Starter Motor

[SoftWater]

My father-in-laws Toyota HiLux has just started to make a funny 'tick-tick-tick' sound when idling, but it goes away when put in gear. I want to tell him to check to see if the starter motor is loose - but how to say this in Thai?

Stumped

[katana]

Couple of equivalents here:

http://www.automobile.taladnuds.com/chapter3.php

[tombkk]

Couple of equivalents here:

http://www.automobile.taladnuds.com/chapter3.php

Yeah, มอเตอร์สตาร์ท seems close.

[metisdead]

When you say the tick-tick-tick sound goes away he puts it in gear, how can this be related to the starter motor? If this is a pickup with a manual transmission, and the tick-tick-tick sound goes away when he pushes on the clutch pedal to put the pickup in gear, this would indicate (to me anyway) that it is a clutch related problem.

Edited March 20, 2010 by metisdead

[WarpSpeed]

Yeah sounds more like a throw out bearing...

[kriswillems]

Although the name is incorrect (the startermotor is not a dynamo) most Thai people call the startermotor ไดสตาร์ต in stead of มอเตอร์สตาร์ท

[SeanMoran]

With automotive things, as with some other modern technologies such as com-pu-TERre and in-TER-net, there's a good chance that the same word in English will be understood if you phrase it neutrally, as in star-TERe ... mo-TERe and use some whirring kinds of hand gestures to illustrate what you mean. You could also open the bonnet and point it out.

Benjawan Poomsan Becker has some definitions although it would seem that these are already posted in one way or another, and my point is, that it's not a major priority to speak of these matters in perfect pasa Thai when the item is right there in the engine bay, and the correct pronunciation of the same word in English is likely to be comprehended if it's a common automotive implement, but you must phrase it right, in the Thai way, and not in the way we might say to each other as farangs.

[patong]

this would have nothing to do with the starter motor, and also not the gear box, clutch because when the engine is idling dose not come

into contact with the gears, clutch.? i also think this could be the release bearings

Edited March 21, 2010 by patong

[SeanMoran]

this would have nothing to do with the starter motor, and also not the gear box, clutch because when the engine is idling dose not come

into contact with the gears, clutch.? i also think this could be the release bearings

PERFECK EXHAMPOOW!

Say 'clutch' to me and I will ask you whether it's manual or automatic, but when you use these English terms as part of the modern-day Thai colloquial language, say "Clut!" and even leave a little click on your tongue when you emphasise the Tee. So imagine how a Thai mechanic will read the words 'starter motor' in a manual. and then try to phrase them verbally.

It's likely to be something like mentioned above as in, star-TER _._._ mo-TER with the emphasis either neutral or placed on the final syllable of each word. Make sure you have full attention and eye contact, and use your best hand gestures if confusion results, but just like the English language has no regard at all for tones, the automotive manuals written in English will give rise to a completely new set of tonal qualities when read by a mechanic for the first time, and then verbalised from rote, from the book.

[patong]

automatics dont have a clutch they have transmission.

i think the problem is the thrust bearing

Edited March 21, 2010 by patong

[SeanMoran]

automatics dont have a clutch.

thrust bearing

You've never heard of a torque converter, I take it. Keep up the reading now, and you'll get there before too long.

Thrust bearing is the one on the end of the crankshaft that the gearbox input shaft connects up to rather loosely, on the flywheel. The throwout bearing is the one on the clutch lever that connects to the spline to connect the driven plate to the clutch drive plate on a manual, such as the average Hilux would have.

Can someone refresh my memory here? Is the father-in-law's ute a manual or automatic?

---o0o---

Actually, there's another good example in that. In Australia we say 'manual' with three syllables, but the same word in Thailand automitive-lingo is 'manu' two syllables, with equal emphasis on each. These are where failures to communications can occur because what is first read in a book is quite often pronounced according to different standards than if that same word was first heard verbally, and that is why it may lead to confusion if you say STAR-ter motor, to someone who understands perfectly well what a star-TER --- moTER is, but might not have a clue what you mean if you pronounce it differently.

Edited March 21, 2010 by SeanMoran

[SoftWater]

Thanks all, I think I got the answer.

To clear up a few loose threads (as it were):

its a manual

its a phone conversation (so no chance to open the bonnet and point, I'm afraid)

thanks for the suggestion about the bearing - my advice to my father-in-law was check everything's secure in the engine bay before you wheel it down to the mechanics and get fleeced for something its not. Starter motor seemed like a possible culprit merely because if it was loose just a tiny bit, I figured the change in vibration from idle to drive might make the tick-tick of the aluminium casing rattling against the block go away. Long shot, I know, but just trying to check the obvious.

BTW, I don't know about elsehwhere, but in British English cars (both auto and manual) generally have a clutch and a transmission. A clutch is a mechanism in the transmission. Autos don't have a clutch pedal, but there's usually still a clutch mechanism. I think there is such a thing as a transmission that doesn't have clutch mechanism, which we call a 'clutchless gearbox'.

Thanks to all for the help. Problem solve-ed.

Edited March 22, 2010 by SoftWater