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What "grinds your gears" WRT inaccurate automotive terminology?

Jean Girard

Jean Girard

Contributing Member
Joined
22 February 2013
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191
Location
Monterey, CA
Just wondering if anyone else here is as pedantic as I am with regard to the wrong terms being used for common parts.

I have a few pet peeves.

Motor/engine - Ask me what kind of motor my car has and I'll assume you want to know about the radiator fan motor, the window motors, the starter motor, etc. My car isn't electric.

Wing/spoiler/air dam - All different things.

BOV/wastegate - Journalists get this wrong almost 100% of the time.

What else? I must be forgetting a few.
 
As a guy who works on cars or reads about working on them on a daily basis, I admit this might be a stretch:

Engine turns over/engine doesn't crank--People get this mixed up far too often, and it makes diagnosing their potential problem kind of confusing. Turning/cranking is the same thing, it refers to the starter motor engaging the flywheel/pressure-plate and physically turning the rotating/reciprocating assembly of the engine. It does not mean the engine runs under its own power.

Example: friend would tell me their car is not cranking over. I ask them if the battery is good and to test it. They reply by saying, well the starter turns just fine and the engine turns, but it won't "crank over". Super annoying and frustrating, maybe just me.


Also, Jean--maybe you could elaborate. If you say people think a BOV/wastegate is the same, maybe elaborate on what each individual item is and their differences for others who don't.

Great thread, funny topic.
 
Good idea. I was going by the assumption that many here would already know the difference, but I could be mistaken.

Very often, automotive journalists will talk of the sound of the "wastegate" venting or fluttering on a car, even Jezza is not immune from this gaffe. A wastegate is part of the exhaust side of the equation, and limits turbine speed by controlling the opening of a "gate" which reroutes (wastes) exhaust energy around the turbine and straight into the exhaust. You won't hear this working unless you are running a VTA external 'gate.

A blow-off valve (different from a pop-off valve) vents or redirects (technically, if it redirects it's a diverter valve...) charge air when the throttle closes IOT prevent backspin of the compressor or a spike on tip-in. It operates on the "cold side" and is what makes the "pshshsh" sound when you lift off of the throttle.
 
People who don't distinguish between front-midship/rear wheel drive and front engine/rear wheel drive.

Those who call all nitrous oxide systems "NAWWWWSSSSS".
 
Yes, we here just had our annual "motor show". there was very little electric product there. :mad: It seemed to be more of a car show to me.
 
I hate the term Rotary Forged when talking about wheels. It's NOT FORGED!! It's a cast wheel that's spun and flow formed giving a "forged-like" structure in the barrel/lip portion, but it's still a CAST wheel.
 
I prefer to use motor and engine as you do. However, from some quick research, motor is a more all encompassing term with engine being a sub-category of motor. It may just be a more modern use of the words or a meaning that has changed over time.

My grandfather opened his car dealership around 1929 and it was called Sulley Motor Company. Cars were called motorcars and it is the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.

So, both sides are probably correct.

Sulley
 
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Non automotive, but reading posts in automotive forums including this one in regards to grammar especially elementary type error.

IE: MINES (CORRECT: MINE)
Here is a picture of mines!

Many others but this one seems to annoy me when reading.
 
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