Do you ever wonder how people can do what they do? Yesterday’s Car Talk page made me wonder: is it just that people don’t take time to think, or is it that they’re really idiots? I can’t decide about this guy. I may not know a lot about cars, but I don’t think you’d find me in his situation.
HOW TO WRECK YOUR CAR: TOW IN REVERSE!
Dear Tom and Ray:
Would it harm a car to tow it forward with the manual transmission in reverse? I know the answer but please don’t ask how. I could tell the little Geo Metro was protesting mightily. What exactly did I do?
–RobertRay: You goofed big time, Robert. When you’re driving a car, the engine turns, and that makes the wheels move. But when you tow a car in gear, the opposite happens: The wheels make the engine turn.
Tom: With the transmission in reverse, your engine was turning backward!
Ray: Engines aren’t designed to turn backward. What often happens is a loose timing belt jumps a few teeth, leaving the valves opening and closing at the wrong times. Then the pistons fly up and smash right into the unsuspecting valves. The result–like my brother–is not pretty.
Tom: At least it was only a Geo Metro, Robert.
