40 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: been is. So let's talk about I mean, he'll be 41 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: the first to admit that. So what are we talking 42 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: about with transmissions. What are transmissions? Why are they necessary? 43 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: What's the deal? Well, first, we have to understand that 44 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: a vehicle, let's say a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, 45 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: gets its power from the engine itself. Right, You're burning 46 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: fuel within that engine, and that engine is putting out 47 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: power in the form of kinetic energy. Now, the trick is, 48 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:40,800 Speaker 1: how do you make the kinetic energy that's generated by 49 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: the engine make your vehicle move as opposed to just 50 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: making noise or heat or explosions. That would be an 51 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: external combustion engine not a good thing vehicles. Now, So, uh, 52 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: what what's generally going on with a vehicle we're gonna 53 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: take for this podcast. We're gonna specifically focus on a 54 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: five speed manual transmission vehicle that has rear wheel drive. Now, 55 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: there are a lot of different configurations you can have. 56 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,679 Speaker 1: The basic premise of the transmission is the same in 57 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: all of these, but the way it's laid out is 58 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: completely different depending upon the car's configuration. So this just 59 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: for the purposes of this podcast, because we can't cover everything. 60 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: It would be a four hour long pod least, and 61 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: we we we'd eventually say, I don't even know where 62 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: I am anymore, we're gonna keep it fairly simple. So, really, 63 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: the transmission is important for being able to take the 64 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: power that an engine is generating and convert that into 65 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: the kinetic energy that's necessary to get your vehicle moving. 66 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: But before we get too far into that, let's kind 67 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: of look back at why is a transmission even necessary? 68 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: I mean, not beyond the fact that what it does. 69 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: Why do we need something that like a variable transmission? 70 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: Why not just something that converts the energy of an 71 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: engine into to the rotating force of wheels moving right. 72 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: And this this has something to do with with the 73 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: difference between, um, the kind of energy that you want 74 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: to use when you're first starting a car, when you're 75 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: accelerating it from a stop, and when you're speeding up 76 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: later on down the line, right, and when you're when 77 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: you're reaching your top speed as well. Yeah, as it 78 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: turns out, an engine only has a very narrow range 79 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: at which it's operating with its revolutions per minute. Relatively 80 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,359 Speaker 1: narrow range. Uh. And if our vehicles worked within that 81 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,280 Speaker 1: same narrow range, we'd be fine, right, if everything was ideal, 82 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: If somehow the range of the engine and the range 83 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: of the motion of the wheels had a one to 84 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: one ratio, whether it was directly uh, analogous, or you 85 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: had to have some sort of gear shift in there too, 86 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 1: uh to adjust it. We'd be all right, we wouldn't 87 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: need a transmission, but we really need a wider range. 88 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: And the two things that are really important when it 89 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: comes to operating vehicles, uh, for for the purposes of 90 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: this conversation, are speed and torque. Okay, so so what's 91 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: so what's what? What is torque? Torque is is you 92 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: can think of it as a twisting force. It's a 93 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: rotational force. So whenever you have a wheel turning, Uh, 94 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: it's it's powered, it's that's that's that's torque there. Or 95 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: if you're using a wrench, let's say that you need 96 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: to loosen or tighten a bolt with a wrench, you're 97 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: using torque. It's this rotational force. The the end of 98 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: the wrench is moving in a circle and the bolt 99 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: is acting as sort of the axis of this of 100 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: this pit or a pivot point for this motion. Uh. 101 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: That's torque. And by increasing or decreasing torque, you can 102 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 1: It's kind of what people talk about when they're talking 103 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 1: about the grip on the road. Um, you can have 104 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: a vehicle that has really high torque uh and really 105 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,360 Speaker 1: low speed. You can have a vehicle has really has 106 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: speed really low torque. You can have lots of different 107 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:02,480 Speaker 1: combinations here. So for example, bowl imagine a giant crane 108 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: that you would use in a construction field. All right, 109 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: so it's enormous and it's using wheels, not not treads 110 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: or whatever. Uh, this vehicle is going to have an 111 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: enormous amount of torque applied to the wheels in order 112 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: to move this massive vehicle around. It may not be 113 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: moving quickly, but the torque is really powerful, which means 114 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: that it would require a lot of force to make 115 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: sure that those wheels don't turn if the engine were 116 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: operational and it was being put into drive. So if 117 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 1: you were trying to hold those wheels still, you would 118 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 1: have to use an enormous amount of force to counteract 119 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: that torque. You could also have a toy, let's say 120 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: that has a little spinning element to it that spins 121 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: at an incredible rpm. But it doesn't do so very 122 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: with very much torque at all. So if you just 123 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: touched it, it would stop spinning and it would just 124 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 1: be the lightest touch to counteract that torque. Again, the 125 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: torque is not very strong with that particular device. So 126 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: when we're operating our vehicles, we actually need a fairly 127 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: wide range of torque, which is not something that would 128 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: be possible if we had to work within the narrow 129 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: parameters of what an engine is able to put out 130 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: with that range of our pm. Right, if an engine 131 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,119 Speaker 1: only had one speed, it would get really messy, really fast, 132 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: right and exactly. And you know, the vehicle might operate 133 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: fine in certain conditions, but if you change those conditions 134 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: at all, then you'd be in trouble. And see, that's 135 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: the that's the issue, right because we all know when 136 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: you're out there driving, not everything is a perfectly flat highway. 137 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: You know you're going to have inclines, You're gonna have 138 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: changes in the in the environmental conditions that are going 139 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: to require your vehicle to adjust as you are going 140 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: through them. So that's why you need to have a transmission. 141 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: You have to have something where you can shift to 142 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: a different torque or speed in order to one maintain 143 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: your grip on the road and continue moving at the 144 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: appropriate speed and to operate within the engine's parameters. That's 145 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: one of those reasons why, Like, if you keep revving 146 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: the engine and you're in first gear, you'll see that 147 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: needle go all the way into the red and then 148 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: if you keep that up, you burn out your engine. 149 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: So by shifting, you are actually adjusting torque and speed, 150 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: and by doing that you can keep the needle in 151 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: the the ideal operational Yes, so that's what the transmission 152 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: is for. It's for keeping you in this in the 153 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: sweet spot. And there are, of course manual transmissions, automatic transmissions, 154 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:32,079 Speaker 1: there are variants of those UM and UH. And while 155 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: we're really focusing on manual transmissions, if we were to 156 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 1: talk about automatic I think I would have to call 157 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: someone else in because yeah, we would need scotten here, 158 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: because it's a little bit beyond what we are certainly 159 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: our personal technical level with the automotive industry. Not to 160 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: mention the fact that I don't know how I would 161 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: explain it in words without the benefit of pictures. It's 162 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: already given an interpretive dance, and that works less well 163 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: on podcasts. You might you might hear us like with 164 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: by the microphone, but it kind of loses something in 165 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: the translation, right. But so originally automobiles only had two 166 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: forward gears in one reverse, so, but they're the engine 167 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,960 Speaker 1: capacity was much less, so so those narrow ranges were 168 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: kind of okay within two gears. UM. Around the early 169 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: nineteen forties late nineteen thirties, um Ford and Chrysler started 170 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: introducing semi automatic gears that would let you UM. You 171 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: still had to use a clutch, but you could, but 172 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: you could switch between them between the higher gears semi automatically. 173 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: UM in the nineteen fifties, the first full automatics were debuted, 174 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: and UH and then after that, all of the advances 175 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: have been in the in the number of speeds, the 176 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,679 Speaker 1: number of gears that are involved in these transmissions. So 177 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: we went from we went from two up to UH 178 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: four speed manuals, and then six speed manuals started hitting 179 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:53,199 Speaker 1: the market in the late nineteen eighties. Right, so UH, 180 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: and you might wonder why do you have why why 181 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: do you add more of those divisions, more of those speeds. 182 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: It doesn't necess sarily mean that the vehicle is going 183 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: to go faster than earlier vehicles. It does mean that 184 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: the transitions between between the different speeds or the different 185 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: gears becomes a little more smooth because you've you've refined them, 186 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: you've you've made it a little more precise, all right. 187 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: It lets the engines work less hard at the specific 188 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: task that you were asking them to do at the time. 189 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: Along these lines, just just about a couple of days 190 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: ago as of the recording of this podcast, in mid April, 191 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,559 Speaker 1: GM and four General Motors of course and Ford announced 192 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:33,080 Speaker 1: that they're going to to work together to develop nine 193 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: and ten speed transmissions. I'm assuming those are automatic transmissions 194 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: at this point, because that sounds like a very large gearshift. 195 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: That will you know, for for consumer vehicles, and that 196 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,959 Speaker 1: will uh, you know, save gas mileage. It could it 197 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: could raise gas mileage by five to ten percent, which 198 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: is you know, not non insignificant, right, and then you're 199 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: talking about decreased environmental impact. There are a lot of 200 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: other benefits that roll out through these, uh some people 201 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: might call them all evolutionary changes, but they can make 202 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: a big difference down the road. Did not mean to 203 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: do a pun there, and one goes out the crystal 204 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: edge accidental puns. We don't we don't need any of those. 205 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: Don't mean to do it, all right, So so you 206 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: might be thinking, all right, how does this whole torque 207 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: shifting thing work. And we're gonna get into the actual 208 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: mechanics literally of it in a little bit, but in general, 209 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: think of two gears, all right. If you have two 210 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 1: gears of the same size and they are they have 211 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: teeth that interlock. When you turn one gear, the other 212 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 1: gear is going to turn at that same rate. It's 213 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:37,560 Speaker 1: going to be the same number of revolutions per minute 214 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: because they are the same size, same same number of teeth, 215 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. Now, let's say that you 216 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: have a large gear and a smaller gear and they 217 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: are interlocking, and you're turning the large gear, that smaller 218 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: gear is going to do more revolutions per minute than 219 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: the large gear. You know, when you go from the 220 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:58,199 Speaker 1: starting point all the way back around to the starting 221 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: point in the large gear, the small one may have 222 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: turned three or four times, depending upon the ratio between 223 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: the two. Right, same thing. If you have a small 224 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: gear in a large gear and you're turning the small gear, 225 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,439 Speaker 1: you're gonna have to turn that small gear several times, 226 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: you know, to get one of the large gear to 227 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: go around right exactly. And and these these differences in 228 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: speed also result in a difference in torque. So that's 229 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: what's going to become important when we start talking about 230 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: the actual process of shifting and what's going on with 231 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 1: the transmission. For us to understand that, we're really gonna 232 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: have to take a look at the entire drive train 233 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: of a vehicle, which is both exciting and intimidating to me. 234 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: I think, so, I think it's really cool. It's this 235 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: is this is really entertaining physics to me because I 236 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: have I have. I mean, Jonathan doesn't really drive. No, 237 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:49,680 Speaker 1: Jonathan doesn't drive. Don't. Don't even bother putting the word 238 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: really in there. Jonathan does not drive. We wait, we 239 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: fortunately have a limitedly robust public transports. I can get 240 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: I can get generally to where I need to go. 241 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 1: Um uh, And I do drive, but I'm a very 242 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not particularly a car person. So but 243 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: this is so, this is going to be an exciting Yes. 244 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: I will ask Lauren about her experiences with manual transmissions 245 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: later on in the podcast, so stay tuned to find 246 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: out about Lauren's own personal adventures with this technology before 247 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: we actually get into how this works in a real 248 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: life setting, what the process is when you're shifting. I 249 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: need to take just a quick break to thank our sponsor. 250 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 1: All right, let's get back to how transmissions actually work. 251 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:35,559 Speaker 1: So to do this, we have to look at the 252 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,839 Speaker 1: entire system that makes the car go. All right, and 253 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: and you're you're only interacting in this five speed manual 254 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: transmission that we were talking about with with two bits 255 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: of the clutch and the gearshift. Yeah, yeah, But but 256 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: there's a lot going on under this, Yes, a whole lot. 257 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 1: And so first we need to just understand what these 258 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: what these different parts are. So you've got your car's engine, 259 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: this is the thing that makes it go. Ultimately, as 260 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: you are depressing the gas pedal, you are putting in 261 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 1: more fuel to the engine, which is then generating more 262 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: uh power. It creates more kinnetic energy in the form 263 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: of the pistons moving up and down. Those pistons are 264 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: connected to a crank shaft which converts the reciprocating motion 265 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: that's the up and down motion of the pistons into 266 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: rotary motion, meaning it's turning into turning in a circular pattern. Now, 267 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: so the crank shaft goes from the up down motion 268 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: to the rotation motion, which is the very basis of 269 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 1: everything else that's going to happen. Now, the crank shaft 270 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: connects to a flywheel. Now, the fly wheel transmits this 271 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: rotary rotary motion to a clutch plate, and the clutch 272 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: plate is what eventually connects to that clutch pedal. Yeah. Yeah, 273 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: In fact, there's a pressure plate that is pressed up 274 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: against the clutch plate, right. So the pressure plate, when 275 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: it's in contact with the clutch plate, allows this rotary 276 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: motion to transmit through the rest of the of the 277 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: vehicle's drivetrain. So when these two things are in contact 278 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: with one another. Uh, as long as the engine is going, 279 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: then there is some sort of rotation being transmitted at 280 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: that point, assuming you're not in just a neutral So 281 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: what happens when you hit the clutch, Well, when you 282 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: hit the clutch, the pressure plate rises up off of 283 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: lifts off the clutch plate. Once the pressure plates separates 284 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 1: from the clutch plate, all power is cut off to 285 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: the rest of the transmission, the rest of the transmission exactly. So, 286 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: so while the engine is still going, uh, it is 287 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 1: not providing rotary force to the transmission and wheels, which 288 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: is what allows you to shift gears exactly without making 289 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: things explode. All right, this is why you why if 290 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: you're driving a manual, you know, driving stick, you have 291 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 1: to hit the clutch first because that ends up pulling 292 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: that pressure plate off so that you are able to 293 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: shift gears without making the horrible grinding noise and destroying 294 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: your big brother's vehicle. Uh, I say big brother because 295 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: I know a guy who did do that. Yeah, I 296 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: was not there, thankfully. So assuming that the clutch plate 297 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: and pressure plader are in contact with one another, you 298 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: you have not just hit the clutch um it has 299 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:27,000 Speaker 1: been providing that rotary motion to the gearbox shaft. Now, 300 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: the gearbox consists of several parts itself. You've got the uh, 301 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: the main well. You've got a lay shaft which is 302 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: connect to that gearbox shaft. You've got a main shaft, 303 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: and you've got several gears attached to both. You also 304 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: have something that's either called a dog clutch or a collar, 305 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 1: depending upon who you're talking to. And that is what 306 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: is connected to a selector mechanism, which, in the case 307 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: of most vehicles we think of as the stick shift, 308 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: the manual shift. So, uh, the lay shaft is has 309 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: got gears that are are actually part of that shaft. 310 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: They're they're they're splind spleened, spleened. It's probably not the 311 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 1: correct pronunciation, and I'm going to assume it's splind directly 312 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: to the shaft. In other words, it's got a direct attachment. 313 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: So as the chaft turns, so do the gears. Those 314 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: gears have teeth along the edges and they interlock with 315 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: gears that are on the main shaft. But here's the 316 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:24,679 Speaker 1: big difference between the gears on the lay shaft and 317 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:26,840 Speaker 1: the ones on the main shaft. The gears on the 318 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,880 Speaker 1: main shaft are mounted on ball bearings, so they can 319 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,360 Speaker 1: spend freely around the axis of the main shaft without 320 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: actually turning the main shift right. They're just kind of 321 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: ghosting along over it until they become connected to the 322 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 1: shaft through another piece of technology. Yeah, that would be 323 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:46,360 Speaker 1: the collar or dog clutch. Now, this is attached directly 324 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 1: to the main shaft. It can slide to the left 325 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,639 Speaker 1: or right along the main shaft, but if it turns, 326 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: the main shaft turns, so by interlocking the color with 327 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,920 Speaker 1: the side of one of these main shaft gears. Both 328 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: both the collar and into the main shaft gears have 329 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: teeth have teeth along the sides of them so that 330 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: I can interlock. Yeah, exactly, So, so imagine that I 331 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: think of it this way. You've got a gear that's 332 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 1: got teeth along the outer edge, like a like you 333 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: would see in a typical gear. But you also have 334 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: if you're looking at it from from one of the sides, 335 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: so you're not looking at it headlong, You've turned it sideways, 336 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:22,919 Speaker 1: so you're looking at it like, you know, like a 337 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: plate you're holding it up, it would have teeth and 338 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: holes along the surface that you're actually looking at, and 339 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,639 Speaker 1: those interlock with the collar or dog clutch, right, they 340 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: kind of sandwich together. Right, So what happens is the 341 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: lay shaft gears turn. That makes the main shaft gears turn, 342 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: and if the collar is is engaged in that particular 343 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: main shaft gear, then the main shaft turns. Uh. I know, 344 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 1: it sounds really confusing. It's a little difficult to get 345 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: across without having visual effects. We will, by the way, 346 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: link on Facebook two pictures and videos of this, so 347 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: it makes it easier to to to visualize and understand. 348 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: But once you've got that main shaft turning, that's what 349 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: then provides rotary motion to the differential. The differentials job 350 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: is to to turn that rotary motion ninety degrees because 351 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: at this point before you hit the differential, that rotation 352 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: is perpendicular to the wheels, which would not work. You 353 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: wouldn't get the wheels to turn that way. Not very useful. Now, yeah, 354 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,480 Speaker 1: you have to turn that rot rotation, that motion to 355 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: be parallel with the wheels in order to get them 356 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: to turn, so you can go forward or backward, depending 357 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,679 Speaker 1: upon which gear is is engaged. So the differential is 358 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,159 Speaker 1: a set of gears that transmits this ninety degrees, so 359 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,840 Speaker 1: you can do that again. This is your basic five 360 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: speed manual transmission with rear wheel drive. So that's the 361 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: basic layout. But what's going on with the transmission alright? 362 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,120 Speaker 1: So remember I said that you had the lay shaft 363 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:55,680 Speaker 1: and the main shaft, both which have gears on them. 364 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 1: So imagine that the lay shaft gears are set ups. 365 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: It's gears that are increasing in size as you go 366 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,360 Speaker 1: from gear one to gear five, and then you have 367 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: that your your final gear on that shaft is for reverse. 368 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: It's about the same size as the one that's going 369 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,399 Speaker 1: to be on the main shaft. Along the main shaft, 370 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: of course, the gears are going to be in reverse 371 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: order of size. So for the small lay shaft gear 372 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: you have a large main shaft gear. The next main 373 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: shaft gear is a little smaller, the next one a 374 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 1: little smaller and a little smaller. So by the time 375 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 1: you get to fifth gear, you've got a large lay 376 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:37,439 Speaker 1: shaft gear and a small main shaft gear. This is 377 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: all because of that that relationship between speed and torque 378 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: I was talking about. So if you've got a small 379 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: lay shaft gear turning a large main shaft gear, that 380 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 1: means that the larger main shaft gear has more torque 381 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: but less speed. So that's important. When you are accelerating 382 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 1: from a stop so your car has not started moving, 383 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: you want to engage that small gear on the lay 384 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,640 Speaker 1: shaft to turn the large gear on the main shaft 385 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: so that you will start to accelerate from a stopped position. Now, 386 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: once you start speeding up, you are eventually going to 387 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,439 Speaker 1: require the engine to do more more work than what 388 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:14,600 Speaker 1: it is comfortable doing. That's when you need to shift 389 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: to second gear, which will be a decrease in torque 390 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 1: but an increase in speed, And it's because that gear 391 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: ratio has changed. The lay shift gear is a little 392 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: larger for gear too, and the main shaft gears a 393 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: little smaller for gear too. That's where you get that 394 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,160 Speaker 1: change in torque and speed. And this is true for 395 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,640 Speaker 1: for each speed step up, for each gear step up. Yeah, exactly. 396 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: So once you get up to gear five, that's when 397 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,399 Speaker 1: you're going really really fast, but don't yeah, about as 398 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: fast as the engine can hand out without you know, 399 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: having you drive off a cliff dukes of hazard style, 400 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: in which case gravity takes control in your acceleration is 401 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:57,879 Speaker 1: completely dependent upon that. But that's the general progression. So 402 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,200 Speaker 1: if you're looking at how does the power flow, I'll 403 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: walk you through it one more time. So power goes 404 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,359 Speaker 1: like this, engine to pistons, pistons to crank shaft, crank 405 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: cheft to flywheel, flywheel to gear shaft, gear cheft to 406 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: lay shaft, lay cheft to lay shaft gears, lay shaft 407 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,159 Speaker 1: gears to main shaft gears, main shift gears to the 408 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: dog clutch or color color to main shaft, main shaft 409 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: to differential differential to wheels, and the wheels on the 410 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 1: bus go round and round. Alternately, the red things connected 411 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 1: to my wristwatch. Yeah, there you go. And so uh 412 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 1: when when you are shifting gears. What what's actually happening 413 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: is again you hit the clutch. It then separates the 414 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: power of the engine from the from the gearbox down 415 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,879 Speaker 1: the line, so that allows you to move the collar 416 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: or dog clutch from one of those gears to another. 417 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: And if if you want to visualize it, imagine that 418 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:56,800 Speaker 1: you've got a horizontal pole and you've got gears going 419 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,880 Speaker 1: from the largest to the smallest end in reverse, which 420 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: is kind of a medium sized gear. I'll get the 421 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 1: reverse in a minute, because that one's kind of interesting, 422 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: like how do you make it go backwards? You might say, well, um, 423 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: you've got this this range of gears. Between each set 424 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 1: of two, you've got one of those dog clutches or 425 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: collars that's directly attached to the main shaft, all right, 426 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: so that that collar can move to the left or 427 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 1: right along this horizontal pole and engage either of the 428 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 1: two gears that are on either side of it. And there, yeah, 429 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: there's set of these in a in a manual five speed, 430 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 1: there's going to be three of these collars, right because 431 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: between gears one and two, gears three and four, and 432 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: gears five and reverse, or you know whatever, configuration there are. 433 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: That's that's where the collars would be and they would 434 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 1: be able to engage either of the two, whichever one 435 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,880 Speaker 1: on either side. So if you're in gear number one 436 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: and you're speeding up to gear number two, hit the clutch, 437 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:56,919 Speaker 1: the pressure plate comes off, the clutch plate. Power is 438 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: cut off to the from the engine to the transmission exactly. Uh. 439 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: And then as you shift the gear shift from one 440 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,639 Speaker 1: to two, the dog color disengages from one and moves 441 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:13,400 Speaker 1: into the gear too, locks in place. By that time, 442 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: you've you've left of the clutch and the power gets 443 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 1: re engaged and it just starts turning or it allows 444 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,920 Speaker 1: that main gear, that main shift gear to turn that 445 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: dog collar at that point it goes. Point is decreased, 446 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,159 Speaker 1: speed is increased, yes, um and uh. And that is 447 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 1: the grinding that you hear. Actually, if you miss shift, 448 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,399 Speaker 1: it's going to be the teeth on the side of 449 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,920 Speaker 1: the collar against the teeth on the side of the 450 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: main shaft gear that it's trying and failing has nothing 451 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,960 Speaker 1: to do with the lay shaft. That's always going to 452 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: the lay shaft and main and main shift gears are 453 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: always going to be turning at the same general speed 454 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,159 Speaker 1: depending upon how much power you're giving the engine. They 455 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 1: are not. It has nothing to do with the lay 456 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 1: shaft at all. It's just that main shaft gear. Although 457 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: in originally in manual transmissions they were called sliding gear transmissions, 458 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: and the main shaft gears were in fact blind to 459 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: the main shaft so so they weren't on those ball bearings. 460 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: They weren't floating along it so um which which meant 461 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:16,640 Speaker 1: that the grinding noise that you would hear in those 462 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 1: originals was in fact the teeth of the main shaft 463 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: gears failing to line up and grinding against the lay 464 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,360 Speaker 1: shaft gears. I would imagine you would only have one 465 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 1: lay shaft gear, and you would have variable main shaft 466 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 1: gear sizes, and that's what would you know? It would 467 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: just shift along those That's how I would imagine that 468 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,440 Speaker 1: would work. Of course I don't know because I didn't 469 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,359 Speaker 1: look into that. But that's that's my first reaction based 470 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:43,440 Speaker 1: upon how how the typical five speed manual transmission car works. 471 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: I didn't look that deeply into it, so I can 472 00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: I can neither confirm nor deny. I'm sure when of 473 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: my listeners will take me to task and explain how 474 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: I got that completely wrong. That was just me guessing 475 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,679 Speaker 1: from based upon my understanding of the other the other method. 476 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,399 Speaker 1: So so reverse, how does reverse work? Reverse is interesting 477 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,160 Speaker 1: because you actual they have three gears, not just the two, 478 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: not just the lay shaft gear and the main shaft gear. 479 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: There's a tiny little gear in between them, called the 480 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: idler gear. Now, because you have a third gear there 481 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 1: that's in between two gears, you actually reverse the rotational 482 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:20,080 Speaker 1: direction for the main shaft gear. So while all the 483 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 1: other let's let's use you know, clockwise and counterclockwise, while 484 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: all the other main shaft gears maybe turning in a 485 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 1: clockwise motion based upon your perspective, the reverse one will 486 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,960 Speaker 1: be moving in a counterclockwise motion. Or winter Shans for 487 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:38,520 Speaker 1: my Shakespearean friends. Because that other, that tiny little gear 488 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,959 Speaker 1: is all that needs to happen to h to reverse 489 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: that motion. This is easy to see if you ever 490 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,400 Speaker 1: have gears just to play with. So if you interlock 491 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 1: two gears and you and you turn them, you'll see 492 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 1: that based upon the rotation of one, the rotation together 493 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 1: is always going to be the same. When you put 494 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 1: a another gear between them and you turn the first one, 495 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 1: the third one. The third gear that used to be 496 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,280 Speaker 1: the second gear is now turning in the opposite direction 497 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:06,160 Speaker 1: as it did before because you've got that that intermediary gear, 498 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: the idler gear. So that's what happens when you switch 499 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,919 Speaker 1: into reverse it uh it the the collar engages with 500 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: the main shaft gear that is being turned by this 501 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 1: idler gear that in turn is being turned by the 502 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:23,200 Speaker 1: lay shaft gear. And to everything turn turn, turn, there 503 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:28,680 Speaker 1: is ask your parents, all right. So that's that's the 504 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:33,159 Speaker 1: basis for manual transmission. Automatic transmission is a little a 505 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: lot more complicated because we would be talking about planetary gears, 506 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:39,920 Speaker 1: which include and I'm not making this up for people 507 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: who are unfamiliar with it includes a planet gear, of 508 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 1: sun gear and a ring gear. But it's all incorporated 509 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: into one component, and it it might as well be magic. Uh, 510 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,120 Speaker 1: it is beyond my ken. I know that Scott understands 511 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:55,639 Speaker 1: it backwards and forwards, and if he were in this 512 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,520 Speaker 1: room right now, he would just be quietly chuckling to himself, 513 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:04,160 Speaker 1: not in the mean way, just in his more honey, yeah, 514 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: it's so cute that you're trying kind of way. But 515 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: now comes to the important part of our podcast, Lauren, 516 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:16,439 Speaker 1: I want to know about your experiences driving a stick 517 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: shift car, because I have none. Yeah. Yeah, the well, 518 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: I've I've never um done a whole lot of time 519 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:28,879 Speaker 1: driving stick shift cars. This is a very brief series 520 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:31,359 Speaker 1: of lessons that I received from from from one of 521 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: the first people that I dated, Bob, who was a 522 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: big car enthusiast and was really keen on teaching me 523 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: how to drive stick And so the first time that 524 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,280 Speaker 1: I got into this, yeah, I had driven, I'd driven 525 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: automatics before, so I I was passingly familiar anyway with 526 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: how cars worked. But but I got in and I 527 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: sat down and he was like, all right, well you're 528 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: a neutral, so um, so you're gonna want to disengage 529 00:28:55,680 --> 00:29:00,480 Speaker 1: the clutch And I was like, clutch. Where this was 530 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: where Bob learns that perhaps there's a preliminary lesson that 531 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:08,360 Speaker 1: needs to be taught before the practical Yeah, it was, 532 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: it was, it was. It was a slow start. Well, 533 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: I have to admit, like I I used to a 534 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: friend of mine every now and then would get a 535 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,360 Speaker 1: chance to drive his mother's car. And his mother's car 536 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: was a manual transmission, and I used to take both 537 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: delight and genuine terror. Uh, the experience of screaming whenever 538 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 1: he would start to pull out of our high school 539 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: parking lot and halfway through the turn the car starts 540 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,080 Speaker 1: to stall out because he's not he's not handling the 541 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: car properly. Right, there's when when when when you press 542 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,800 Speaker 1: the clutch, there's this you um, you can feel when 543 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:45,920 Speaker 1: it engages and disengages and um, and you have to 544 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,360 Speaker 1: pay very close attention. I've noticed anyway the cars that 545 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:51,720 Speaker 1: I've driven to to where that is. And that's when 546 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: you can use the gearshift. And if you miss it, 547 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: then you either stall out or you get that terrible 548 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 1: grinding noise and you're lucky both. Right, Yeah, And that 549 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 1: is that is a thing that I'm really I'm really 550 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: awful at. I could. I could always. I was fine 551 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: driving out highways when I could kind of just go 552 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:09,800 Speaker 1: up to five and hang out there for a long time. 553 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: But but once we got back into into town, I 554 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:13,720 Speaker 1: would be like, you know what, I'm going to pull 555 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: over into the first gas station, set it into neutral 556 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,280 Speaker 1: and just like leap screaming from the car and allow 557 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:24,360 Speaker 1: somebody with more experienced handle Wow. Alright, note to self. 558 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: All right, So uh, yeah, I mean and of course 559 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:31,520 Speaker 1: people there are people who who genuinely love driving driving 560 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: manual transmission cars because they have that sense of they've 561 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: got even more control over the vehicles. Yeah, and you 562 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 1: really can feel I mean, I I understand it's fun. 563 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:42,720 Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's it's fun to to get to 564 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: to get to move stuff around and you feel like 565 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: you're a crazy action here and you can feel the 566 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:48,040 Speaker 1: road better and you feel like you do have more 567 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: control over what the engine is doing. But but in 568 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,280 Speaker 1: stop and go traffic, like for example, every day in Atlanta, 569 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,600 Speaker 1: it's not something that I would particularly relish, right. Yeah. Yeah, 570 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:01,480 Speaker 1: if you're if you're driving a nice, uh scenic route 571 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:03,719 Speaker 1: where there's not all that stuff and going might be 572 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 1: a huge blast. But in in you know, your day 573 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:09,440 Speaker 1: to day traffic, it might be a little bit more 574 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: of a nuisance over time. Well, that that covers our 575 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:17,000 Speaker 1: podcast on transmissions. We want to thank Eric for sending 576 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: that request. In we want to remind everyone that feel 577 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: free to ask us to cover various topics. We love 578 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,840 Speaker 1: to get requests. Uh and and you know, whatever topic 579 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 1: you want, it doesn't have to be tech related because 580 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 1: we can say no. But You can send us messages 581 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: on email our addresses tex stuff at Discovery dot com, 582 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: or drop us a line on Facebook or Twitter, or 583 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: handle both of those is text stuff, hs W and 584 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 1: Lauren and I will talk to you again really soon. 585 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,800 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, does 586 00:31:52,840 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: it has staff works dot com