I've noticed that on every car I've driven with a manual transmission, you can upshift without the clutch as long as you aren't accelerating too hard. You can also ease from neutral into the gears at certain speeds, like 8mph for 1st, 12mph for 2nd, etc. As long as there's no grinding, is there any reason not to do this?
What about going from a gear to neutral as long as it's not while under a load (like going downhill) and you don't "pop" it out?
Also, is it harmful to make the car move forward by "pushing on 1st gear" without stepping on the clutch, but not actually letting it go into gear?
2007-11-10 02:06:42 · 10 answers · asked by nauticalpsycho 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
thats how i have been driving my cars for years, i only clutch when needed, never any bad results.
just watch your speed and timing
2007-11-10 02:38:08 · answer #1 · answered by Herman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, as a heavy truck technician ( also have a class A CDL)and a heavy technology instructor , I rebuild heavy transmissions... spicers, rockwells, eaton fullers, etc. Most truck drivers dont use the clutch except to stop and start. These transmissions are 2 or 3 range (gears 1 to 19, generally) and are non synchronized. This means that the gears are not timed to each other and the operator needs to time his engine speed to his road speed for the gears to slide together smoothly without any grinding or banging of the gears. You really have to know what you are doing to do this well. With a synchronized transmission, you use the clutch and the gears are timed together with other gears ( synchronizers) and this makes it easier for anybody to shift gears with out damaging the geartrain. Now for your question. Anything is possible, but I would use the clutch to shift a synchronized transmission. By the time you get good at shifting without a clutch you probably with have broken the teeth in the gears or round off the synchros. As far pushing on first gear, I wouldnt be surprised if you do this one day and hear a loud bang.. this would be the mainshaft breaking in two. When going down hill, shifting gears is a dangerous proposing anyway because it doesnt take much for the vehicle to get away from you. When you learned to drive ,your instructor told you to select a gear before you descended, no? This way the transmission holds the engine speed back, called transmission braking. You save your brakes this way too. If you want any visual proof, email me dieselskidz28@yahoo.com and show you the horror show i have from transmission abuse. good luck. Alan
2007-11-10 03:26:22 · answer #2 · answered by skid 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hope that your friend doesn't drive a standard because every time time she grinds the gears, she is putting metal debris throughout the gear oil inside the transmission as well as literally grinding off the dog gears that the synchronizers ride against. Holding the clutch in doesn't wear the clutch - quite the opposite - only when the clutch is initially engaged is there any wear on the disk.
2016-04-03 05:35:54 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To start with, ALWAYS use the clutch to engage 1st gear! It was meant to take the load of getting your big hunk of steel moving from a standstill. Your 1st gear synchronizer will wear out *snap* like that and you won't ever be able to get it into 1st with the car moving unless you pull off a perfect double-clutch downshift. Very annoying.
As for the rest, Chris H is partially right. If it's perfectly timed and the RPMs are perfectly synchronized, shifting can be accomplished without the use of the clutch with little to no wear. But here lies the problem: we humans are inherently imperfect. If you almost match the RPMs but don't quite get it perfect, 8 times out of ten you'll still be able to complete the shift and you'll think "ok, sure, no problem" but in reality the synchronizer cone in the transmission will take some abuse because it has to deal with the momentum of your engine (which it isn't designed to handle) in addition to the momentum of the input shaft (which is all it's designed to handle). For that reason, I almost always use the clutch to shift. In fact, if I'm just driving leisurely, I'll double clutch to shift 1-2 and 2-3. I know you don't have to double clutch with a synchromesh box but it saves the synchronizers. As well, I always double-clutch heel-and-toe downshift while braking. (See YouTube for a video on how it's done) It takes practice, but it saves the synchronizers and the clutch, not to mention the pride that comes with being able to pull off such an advanced technique. Have fun driving your manual transmission!
2007-11-10 02:35:31 · answer #4 · answered by Nicolas G 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. If you have got the timing right then there's no stress or damage. I used to drive the company Fiesta like that all the time because I'm 6'3" and it was too much trouble to try and get my foot up on to the clutch because my knee jammed under the wheel. You can get very smooth that way if you are good.
Knocking the car out of gear while it is not under load does nothing, no harm.
Pushing against first gear you are using the first gear synchromesh as a clutch and you will trash it and potentially the gearbox. Very, very, bad idea.
2007-11-10 02:13:27 · answer #5 · answered by Chris H 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Answering in turn:
Matching engine revs to transmsission speed is what you're trying to do and if done *perfectly* will put no strain on the gear linkage. You have to ask yourself just how good you are though.
Your gear linkage IS under strain when driving downhill - hence the term engine braking. Not something I would recommend.
Finally, yes - that is harmful, you are partially engaging the cogs and that action will wear them out.
For some research, look up the terms "double declutch" and "heel and toe" these describe advanced methods of gear change.
2007-11-10 02:33:37 · answer #6 · answered by Kieran B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NOT RECOMMENDED, but yes it can be done. You have to get vehicle speed and engine speed at the right level and it will work. Same principle as truck drivers use.
However it is somewhat tricky, and you risk damaging the transmission.
2007-11-10 02:13:56 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Am sorry you could be working too hard to damage your car. If you hate the clutch that much, i recommend you get a car with automatic transmission.
i wonder what other shortcuts you will experiment with.....
cheers
2007-11-10 02:35:01 · answer #8 · answered by ggachau 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no it's not okay. you might not experience something wrong today, but if you keep doing that, you'll definitely shorten your car's life....
just do what's supposed to be done ok?
2007-11-10 02:10:58 · answer #9 · answered by espresso star 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no! dont do that! in weeks it will break!
2007-11-10 02:09:08 · answer #10 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋