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For newer vehicles, particularly German makes, manufacturers are increasingly ditching the transmission dipstick in favor of electronic oil level monitoring. Others may employ a fluid level plug hole on the bottom of the pan.
2013 Ford Fusion transmission oil leveling plug hole. (Courtesy Ford Motor Co.)
In other cases, such as the 2009 Suzuki Equator, the transmission oil dipstick exists but it’s not easy to find! First, it is not a traditional dipstick, sticking out where you can see it. It is a plug with a mounting bolt — you’d never know it is there. Often the owner’s manual will show the location of the dipstick, if one exists.
Today’s vehicles have longer maintenance intervals, and the emphasis is on keeping the system sealed to avoid the damage that debris, the wrong oil, and even air and moisture can wreak. In exchange, with electronic oil level monitoring, issues may arise when varnishing reduces the effectiveness of an in-sump sensor, for example.
1. Use the correct fluid – Non-recommended fluids can cause erratic shifts, slippage, abnormal wear, and eventual failure, due to fluid breakdown and sludge formation.
2. Cleanliness – Wipe the dipstick cap and fill tube clean before checking fluid level. Dirt, grease, and other foreign material on the cap and tube could fall into the tube, if not removed beforehand. Use a clean funnel when adding fluid.
3. Incorrect fluid level – A low fluid level allows the pump to take in air along with the fluid. Air in the fluid will cause fluid pressures to be low and develop slower than normal. If the transmission is overfilled, the gears churn the fluid into foam. This aerates the fluid and causes the same conditions occurring with a low level. In either case, air bubbles cause fluid overheating, oxidation, and varnish buildup which interferes with valve and clutch operation. Foaming also causes fluid expansion which can result in fluid overflow from the transmission vent or fill tube. Fluid overflow can easily be mistaken for a leak if inspection is not careful. (via Chrysler)
4. Transmission fluid additives, treatments or cleaning agents – may affect transmission operation and can result in damage to internal transmission components.
5. When to check – Your transmission is not designed to consume fluid. However, check the fluid level if the transmission is not working properly, (eg, if the transmission slips or shifts slowly) or if you notice some sign of fluid leakage.
Planning to service or repair your vehicle? Chilton can help! Access procedures, specifications, tips, and more at ChiltonDIY.com.
By Jim Marotta
At 100 horsepower per liter, GM’s newer turbocharged 1.4L has the power of a larger engine but retains the efficiency of a small-displacement four-cylinder in most driving conditions. Courtesy GM
A naturally aspirated automobile engine uses the downward stroke of a piston to create an area of low pressure in order to draw air into the cylinder through the intake valves. Because the pressure in the atmosphere is no more than 14.7 psi, there is a limit to the amount of airflow entering the combustion chamber.
A turbocharged engine uses a radial fan pump driven by the engine’s exhaust that consists of a turbine and a compressor on a shared shaft. The turbine converts exhaust gases exiting the engine into rotational force, which is used to drive a compressor which draws in ambient air and pumps it at high pressure into the intake manifold to improve the engine’s volumetric efficiency. This results in a greater mass of air entering the cylinders on each intake stroke.
There are four main components to a turbocharger: the housing, the impeller/turbine wheels, the center hub and the bypass.
The size and shape of the housings fitted around the impeller and turbine affect performance, response, and efficiency. Courtesy Borg-Warner
The size and shape of the housings fitted around the impeller and turbine dictate the performance characteristics of the overall turbocharger. This allows the designer of the engine system to tailor the compromises between performance, response, and efficiency to application or preference.
The impeller and turbine wheel sizes also dictate the amount of air or exhaust that can be flowed through the system. Generally, the larger the turbine and compressor wheels, the larger the flow capacity. The shape, curvature and number of blades on the wheels allow infinite variability in design to tailor a turbocharger to a given engine.
Water-cooled bearings, such as the one shown, allow engine coolant to keep the lubricating oil cooler, avoiding possible oil coking from the extreme heat found in the turbine. Courtesy Borg-Warner
The center hub connects the compressor impeller and turbine and uses a bearing lubricated by a constant supply of pressurized engine oil. While the engine oil cools some systems, the preferred method is to use engine coolant to keep the lubricating oil cooler, avoiding possible oil coking from the extreme heat found in the turbine.
Turbos use a bypass or wastegate to prevent over-pressurizing the system. At a specific boost pressure, a bypass feeds part of the exhaust gas flow around the turbine. The wastegate which opens or closes the bypass is usually operated by a spring-loaded diaphragm in response to the boost pressure.
There are several tips to maintaining and servicing turbochargers:
Planning to service or repair your vehicle? Chilton can help! Access procedures, specifications, tips, and more at http://www.ChiltonDIY.com/.
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A muscle car enthusiast and drag racer, Jim Marotta is a freelance automotive writer with more than 20 years experience in the automotive industry. |
Draining and refilling the coolant is one of the easier maintenance tasks you can do on most vehicles. In addition to saving money, doing your own maintenance is a way to monitor the health of your vehicle.
Coolant loses effectiveness over time, so it’s important to periodically drain and refill the cooling system. In addition, as coolant becomes dirty, and rust and particles can eventually degrade cooling system components, such as the engine and water pump.
If you drain the system and then pour coolant in, there is still air trapped within the hoses and components that hold coolant. That air must be removed. You’ll need to bleed out the air and then top off the coolant to the proper level.
Some car manufacturer refill procedures use a special tool that automatically fills the cooling system and bleeds any excess air. In most cases, if you don’t have the special tool, you can still fill the cooling system and bleed it manually. In rare cases, vehicles need to be serviced with specialized cooling system equipment, due to the complexity of the cooling system. Air will become trapped in the cooling system, and cause the engine to overheat! Check the service information before you attempt the procedure.
Research the vehicle’s cooling system.
Caution
Do not work on the coolant system when the system is hot and under pressure: Coolant can cause serious burns. Do not remove the radiator cap, cylinder block drain plugs, or loosen the radiator draincock, when the engine is hot.
1. Tighten the radiator draincock.
Tighten the radiator draincock. 2010 Chevrolet HHR shown. Image: General Motors
2. Tighten the cylinder block drain plug(s).
Tighten the engine block drain plug. 2010 Chevrolet HRR shown. Image: General Motors.
3. Fill the cooling system with the manufacturer-specified antifreeze. You can find the correct specification in your Chilton DIY subscription or in your owner’s manual. Because specifications change occasionally, such as with new technology, it’s a good idea to check the technical service bulletins in your ChiltonDIY subscription too.
4. Fill the radiator to the top and install the radiator cap. Add sufficient coolant to the overflow tank to raise the level to the FULL mark. Check your Chilton DIY specifications or the owner’s manual for the coolant amount including the overflow tank.
Fill the radiator to the top and install the radiator cap. 2010 Chevrolet HHR shown. Image: General Motors.
5. Run the engine with both the radiator cap and reservoir/overflow tank cap in place. Turn on the heat with the blower on high. When the engine reaches normal operating temperature, shut the engine off and allow it to cool.
6. Top off the coolant level to the reserve/overflow tank as necessary to bring it to the FULL mark. Only add coolant when the engine is cold. The coolant level in a warm engine will be higher due to thermal expansion – that is, hot coolant expands and so the coolant level will appear to be higher.
7. Repeat the procedure and recheck the cooling system level.
The fuel filter may be part of the in-tank fuel pump.
Fuel: your automobile runs on it, obviously, but it’s not the only thing that gets into your car. Contaminants, dirt, and the odd thing make their way into your fuel, which goes all throughout the car.
If there’s no fuel getting to your engine, the vehicle won’t go. So how do you prevent this problem? Read on.
The fuel filter will collect all manner of contaminants. Remember how you get your gas from the gas station? Well that gas is also stored in giant tanks underground. These tanks corrode and get dirty‚ just like your gas tank can. Dirt, rust, and other contaminants go from the gas station;s tank to your vehicle’s, and it’s the fuel filter’s job to prevent that stuff from reaching your fuel injection system and engine.
You can tell that you may need a new fuel filter by looking for a few basic signs. When you hit the gas, your vehicle does one of the following:
When your fuel filter gets clogged, not enough gas gets to your engine, which causes a loss of power, or could even result in a vehicle stall.
In addition, your vehicle may be underperforming because the fuel filter is getting dirty or clogged without showing obvious signs of distress. For older vehicles, manufacturers may recommend changing your fuel filter every 12,000 miles, but that number may varies widely. Depending on your environment and driving habits, you may have to change your filter sooner than the recommended interval. Some are designed for extended service and there is no maintenance interval for fuel filter replacement. Check your Chilton subscription for maintenance intervals as well as tests, troubleshooting, diagnostics, and technical service bulletins.
Some fuel filters are inline, rather than integrated with the fuel pump.
You can also remove your fuel filter to see how it looks. You’ll need a few tools like wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, and pliers‚ although, again, your specific needs will vary based on your vehicle. Fuel filters are attached to the fuel line in various ways. Check your Chilton subscription for instructions for your vehicle.
Filters are fairly inexpensive, starting at around $15, and some cost much more than that. Consult your owner’s manual for information about the specific fuel filter you need.
When you remove the fuel filter, you’ll see what sort of fuel spills out. Gasoline should be relatively clear, with a bluish hue. If the fuel in the filter is brown or more opaque, that’s a sure sign you should change it.
If you’re handy, changing your fuel filter is an easy, inexpensive project to do at home. It usually requires few tools and only a little time. Consult your Chilton subscription for the fuel filter maintenance interval and fuel filter replacement procedure.
By Ryan Lee Price
Turn of the century cross-country travel by automobile meant traversing poor roads. The trip took weeks, inspiring the US Army to try a journey of its own.
Soon after the turn of the century, some automobile companies were using their products to help promote sales in the shipping industry. In 1908, Packard sent one of its trucks from New York to San Francisco with a three-ton load. The trip took 48 days and helped inspire the US government to try a journey of its own.
The Lincoln Highway
One answer to the need for better roads was a continuous highway from coast to coast. The Lincoln Highway was perhaps the first main road to connect the two coasts, stretching from New York to San Francisco, and its direct impact southwest United States was limited. Most travelers didn’t turn left. In many sections the route made use of old roads, including a 17th-century road in New Jersey laid out by Dutch colonists; the Chambersburg turnpike used by Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia to reach Gettysburg; portions of the Mormon Trail; routes used by the Pony Express; and the Donner Pass crossing of the Sierras.
The Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental highway. It was named for the nation’s most honored president, Abraham Lincoln.
According to the 1919 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana, “The route is marked with a distinctive red, white and blue marker, bearing a blue ‘L’ on the central white field. For every mile of improvement secured on the Lincoln Highway, 10 miles have followed as a direct result upon other routes connecting important centers north and south with the main line. Along its entire length the highest type of highway construction is represented in this modern American Appian Way.”
In 1916, Woodrow Wilson announced as part of his election platform: “The happiness, comfort and prosperity of rural life, and the development of the city, are alike conserved by the construction of public highways.” He signed the Federal Aid Road Act, the first federal highway funding law, providing $75 million to build and improve roads.
The US Army Joins the Convoy
When moving people and materiel by railroad alone during World War I proved inadequate, the US Army experimented with truck convoys to supplement the railroad. The two-month ordeal of the US Army Transcontinental Motor Convoy in 1919 convinced the Army of the need for better roads.
US Army Transcontinental Motor Convoy of 1919
Despite this “Appian Way,” the US Army was determined to discover the true conditions of roads to the Pacific and set out on July 7 from Washington DC with 81 vehicles and trailers, including: 34 heavy cargo trucks, 4 light delivery trucks, two mobile machine shops, one blacksmith shop, one wrecking truck, an artillery wheeled tractor that towed nine trucks at once and was equipped with a power winch. There were two spare parts stores, two water tanks, one gasoline tank, one searchlight with an electrical power plant truck, four kitchen trailers, eight touring cars, one reconnaissance car, two staff observation cars, five sidecar motorcycles, and four solo motorcycles. As well as five GMC ambulances with two ambulance trailers, a four-ton pontoon trailer (left in Omaha) and a Renault Whippet FT-17 tank lashed to a flatbed trailer. Dealers en route supplied gasoline and tires to the convoy and the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company provided two trucks that carried spare standard tires.
Most all of the 3,250 miles of roadways were unpaved and undeveloped, creating untold problems, both mechanical and logistical. Most of the men were not trained to use the equipment and literally only one man of the 24 officers (including a young Dwight D. Eisenhower), 15 staff members from the War Department and 258 enlisted men — Henry Ostermann — knew the way across what was then still a patchwork of roads that ranged from concrete to mud (he had driven across the country 19 times).
Passing through 350 towns and communities and being witnessed by nearly three million people, the convoy completed the trip in 63 days, arriving in Oakland, California on September 7, proving that the infrastructure of the country was woefully inadequate to transport much of anything, especially during a time of war.
In his novel Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck called Route 66, “The “Mother Road,” because it was used during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression in the 1930s by hundreds of thousands of people to flee great hardship.
Get Your Kicks on Route 66
Route 66 was a highway spawned by the demands of a rapidly changing America. Contrasted with the Lincoln, the Dixie, and other highways of its day, Route 66 did not follow the traditionally linear course as did the other highways. Its unusual diagonal course linked hundreds of rural communities in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas to Chicago; thus enabling farmers to transport grain and produce for redistribution. The diagonal configuration of Route 66 was particularly significant to the trucking industry, which by 1930 had come to rival the railroad for preeminence in the American shipping industry. The “Mother Road,” christened so by John Steinbeck in his novel Grapes of Wrath, between Chicago and the Pacific Coast, traversed essentially flat prairie lands and enjoyed a more temperate climate than northern highways, which made it especially appealing to truckers.
From Chicago, Route 66 began as nothing more than a series of intertwining trails headed west, mostly a cobbling of farm-to-market roads, driveways, paths, old wagon trails, small rudely improved thoroughfares and downtown streets … as long as it pointed westward and got you out of town and toward the next, it was part of what would be called Route 66. More importantly, it ferried people to California, especially during the Great Depression when thousands of tenant farmers searched for a new life and better opportunities.
Until roughly 1926 (though official U.S. Route 66 signs didn’t appear until the following year), travelers would have to brave unmarked roads and meandering byways with trepidation that the next town would be just over the horizon. The road was rough and unforgiving, but the promise of California was a tempting motive, and as more cars became a prevalent part of American culture, more people took to the road.
Interstate Highway System
In an effort not only to connect the country’s population, but also to connect the country’s military installations and to ease the travel of the military, the Interstate Highway System was planned and implemented in earnest after the signing of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921.
In 1922, the Bureau of Public Roads commissioned General John “Black Jack” Pershing to provide a proposal for a national highway system (based on importance in the event of war). His proposal, referred to as “The Pershing Map,” was 32-feet long and suggested the building of 78,000 miles of road, most of which were completed and formed a substantial portion of the Interstate Highway System.
Throughout the 1920s, road construction boomed with the increased enthusiasm behind traveling and visiting the nation’s newest National Parks. From a 1922 report for the Department of Interior from the National Parks Service, it is clear that the automobile had really mobilized a nation [punctuation is original]: “Undoubtedly the principal factor in the travel movement in this country to-day is the enlarged use of the automobile. It is true the automobile affords a wide freedom in movement of parties limited only by the capacity of the cars, and permits stops at or excursions from any points en route to a particular destination that appeal to the members of the party. It meets the opportunities for out-of-door recreation that we Americans as a sightseeing nation seem to crave, and has come to be considered by many to be the ideal means of vacation travel.”
Having spent two months with the 1919 Army Convoy and seeing the mobilization of Germany with the Reichsautobahn system during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower was a strong proponent of the highway system. In 1955 the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways mapped out what became the Interstate System, and Charles Erwin Wilson, who was head of General Motors when President Eisenhower selected him as Secretary of Defense in January 1953, planned out the implementation of the highway system. This was in the midst of the Cold War, and Eisenhower debated for the highways for the purpose of national defense. In the event of an invasion, the US Army would need good highways to be able to transport troops across the country efficiently.
Missouri road was the first project of the 1956 Federal Aid Highway Act.
The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 (known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956), authorized $25 billion dollars to be spent over 12 years of construction (with the states paying 10 percent of the cost through taxes on fuel, cars and tires). However, it ended up costing $114 billion and took 35 years. The last portion of the original plans — a section of the I-70 through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado — was completed on October 14, 1992.
The nation was connected.
Up next: Coast to Coast. The History of Transcontinental Travel, Part 4: The New Record Setters
Previous: Coast to Coast. The History of Transcontinental Travel, Part 2: Wheels and Wings
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