Questions tagged [theory]
Use this tag when the question is **primarily** about the underlying ideas behind how something works. This tag should be used in conjunction with another tag for the area of interest, for example [electrical] or [suspension]. It should not be used "stand alone." Please use the [engine-theory] tag for those questions.
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In a manual transmission car when clutching halfway why throttling does not move the car?
I have a manual transmission car.
Preconcept: I thought the clutch worked with two disks, when there's more friction between them, the transmission disk makes the other disk move. The friction is ...
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What are the side effects of disabling fuel tank ventilation?
what are the side effects of disabling fuel tank ventilation? Especially for petrol cars. Is it true that the ventilation system, which constantly allows the air to move into and out of the tank ...
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Is continuous variable transmission (CVT) averse to extended cruise control?
Continuous variable transmission engines are now common. What this appears to mean (do correct me) is that instead of matching a specific pair of discrete gears (for 1st speed, 2nd speed, etc), there ...
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Confused as to how components are powered
I have a fair knowledge of cars but one thing I cannot understand is how the components such as the radio/wipers/bulbs/heaters etc are connected to a power source ?
Let's say in your house you have a ...
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Understanding the process of wiring
If 14 gauge wire can supply 120 volts to three 60 watt light bulbs
Then why do some vehicles require 3 power wires for one light bulb ( 2 for HID lighting for the ballast and one for the parking light ...
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How does double clutching work if gears spin at different rpms?
I watched this video regarding double clutching, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tescWzTlGQ0, and while I understood the general principle, I’m confused as to why the different gears would start to ...
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Why doesn't applying the brake auto-apply the clutch in a manual transmission car?
This is more out of curiosity than anything. I've driven both manual and automatic vehicles, and it seems to me, that the hardest part of driving a manual vehicle is starting on an incline. The rest ...
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Will solid state EV batteries be chargeable using current chargers?
It seems that solid state batteries in EVs may be only a few years off. Does anyone know whether current charging systems/plugs will be capable of charging these batteries?
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What are the benefits of lowering a vehicle for racing
Lowering a vehicle affects many aspects related to suspension geometry and aerodynamics. I am trying to understand these phenomena better. Note that although my question sounds like an opinion, it's ...
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Why did old cars have really long throw shifters?
What was the reason that old cars had very long throw shifters and that modern cars now have much shorter throw shifters? For example even old sports cars like the urmodell generation of 911 had very ...
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Oxygen sensor "clean air source"?
('07 Cobalt, Ecotec 2.2L)
I came on the text below in the AllData (paywalled) service manual. It seems like they're saying that ambient air comes into the exhaust 'oxygen' sensor (pic below) ... ...
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Why does the impeller of a torque converter sit behind the turbine?
i saw this picture of a Chrysler A-727 TorqueFlite and it shows that the impeller actually comes after the turbine. Why is it done like this? Doesn't it make more sense to put the impeller before the ...
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A sprocket, sprocket-wheel or chainwheel is a "profiled wheel" with teeth that mesh with a chain, track or other perforated or indented material
What does "profiled wheel" mean in "a sprocket, sprocket-wheel or chainwheel is a profiled wheel with teeth that mesh with a chain, track or other perforated or indented material"? ...
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Purpose of small forward-facing deflectors in front of rear wheels
On many new vehicles there are small, forward-facing deflectors in front of the rear wheels that look like small splash guards. What is the purpose of these? I assume they are for aerodynamic (fuel-...
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How does an epicyclic differential split torque?
How does an epicyclic differential split torque even when rotating as a single locked unit with no relative motion between its parts? Should it not have 50/50 torque split because its all rotating as ...
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Why do most cars have positive offset wheels from the factory?
Most cars come with stock wheels that have very high positive offset.
Why was this design choice taken? Does it improve fuel economy or make it cheaper to manufacture?
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Does electric fuel pumps run at constant or variable speed?
In websites I have seen that fuel pumps have a pressure range of say 30-95 psi. Why do they give a range of pressure? I had read that these pressure values refer to the unobstructed flow pressure ...
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Why does brake pedal ever move
I don't think my question has any connection to vehicle maintenance or repair but I think this is the closest site to my question topic.
My question may be arising from misunderstanding. For that I'm ...
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Why does the wheel size affect the cars gearing?
Using online gearing top speed calculators I realized that the bigger the diameter of the wheels, the higher the theoretical gearing top speed is. Why is that? Why does bigger wheel act as increasing ...
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Does increasing final drive ratio actually improve overall acceleration?
Hopefully, this is the correct forum to ask this. There's lots of stuff online about final drive ratios, but not much with respect to actual acceleration times, and usually it's just anecdotal, butt-...
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Why does a car push start?
A lot of people've been there. I also have done this (unfortunately). But why does this happen?
Procedure is very simple: turn the ignition on, engage 2nd gear, push the clutch in, get up to speed, ...
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Theoretical AWD question
Don't know if this is a right place to ask this.
So I know there's a difference between 4WD and AWD, and the difference being AWD has equal power distribution between front and rear axles right while ...
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Could all cars ride four times faster? [Transmission / Differential mechanism]
In a book "How a car works" I have read such sentence:
The crown wheel usually has about four times as many teeth as the
pinion gear, causing the wheels to turn at a quarter the
propeller-...
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To ground or not To ground
Sure most cars have neg earth chassis return .Boats have single point ground so there are no hull currents to cause electrolytic corrosion .My question is about busses .They have been known to have ...
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Can inline plunger mechanical injection pumps pull through the fuel?
I know that they have lift pumps that bring the fuel towards the plungers so that the plungers can push and pressurize the fuel towards the injectors but i was wondering if lets say we removed the ...
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Bolt torque estimation based on angle and material
Is there a valid generic formula to roughly estimate a bolt's tightening torque similar to the "tighten by hand until seated, tighten XXX degrees more with your wrench"?
I have used for many ...
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Does a diameter of a brake line affect braking pressure
I am currently building a brake system for a vehicle ground up and I know that the diameter of the master cylinder would affect the braking force proportionally to the area of the master cylinder. But ...
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Dual brake calipers with one brake line?
A comment at the end of this ChrisFix video (at about 14:42): https://youtu.be/gjqeFEyaUxc?t=882 raised my eyebrows a tiny bit.
Chris says that you can run two brake calipers (two calipers on each of ...
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Why do the brakes "freeze" the suspension?
Last week I was driving a motorcycle. When I stopped at a traffic light I noticed the rear suspension dropped a little when I released the rear brake. Later I noticed my car did the same thing. When ...
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Questions about the clutch pilot bearing
I understand how the clutch system works in a manual transmission, but I'm struggling to get a proper image of what the pilot bearing does into my head. Does the input shaft always rest inside it, ...
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How can a DCT be so fast and smooth during hard acceleration and high rpm shifting?
I know how a DCT works and what parts it has, but I've always wondered how it manages to shift very fast and still be smooth, while having little torque drop during shifts.In a manual transmission, ...
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Can car alternator be used to save fuel by using it as a regenerative system at the same time?
Car alternators are 3 phase DC excited synchronous electric machines. They can be used as a motor by a proper 3 phase motor driver.
Let's think that we connected a 200Ah Lithium based (eg. LiFePO4) ...
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Why doesn't polarity matter for fuel injectors?
Why doesn't polarity matter for fuel injectors? If they are essentially a solenoid, then it seems it would matter; swapping polarity would change the direction the electromagnet pulls or pushes.
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Idling a cold engine before driving away: contradictory advice
With modern combustion engines it is common advice that idling before driving away for more than a few seconds (to build up oil pressure) does more harm than good, even in "arctic" winter conditions (...
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Dry motorcycle clutch vs Wet motorcycle clutch discs material
I was wondering if the wet clutch discs on a motorcycle would be made out of the same friction material to the dry clutch discs. I understand this is probably not true, but does anyone know the exact ...
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How is automatic gliding realized with an automatic transmission?
It is generally accepted wisdom that it is a bad idea to coast or glide a car equipped with a conventional hydraulic automatic transmission. Coasting (running with an idling engine that is ...
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What are Wheel ticks and Wheel impulses?
I have some Odometry data taken from a Volkswagen Passat which gives the position. This is calculated using wheel ticks and in addition, I also have data which gives me the number of wheel impulses at ...
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What are diamond cut alloy wheels?
I'm thinking of buying a new car, and one of the options it has is diamond cut alloy wheels.
What's the difference between normal and diamond cut alloys?
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Why ambient temperature used to measure pressure for car ac system
Since the ac system is located mostly inside a car engine and the car is warmed up prior to adding freon, and the temp/humidity in engine bay is different from ambient temperature//humidity, and all ...
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Do all cars rust eventually even with repeated proper rustproofing methods?
My understanding is that rustproofing works and lasts when done properly, but once the coating used to rustproof wears off I'm guessing the process to rustproof needs to be done all over again. With ...
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How do automatic cars rev match so quickly when up shifting?
In a manual car, when you up shift, you need to wait for the engine RPM to drop to a certain value so that the engine speed matches with the speed of the gears you want to shift into. On my manual car,...
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Work over time; humans versus automobiles
I've been doing some research lately on torque and horsepower to understand how they are connected to one another.
Take my car, a 2.0 TDI, outputs 390 Nm torque. 390 Nm alone without considering an ...
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How is fuel pressure maintained when the pump isn't running?
Pretty simple question, if liquids are incompressible then how is fuel pressure "stored" when the fuel pump isn't running, i.e. after turning to run and waiting a few seconds, but not turning to start?...
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What does the hybrid engine do with surplus energy?
This question is based on Toyota Hybrid flyers / experience but I suppose it's meant to be general for hybrids?
The concept is to use electric motor for braking (therefore often the power of electric ...
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Does a dual-clutch transmission require synchronizer cones?
When you shift in a traditional manual transmission, the clutch is disengaged and a sleeve is shifted from one gear to another. The teeth of the sleeve must align with the teeth of the target gear. ...
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What is surface charge and how does it affect battery testing?
I've read in numerous places that "surface charge" can give false positives when testing a battery, and you need to remove the said surface charge to get an accurate result. I've also read various ...
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Triangular/Parallel four-link suspension system, how it works
I've been really interested at car suspensions lately and this particular system confuses me the most...
Are they simple hinges or do they also move other ways than that the angle they're placed ...
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How to convert Amp Hours to CCA?
Is there a formula for converting a battery amp hour rating, which is used in much of Europe and Asia, to an Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) rating?
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Can a Battery Conductance Test tell the difference between damaged plates and sulfation?
I'm just going to lay out my assumptions, or what I think I know, so that there's a better context for the question.
I understand that there are basically four main situations in which a standard ...
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How would a car handle differently if it had independent brake controls, like a pedal bike?
Facts - Cars have one brake pedal. Bikes have two brake levers.
So a cyclist can brake fully with the front or the rear, or some combination of both, or alternate between the brakes.
If a car had ...
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