Different Gears: All About The Transmission

Car owners in the Philippines often rely on professional mechanics to maintain their cars for them. This remains true because auto service stations are perfectly convenient and relatively available throughout the metro. No doubt auto service stations and professional car mechanics will make sure that your car is in its best possible condition. Despite this, bear in mind that a little knowledge about your vehicle is always helpful. Responsible car owners are able to identify their vehicle’s many parts, like what a muffler is or the functions of a steel tube. In the Philippines where traffic is always difficult to avoid, it is advisable for you as a vehicle owner to understand how your car actually functions.

Simple Gears

Our car needs a certain amount of power for it to move. The transmission is the part of your vehicle that controls how much power you give your engine. It controls the spin of your engine in order to produce torque, or turning force, to make your car move. The engine connects to the transmission through the clutch. Using a series of gears connected through a steel tube called the input shaft, the clutch is connected to the engine. It is the input shaft that allows the engine and the transmission to spin at the same time.

Meanwhile, there is another steel tube called a layshaft that is connected to the input shaft. Finally, a third splined steel tube connects to the differential that is responsible for turning the wheels of your car. Gears on bearings are connected to this tube – also called the output shaft – that can slide left or right in order to engage the different gears of your car.

Gear Ratios

The transmission has different gear ratios that can be accessed to make the input shaft turn at a higher rpm. Keep in mind that all engines have what we call a “redline” or a maximum value for how much your engine can rotate per minute without the engine exploding. Applied to the gear ratio, each gear is able to produce a different rpm value for the output shaft. This means that when you switch to a different gear, the output shaft engages a different gear that rides on bearings and has different rpm redlines. In between these gear bearings is a separate gear called a collar which is connected to a gear selector. The collar allows the gear selector to connect and disconnect from intended gear bearing. When the collar is not connected to any gear, then the car is in neutral.

How Does It Work?

Cars today are commonly outfitted with five speed transmissions. This means that the simple gear discussed above is connected to four more gears of the same mechanics. When your car is turned on, the engine allows for the input shaft to start spinning. The input shaft remains one single steel tube while the layshaft extends to accommodate the five gears; the splined differential output shaft is also extended to accommodate the five gears. Meanwhile, these five gears have collars in between them that can be engaged or disengaged by moving the clutch.

In cars with manual transmissions, moving the clutch in funny H-shaped patterns allow for a particular collar to engage a particular gear. When in neutral, the collars remains disengaged from any gear but should remain spinning. Once you move it to first gear, the collar connects to the corresponding gear which has its own redline. On the other hand, when switching to second gear, the collar becomes disengaged and bites into the second corresponding gear (which also have its own redline).

It is always good practice to know the difference between a gear, a steel tube, and a splined steel tube. In the Philippines, auto service stations are very convenient and efficient in making sure that your car is maintained in proper working order. Despite this, it’s always good to know a little bit about how your car works. Knowledge will definitely help you, especially if you hear different noises coming from your engine; In cases like this, there might be gears or steel tubes that need to be replaced or need to be checked.