Pav
Moderator
Here are five bad habits you may all fall into while driving a manual transmission vehicle.Behind the scene there are a lot of things happening while you are operating a manual that you may not be thinking about if you don't fully understand how they work.
So we are going to get into those bad habits and try to explain why exactly you don't want to do them!
1. Don't use the gear leaver as a hand-rest
You have to understand what's happening within the transmission.Using your gearshift as a hand-rest can cause premature wear of the trans-axle shift forks. What's happening is you are having a static component(gear forks) pressing against a rotating component.
shift forks
2. Do not hold your car in gear while on a stop light!
Leaving your car into neutral when coming to a stop light will save you a lot of trouble.If the car is in gear with clutch pressed, premature wear of the throw bearing which is going to be pressing against the diaphragm spring will occur. And the again, typing gear shift linkage repair cost in google will be necessary.
3.Never use your clutch to hold yourself on a hill.
Reason- you will be burning the friction material (ferodo) on the clutch disk.The clutch disk is relatively expensive and hard to replace depending on the model of the vehicle.
4.If you are in high gear and low RPM don't apply much throttle.
The engine has a huge gear disadvantage so flooring it will lug it. Lugging an engine is like hammering the engine parts with every single explosion in a cylinder. It racks on the rod bearing/journals, makes the pistons slap to the side of the cylinders hard, and if it's done enough times, it could probably break the piston rings. It also creates a hammer effect all the way through the drive train. It's not good for your the gearbox or the clutch. There are springs in the friction disk (of the clutch) which take up some of this hammering, but they will only take so much before they wear out as well. This causes premature wear all the way around. It's not like it will wear out tomorrow, but it will cause wear over time. If you want your car to last a while, you don't want to be doing this.
!!! It's much better to drop a gear or even miss one, it's all ok if you can revmatch.
5.Don't rest your foot on the clutch when you are driving on the highway!
This seems pretty obvious and simple. Resting your foot on the clutch pedal means you clutch is not fully engage, so there can be a little slim. This means you are not. Pulling down full power which will lead to higher fuel consumption. You are wearing down your clutch and again you are also wearing your throw bearing...
One extra - it's not a good practice to switch from high gear to low gear without evening out the RPM, if you only rely on the clutch to match the engine rpm with the speed of the car, it will surely wear out much earlier. So remember, it doesn't matter if you drive a hatchback, a sedan, or an suv, a proper usage of the gearbox will insure it's longevity!
So we are going to get into those bad habits and try to explain why exactly you don't want to do them!
1. Don't use the gear leaver as a hand-rest
You have to understand what's happening within the transmission.Using your gearshift as a hand-rest can cause premature wear of the trans-axle shift forks. What's happening is you are having a static component(gear forks) pressing against a rotating component.
shift forks
2. Do not hold your car in gear while on a stop light!
Leaving your car into neutral when coming to a stop light will save you a lot of trouble.If the car is in gear with clutch pressed, premature wear of the throw bearing which is going to be pressing against the diaphragm spring will occur. And the again, typing gear shift linkage repair cost in google will be necessary.
3.Never use your clutch to hold yourself on a hill.
Reason- you will be burning the friction material (ferodo) on the clutch disk.The clutch disk is relatively expensive and hard to replace depending on the model of the vehicle.
4.If you are in high gear and low RPM don't apply much throttle.
The engine has a huge gear disadvantage so flooring it will lug it. Lugging an engine is like hammering the engine parts with every single explosion in a cylinder. It racks on the rod bearing/journals, makes the pistons slap to the side of the cylinders hard, and if it's done enough times, it could probably break the piston rings. It also creates a hammer effect all the way through the drive train. It's not good for your the gearbox or the clutch. There are springs in the friction disk (of the clutch) which take up some of this hammering, but they will only take so much before they wear out as well. This causes premature wear all the way around. It's not like it will wear out tomorrow, but it will cause wear over time. If you want your car to last a while, you don't want to be doing this.
!!! It's much better to drop a gear or even miss one, it's all ok if you can revmatch.
5.Don't rest your foot on the clutch when you are driving on the highway!
This seems pretty obvious and simple. Resting your foot on the clutch pedal means you clutch is not fully engage, so there can be a little slim. This means you are not. Pulling down full power which will lead to higher fuel consumption. You are wearing down your clutch and again you are also wearing your throw bearing...
One extra - it's not a good practice to switch from high gear to low gear without evening out the RPM, if you only rely on the clutch to match the engine rpm with the speed of the car, it will surely wear out much earlier. So remember, it doesn't matter if you drive a hatchback, a sedan, or an suv, a proper usage of the gearbox will insure it's longevity!
