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Primary circuit: The low voltage (6 or 12 volts) path of the ignition system which goes from the positive pole of the battery to the primary windings of the coil, through the breaker points, and into the ground which leads back to the negative pole of the battery.

Primary compression: A term that is used in two-stroke engines. Primary compression takes place in the crankcase and is then pushed up into the combustion chamber where secondary compression takes place as the piston squeezes the mixture. If the crankcase seals are poor, primary compression will be reduced resulting in reduced secondary compression so that it may be difficult to start the engine.

Primary forward brake shoe: The brake shoe that is installed facing the front of the vehicle, it will be a self-energizing shoe.

Primary terminal: The clip found inside the distributor which allows electric current to pass from the points to the condenser and provides the insulation to keep the current from contacting other metal parts.

Primary winding: The low voltage (6 or 12 volt) windings in ignition coil, the primary winding is heavy wire; secondary winding uses fine wire.

Primary windings: The low voltage (6 or 12 volt) windings in ignition coil, the primary winding is heavy wire; secondary winding uses fine wire.

Primary wire: See primary wires.

Primary wires: The wiring which serves the low voltage part of the ignition system. Wiring from battery to switch, resistor, ignition coil, distributor points.

Prime: 1. To paint bare metal with primer to prevent rusting. A second color (often different from the prime color) is painted over the primer. 2. Pronounced PREEM, a stage in a bicycle race.

Prime coat: primer or surfacer applied to the old paint or bare metal before the finish coat is applied.

Primer: The surfacer that acts as a bond between the metal surface or old paint and the color coat.

Printed circuit: An electrical circuit made by connecting the units with electrically conductive lines printed on a panel, this eliminates actual wire and the task of connecting it.

PRND: Acronym for the order in which an automatic transmission is displayed to the driver and stands for "Park," "Reverse," "neutral," and "Drive." Sometimes, two or more drive positions will be displayed as D1 and D2.

probe: A pointed tool, like an icepick. It is used to determine the extent of injuries during the tire inspection. An awl.

Product design: the process of planning the product's specifications.

Product planning: a function whereby an enterprise is responsible for the efficient, planning, scheduling and coordination of production activities.

Product testing: rigorous methods whereby a product's quality and durability are measured.

Production engineering: planning and control of the mechanical means of changing the shape, condition of materials toward greater effectiveness and value.

Production retread shop: A shop which schedules its production not on the basis of day-to-day orders but rather on long runs of purchased tire casings in order to secure the lowest cost per unit.

Productivity: relative measure of output per labour and/or machine output.

Profile: The aspect ratio of a tire. Also see cam profile.

Program cars: automobiles sold by manufacturers for fleet use. Usually applies to very large fleets, such as those of car rental companies.

Program Objectives: A consensus of what has been determined to be the most marketable product for a given model year.

Progressive linkage: carburetor linkage designed to open the throttle valves of multiple carburetors. It opens one to start with and when a certain opening point is reached, it will start to open the others.

Progressive rate spring: A spring with an increasing spring constant. For example, if the first inch of spring motion requires 100 pounds of force, the second inch would require more than an additional 100 pounds, and the third inch would require still more. Progressive-rate springs become stiffer as they are compressed, unlike single-rate springs, which have a fixed spring rate.

Progressive spring: See progressive rate spring.

Progressive suspension: A system in which the suspension stiffness changes depending on the amount of change required. On light bumps, the suspension is soft; but on greater bumps, the suspension is stiff.

Progressive transmission: An older version of a manual transmission. When you wanted to go from low gear to the highest gear, you had to go through all the gears in between. Likewise when you wanted to go from the highest gear to the lowest, you had to proceed through all the intermediate gears.

Prony brake: A device using a friction brake to measure the horsepower output of an engine.

Prop Shaft: Abbreviation for "propeller shaft." See driveshaft.

Propane: A petroleum product, similar to and often mixed with butane, that is useful as an engine fuel. In Canada this is the term used for LPG.

Propeller shaft: The shaft connecting the transmission output shaft to the differential pinion shaft. Also see driveshaft.

Propeller shaft safety strap: See driveshaft safety strap.

Proper proportion of air and fuel: One of the essential factors in a combustion engine (Fuel, Air, Proper proportion of mixture, compression, timing, spark).

Proportioning: The act of distributing something (e.g., brake fluid) to several components in equal measures. See brake proportioning valve.

Proportioning valve: See brake proportioning valve.

Production car: !!!.

Prost, Alain: !!!.

Proton: A positive charge particle forming part of the atom.

Prototype: The test model of a new car design that is intended to be produced in quantity. Also see mock-up.

PS: Acronym for "power steering."

P. Seat: Abbreviation for "Power seats."

PSI: Acronym for "pounds per square inch." A unit of inflation for a tire, or a unit of measurement for an engine's compression. Normal atmospheric pressure at sea level is 14.7 psi. Metric measurement uses kilopascals.

PSR: Acronym for "power sun roof."

PTO: Acronym for "power take off." A device (usually a pulley) on an engine or wheel which drives a secondary device.

Puck: See brake pads.

Pucks: See brake pads.

Pull it down: A term often used in reference to dismantling and overhauling an engine. Same as "tear it down."

Puller: A device for separating two components which are secured by press fitting them. See stud puller.

Pulley: A grooved wheel carrying a string, rope, chain, or belt which turns the wheel. Also see crankshaft pulley, idler pulley, and jockey pulley.

PULSAIR: A GM system similar to the air Injection Reaction System (AIR) except there is no air pump. Instead exhaust pressure pulses draw air into the exhaust system. Fresh air that is filtered by the air cleaner is supplied to the system on a command from the Electronic Control Module (ECM).

Pulsation damper: A device used to smooth out the pulsations or surges of fuel from the fuel pump to the carburetor. Also see damper.

Pulser coil: See coil.

Pulse vacuum hublock: !!!.

Pump: 1. A device for moving liquid or gas by decreasing or increasing the pressure on it. Also see accelerator pump, air pump, fuel pump, oil pump, vacuum pump, and water pump. 2. As a verb, it means to move something energetically up and down. See pumping the gas pedal and oil pumping.

Pump gasoline: Normal gasoline (whether regular or premium) available at service stations in contrast with racing fuel obtained from specialty locations.

Pumping, oil: See oil pumping.

Pumping the gas brakes: A method of repeatedly applying the brakes so that optimum braking can be established without creating brake fade. In anti-lock brakes, this procedure is unnecessary.

Pumping the gas pedal: Forcing the accelerator up and down in an endeavor to provide extra gasoline to the cylinders, this is often the cause of flooding. It is especially harmful to cars with fuel injection.

Pump the brakes: See pumping the brakes.

Pump the gas pedal: See pumping the gas pedal.

Puncture: A penetration of a tire's air chamber by a foreign object, nail, glass, etc. resulting in loss of air. Such loss can be rapid with the collapse of the innertube, or relatively slow in the case of tubeless tires.

PUP: Acronym for "Pick-ups" (like Ford Blackwood or GM Sierra).

Purchase price: The price of a vehicle that the consumer pays.

Purchasing: total materials purchased for manufacturing/assembly into auto parts (i.e., steel, plastics, rubber, textiles, etc.).

Push: A colloquial term for understeer.

Push button: See pushbutton.

Push-button: A switch which is engaged by pushing a button in. In most cases there are several button options so that when one is selected, the previously selected button is pushed back out (de-selected).

Pushbutton: A switch which is engaged by pushing a button in. In most cases there are several button options so that when one is selected, the previously selected button is pushed back out (de-selected).

Push rod: The rod that connects the valve lifter to one end of the rocker arm. Used on valve-in-head installations where the cam is below the piston and the valves are above the piston. The rods are moved by the cam and activate the valve lifter. Engines with overhead cams do not need push rods because the camshaft connects to the valves directly.

Push rod engine: !!!.

Putty: A malleable cement. See body putty.

PW: Acronym for "power windows."

Pylon: A highly visible marker for controlling traffic.

Pyrometer: A device which determines the temperature in various parts of a tire.

Pyroxylin paint: An early type of quick drying synthetic paint.

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Page Updated Sun May 20, 2001 8:08pm EDT