I just wanted to take a couple of minutes to report on a quirk of the 6-speed transmission. On Sunday past, the temperature here in Houston, TX, hit about 100?F. I drove the car for half-an-hour, parked the car for about an hour, and then drove the car for about an hour. The car was then parked for about 2 hours on a concrete driveway in direct sunlight, so it was deeply heat soaked. When I got in the car for the final trip of the day the clicking and clacking that accompanied each press of the clutch and each movement of the shifter was unbelieveable. The amount of backlash in the gears was astonishing. After sitting overnight, with a morning temperature of 74?F, the transmission, clutch, and shifter were again silent on the drive to work. And, even in stop-and-go traffic in 100? temperatures driving home, the scary noises have not repeated. The car has 3200 miles on it now.
I have had a lot of time to think about this. I think that what is happening is that the transmission case has been engineered to the absolute minimum of material. When it gets hot it expands. When it gets really hot, it expands a lot, increasing clearances everywhere. Could this cause a catastrophic failure? I don't have a clue.
I have had a lot of time to think about this. I think that what is happening is that the transmission case has been engineered to the absolute minimum of material. When it gets hot it expands. When it gets really hot, it expands a lot, increasing clearances everywhere. Could this cause a catastrophic failure? I don't have a clue.