Transmission

Question: I recently bought a 1977 Ford LTD. I put the car in park on a steep hill and had trouble releasing the transmission shifter. A couple of weeks later, a grinding noise started. I eventually had to have the transmission rebuilt. Shortly after that, the grinding started again. What is the problem?--M.R.M. Answer: Any time you park a car with an automatic transmission on a steep hill or incline, you are running a risk of transmission damage if you don't exercise a lot of care.

Volkswagen's 2013 Bettle Convertible will go on sale next month with a starting price of $24,995, the German automaker said Wednesday at the L.A. Auto Show. The new Volkswagen Beetle Convertible was announced earlier this year and it is the third generation of the ragtop model, following in the footsteps of the type 15 introduced in 1949 and the New Beetle Convertible that was introduced in 2003. The coupe will be available in three different engine options. Photos: 2012 L.A. Auto Show The first is a 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine that can crank 170 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque with six-speed automatic transmission.

An excursion boat on a Lake Hamilton dinner cruise crashed into its moorings Saturday night, injuring at least 25 of the 172 passengers, authorities said Sunday. The owner of the boat, Robert Burhaw, said that a loosened transmission pin prevented the pilot from using the reverse gear.

Re: "Chrysler to Offer 7-Year, 70,000-Mile Warranty," July 8. I wish them luck. I have a '99 Chrysler Town & Country with about 22,000 miles on it--my third Chrysler minivan since 1985. A couple of months ago, the transmission started acting up and I took it in to the dealer. They ended up having to replace most of the innards of the transmission. The 3/36 warranty had expired about a month earlier. Fortunately, I had purchased a service contract and I was out only the $100 deductible.

Oh my, things are heating up for 'Merica's strongest autos. Chevrolet ambles into the L.A. Auto Show with the king kahuna of Camaros, its ZL-1 . It would have been reasonable to think its 580 horsepower and 556 pound-feet of torque would be enough to steal the muscle-car spotlight for at least a couple of months. Ford thought otherwise. Meet the 2013 Shelby GT500. It's powered by a 5.8-liter V-8 that puts out, you may want to sit down for this, 650 horsepower and 600 lb-feet of torque.

William C. Payette, 75, a longtime executive with United Press International and United Features Syndicate who headed UPI's Los Angeles bureau in the 1940s. Payette, after joining United Press in 1936, established the first radio Teletype delivery of news to South America and the first daily overseas transmission of news pictures. He also organized Movietone News. In Dallas on Thursday of cancer.

Question: Why is it that allowing an automatic transmission to remain engaged at a stop light causes less wear and tear than shifting into neutral while waiting for the light to change?--J.F.S. Answer: The shift lever is not intended to be a clutch. The automatic transmission has a clutch of its own, which is called the torque converter. At idle, the torque converter does not transfer engine motion to the transmission.

A leading AIDS researcher, cited in the Justice Department's recent controversial memorandum supporting the possibility of casual transmission of AIDS in the workplace, has accused the department of misrepresenting his views, calling the quotes a "distortion" of his position, The Times has learned. "What is called casual transmission such as is likely to occur in workplace settings will never pose a significant risk to uninfected co-workers," Harvard Medical School researcher William A.