hi guys im new hear i got a ford fiesta auto n reg

the prob i have is that it seems like the accelorator peadal is low and that as soon as i put in to drive it goes without putting my foot on pedal and if i need to reverse ,when i press the brake and change in to reverse some times it stalls the car and it wont start unless i got it in neurtal

one friend ive asked about said sound like a clutch prob??

but said he wasnt sure

thanks for your time

take that as a noone has not a clue then???

Hi James, welcome!

An automatic doesn't have a clutch, it has what is known as a torque converter.

GEEKY PART...

If you imagine you have two fans, one is powered up, the other is off, if you point them at each other, the one that is powered pushes air past the non powered one, causing it to spin. This is the same principle in a torque converter. In the casing there are two blades fans, one connected to the output shaft of the engine. The other connected to the input shaft of the gearbox. Air along wouldn't be enough for the engine to drive a car, so also in there is a whole bunch of oil.

Ok, now if you haven't lost consciousness from boredom... An automatic car will drive itself at idle. Not very fast, but it will still be able to be driven. This is because the engine is still spinning that front powered blade against the gearbox one. For this reason you have to be very careful that when you change the gear selector you either have the handbrake on or your foot on the brake pedal.

Something else you might realise is your car will only start in either P for Park or N for Neutral. This is also to stop someone starting the car and then shooting off into the sunset without realising.

Regarding stalling when changing from drive to reverse, not a clue I'm afraid.

Your mate is kinda right, they do sort of have clutches in them, but not in the sense of an ordinary clutch in a car.

Hope that helps and sheds a little light!

so you saying that it is normal for this car only cos my last car was a fiat punto auto and wasnt like this thought might be a problem ...

thanks for your info anyway

It could be completely normal. It depends on how powerful the engine is at idle and whether it has the power to turn the output on the torque convertor at idle.

I have two yanks which both have auto boxes and V8's, when selecting drive you HAVE to have your foot on the brake otherwise before you know it you've travelled about 10 feet and are doing 10mph. Its really handy in traffic, except on a hill where it will effectively just hold the car on the torque convertor as opposed to moving it forward.

I wouldn't worry about it. The whole thing with reverse is odd. Have you tried holding the revs up or giving the throttle a tap at changing?

The auto box fitted to early Fiesta's was a CTX box, it uses a steel belt on cone shaped rollers to transfer power from the engine to the wheels (it is not a conventional automatic transmission).

I seem to remember it uses oil immersed clutches to select between forward and reverse gears and vacuum to adjust the belt on the cones to increase or decrease speed

It was an improved version of the DAF variomatic transmission which you can probably find more information about although this used a rubber belt, the principle being the same.

Perhaps changing the transmission oil and filter (and vacuum line filter if there is one) would be a good start.

There seems to be very little knowledge available for these boxes and if they are working probably best left alone.

Good luck.

D.