I don't know about your car, but if you turn off the engine on mine, you loose power on the brakes and steering, if you have a stick, just use compression to decelerate and the hand brake at a safe speed. Unless there is an electrical fire, turning off your car is the worst you can do.
Also, if the situation changes and you suddenly require engine power for some reason, and you've switched off the engine, you are, to use the technical term, boned.
The rest of the work can be done by crashing, or possibly the emergency brake.
Yes, by then you will have slowed down enough that the parking brake's measly braking power will get you to a halt. That's also the procedure you should follow when your brakes are shot, though you'd have to 'crash' if your hand brake was also FUBAR'd.
I was clearly being sarcastic when I put crashing as a preferred option over the parking brake.
I don't know about your car, but if you turn off the engine on mine, you loose power on the brakes and steering, if you have a stick, just use compression to decelerate and the hand brake at a safe speed. Unless there is an electrical fire, turning off your car is the worst you can do.
Also, if the situation changes and you suddenly require engine power for some reason, and you've switched off the engine, you are, to use the technical term, boned.
Indeed. Compression followed by handbrake is standard stuff, while turning the engine off is a risk that, at best, will merely save energy.
I guess Nine would put you under "old car that can barely move itself".
What part of 'old Feroza' don't you understand? He even uses the same word!
I was clearly being sarcastic when I put crashing as a preferred option over the parking brake.
I know, I just gave a comment on that IF your hand brake is also broken, you can crash to get to a standstill. Just going up against the guard rail at a small angle is enough.
Yes, by then you will have slowed down enough that the parking brake's measly braking power will get you to a halt.
One of the things I do miss about having a handbrake that actuated the rear brakes. Back when I had a car with rear drum brakes I stopped it with the handbrake to see how well it worked. The answer was not very, but it did stop.
I don't know about your car, but if you turn off the engine on mine, you loose power on the brakes and steering,
The idea was leave it in gear as you're idling along and turn the engine off. As the transmission is still engaged, it should stop the car.
As for no power steering or power brakes. I driven with neither, it's hard, but doable. People these days are way too dependent on power assists.
What part of 'old Feroza' don't you understand? He even uses the same word!
Hey, the Fearsome Feroza was pretty bloody quick for what it was when it was in possession of all of it's wheels, and it wasn't that old, it was from 1999 or so, and wasn't so old at the time of the crash.
Is only a 'problem' at low speeds. My mother's Golf had no power steering, and was lowered by the previous owner (son of my dad's uncle). It was a brick on the road. A brick with a 5 speed box and a secret automatic 6th gear once you hit ~100kmh (actually just resonance, but super sekrit car sounds more awesome).
You know, It's weird how many people don't know how to check their own oil, steering and transmission fluid. As I've said to Rym in another thread, to many people, Cars are essentially Fuel > Magic involving words like spark plugs, crankshaft, and differential > MOVEMENT! But still, that sucks. I hope it isn't to serious.
I know where the dipstick is, it's just in a very inconvenient location (read: under two pipes and a bunch of scary electrical wiring).
1) Everyone should learn how to drive a stick. You never know when it will come in handy. However, in an urban environment, I would recommend an automatic transmission. There is nothing more miserable than a traffic jam and standard transmission.
2) My head is spinning. Is it okay to just leave the transmission in park, with no parking brake used, if you are on a flat surface with no likelihood of being hit? I'm thinking of my garage, for example.
Funny thing about my car. Because of the way it was built, it's impossible to check the level of the manual transmission. All you can do is drain it and make certain to fill it with the exact amount.
Funny thing about my car. Because of the way it was built, it's impossible to check the level of the manual transmission. All you can do is drain it and make certain to fill it with the exact amount.
I think only automatic transmissions have fluid and the means to measure it, manual transmissions have oil and grease, but you don't have access to them, you just change it every 50000km or every time you service your brakes and make your oil change, same goes for the differential.
I have always engaged the parking brake when parking every vehicle I've ever owned regardless of where I was parking. The only exception to this was extreme cold weather, where it would sometimes stick with my old Laser.
Basically:
Stop car, maintain main braking. Drop to Neutral. Engage parking brake. Release main brake. Drop to Park. Turn off engine.
2) My head is spinning. Is it okay to just leave the transmission in park, with no parking brake used, if you are on a flat surface with no likelihood of being hit? I'm thinking of my garage, for example.
Well, on principle, I'm opposed to it, but it isn't terribly likely to do significant damage, even over a long time. Essentially, It's safe enough, and is unlikely to cause you problems in the long run, but I wouldn't do it myself.
1) Everyone should learn how to drive a stick. You never know when it will come in handy. However, in an urban environment, I would recommend an automatic transmission. There is nothing more miserable than a traffic jam and standard transmission.
Eh, depends on your mindset. I like the rhythm you develop. Plus, if your clutch control is good, you shouldn't be aggravated by the amount of shifts to neutral that are necessary.
2) My head is spinning. Is it okay to just leave the transmission in park, with no parking brake used, if you are on a flat surface with no likelihood of being hit? I'm thinking of my garage, for example.
Depends on the "levelness" of the surface. I always engage the parking brake, mainly because I always drive manual; plus, like Nine said, it's just good practice. However, given that the issue is that the parking pawl being stressed by forces (namely from inclines) acting on it, I'd say that if your car can stay at a stop in neutral with no brakes applied, you might be safe. I know my mom's current car had 150k miles on it before it needed a transmission swap, and she likely didn't use the parking brake in the garage.
1) Everyone should learn how to drive a stick. You never know when it will come in handy. However, in an urban environment, I would recommend an automatic transmission. There is nothing more miserable than a traffic jam and standard transmission.
I don't see the difference between keeping the clutch on compared to keeping the brakes on in an automatic. Most modern manual transmission cars can handle traffic jams with ease with you only wiggling your foot that's on the clutch.
2) My head is spinning. Is it okay to just leave the transmission in park, with no parking brake used, if you are on a flat surface with no likelihood of being hit? I'm thinking of my garage, for example.
Yes, you can. There's little reason to not also engage the parking brake. If you have a manual you can just park it in gear (as gedavids said he does on hills), but the parking brake should also be engaged in that situation.
I cannot fathom how foolish one would have to be to park without the handbrake in a car with a manual trans.
Gedavids mentioned doing so on the previous page. You just lock up the gearbox, like the park gear on an automatic. It's just as stupid to do it without parking brake. Some people always park in gear because they prefer the idea of added security. I rarely park in gear because I live in the Netherlands. Shit's so flat here that parking in neutral is fine.
I think only automatic transmissions have fluid and the means to measure it, manual transmissions have oil and grease, but you don't have access to them, you just change it every 50000km or every time you service your brakes and make your oil change, same goes for the differential.
Notice I never said fluid. But my trans actually takes something similar to ATF, as do most manuals these days. The only thing I know that still takes gear oil is differentials.
You just lock up the gearbox, like the park gear on an automatic.
No, it just leaves the transmission engaged with the engine and the compression holds the engine and thus the car steady, it's a completely different mechanism.
It's just as stupid to do it without parking brake. Some people always park in gear because they prefer the idea of added security.
I can't get my key out if I don't leave it in reverse.
Yes, it locks the gearbox. My phrasing isn't perfect and can be misinterpreted. English still isn't my native language.
Yes, but it does so in a completely different fashion than an automatic. The forces are distributed to the gears and engine normal, not just one little pin.
Yes, but it does so in a completely different fashion than an automatic. The forces are distributed to the gears and engine normal, not just one little pin.
Correct, so excuse me while I keep calling it 'locking the gearbox' when I'm not calling it 'parking in gear'.
Everything in the computer is just as physical as everything in the car. There's no such thing as non-physical complexity.
I didn't phrase that well, I'm sorry. I meant things such as software and such when I said "Non-physical systems" - You can't hold Linux itself in your hands, for example. You can carry something that holds it, and or something that's running it, but the running program itself is not a physical entity.
The idea that the ECU in my car is from 1998 kinda scares me.
So is my car, it has 512KB of memory. It's not a programmable computer in the way say as a PC though. It has one job to do and thus it's really no problem that it's old tech. There's a project to reverse engineer the ECU of my car so it can easily be reprogrammed for larger turbos and what not. The project has been running almost 3 years and they still don't have it completely figured out by any means, it's that advanced and complicated.
Also, cars are possibly much more complicated than computers. I've been up all night reading, and I still know that I know nothing.
The amount of thought, time and effort that goes into designing a modern car is probably in line with what it takes to develop a new CPU.
You can't hold Linux itself in your hands, for example. You can carry something that holds it, and or something that's running it, but the running program itself is not a physical entity.
Well, I would arguebicker that every instance of Linux, every conception, even every idea about it, is a physical thing (by nature of being a collection of physical things). You can very well hold "Linux" in your hands, and there is no example of it that you can't. There just happen to be millions of physical copies of "Linux." Parts of them are stored in the arrangement of the matter and energy inside of some people's brains. Other parts of them are stored in the arrangement of the matter and energy inside of hard drives or flash drives or CD ROMs.
An idea, even in its most abstract sense, is a physical thing, made of physical components, that spreads by causing other matter to maintain a similar configuration (or, in the very least, an analogous configuration).
You very well can hold Linux in your hands. There is no Linux that is not comprised of the arrangement of matter and energy.
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As for no power steering or power brakes. I driven with neither, it's hard, but doable. People these days are way too dependent on power assists.
2) My head is spinning. Is it okay to just leave the transmission in park, with no parking brake used, if you are on a flat surface with no likelihood of being hit? I'm thinking of my garage, for example.
Basically:
Stop car, maintain main braking.
Drop to Neutral.
Engage parking brake.
Release main brake.
Drop to Park.
Turn off engine.
Also, cars are possibly much more complicated than computers. I've been up all night reading, and I still know that I know nothing.
An idea, even in its most abstract sense, is a physical thing, made of physical components, that spreads by causing other matter to maintain a similar configuration (or, in the very least, an analogous configuration).
You very well can hold Linux in your hands. There is no Linux that is not comprised of the arrangement of matter and energy.