Don't know if it ever happens to you guys with your CLS-6, but it happens to me every once a blue moon.

Since the clutch engagement is so close to the floor, I find myself sometimes grinding my next upshift when I'm taking it really really slow on the car. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's loud, and makes me look like a noob that's just learning to drive stick. Been driving stick since I got my 1st car at 17, so it's surely not the case, hehe!

This is the kinda car that really requires you to have your clutch all the way down in order to shift!

 

Nah i think your just a at shifting.

 

 

I sometimes don't match revs when shifting, so the ride isn't as smooth as it can be.

Happens to the best of us, you just have to concentrate a little more.

 

Practice (preferably in someone elses car) shifting without the clutch. Preferably without synchromesh or one with it already warn out. When you get that down your timing for your up and down shifts will be right on. Thus even when you don't have the clutch completly disengaged you will still make a smooth up shift. If you have never done it before the trick is to be at a neutral state like when you throw a ball in the air. At one point the ball is no longer going up or down. Do the same for upshifts and down shifts. Accelerate lift off throttle right at nuetral you will feel the transmission let go softly pull out. Thats the easy part. Do that a couple of times. When comfortable try to ease it in the next gear 3 to 4 is pretty easy in that car. Don't force it. You will grind. If it doesn't go try again at 3 accelerate and do again.

For down shifts try blipping the throttle while you are on the break. Make sure the clutch is engaged (clutch pedal not pushed in) so you don't run your synchrose out. Otherwise known as double clutching (not heal toe, bad for synchros).

You will screw up the transmission if not done properly. So don't come crying if you do. But once you learn how to shift without the clutch your shifts with the clutch will be much smoother and thus easier on the transmission.

And when someone is stranded because they blew their clutch you can come to the rescue and drive them home safe and sound.

Good luck

 

I know bud, an ex-rally racer thought me how to drive w/o using the clutch. I haven't done it in the CLS though, but I did it with my other cars!

 

If someone has blown their clutch this isn't gonna help. You need your clutch to start off

 

it has happened to me before as well... even though i press down on the clutch all the way, when i shift, there is like 2 resistance points when i shift into 2nd gear, if i stop on the first resistant point which is like 3/4 of the way in, and i release the clutch, a very very loud grinding occurs.. everybody turns their heads and looks... EVEN WITH THEIR WINDOWS CLOSED!!

 

True, but if the car is rolling even 1km/h, you can still pop it in 1st gear. Done it before several times!

 

Something is wrong with my car, when I push the cluch pedal.. my rear wheels lock... anybody with an automatic tranny have the same problem?


AHHAHA.. sweet!



I know a little what you mean about the clutch thingy.. the 2 manual cars I drive around are a Eagle TSI AWD and an integra typeR.. Both have grip points at very different locations.. Talon is real low, and the ITR is very high.. so when I'm not paying much attention.. i stall the talon, or with the ITR i do those Flaming Ricer starts reving the sucker somewhere around 2500 rpm and slowwwwly start moving forward. If I'm lucky I get some of that sexy clutch smell.. then I kick myself in the rear.

 

My CL-S 6 speed is only the 2nd MT car that I have owned. The first was a 1980 International Scout with a 4 speed beast of a tranny(I could grind, beat, and abuse that thing all I wanted without ill effect!) The AC has a little bit more finesse involved, to say the least!

So anyway, I have ground the gears shifting into 2nd gear about 3-4 times since I have owned the car (about 8 months). This has only happened under heavy acceleration, and the grinding sounds horrible! My question is just how bad is this for the tranny? What actually happens when the gears grind like this? Does replacing a clutch fix this or is it a much deeper long term tranny issue?

 

I have only had my CLS-6 a month or so, but have driven standards a lot.

I also have been caught grinding on the 1-2 shift when the clutch is not all the way down. Sometimes... I even notice a little "crunch" when I am shifting quick on hard acceleration. It seems a little odd. I wondered at first if it was my timing and if I was letting up on the clutch pedal early. It seem like a slight hesitation in neutral works best for a smooth shift.

 

Only time I have ever grinded mine is when I got lazy and didnt push the clutch down all the way on a redline shift. Otherwise I dont need to push it to the floor under normal driving. I actually prefer having my thick WeatherTech mat behind the pedal, that way I can push the pedal to where it stops and it makes shifting quicker.

 

i have grinded them on the 1-2 and 3-4 shifts occasionally. it seems like when it happens-i know it's going to happen!!
like its in slow-motion and i cant help it. usually happens when i'm stuck at a light for a while, zone out, then lazily accelerate and shift.
it's not a noob thing, learned to drive on a stick when i was 15, and wouldn't have it anyway since.

and the cluthcless shifting, if you rev to about 2100 and let it fall to 2000 it slides right in.

 

so what actually happens when you grind the gears? I have this mental picture of little pieces of metal being sheared off and floating around in there? How bad for the car is it to grind the gears "occasionaly"?

Just curious... can someone provide some info?

 

Yep, that's about right... little peices of metal floating around.

What's happening is that the syncros are being worn down. I think they are made of brass. This is a bad thing...

I think I've ground 2nd 2 or 3 times since I've owned my CLS. It kills me when I hear that noise.

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclop...d_transmission

 

Yeah, exactly. It grinds down your synchro's.

Powershifting will do that too - perhaps even bend shift forks... but that's an entirely different topic!

Well I'm glad to see I'm not the only one this happens to!

 

Actually you dont need the clutch to start off. You start the car in gear. Its not the best for the car but it will work as long as you are on a smooth flat or downhill surface.

The starter motor actually turns the engine and thus the cars starts moving forward and then the engine starts while you are moving.

Again this is not good for the car. But if your clutch is out and you need to get it to the shop it can work. Just try not to actually stop the car. Because you will have to do the same thing to start it again.

 

Never tried that. Next time I am in a bind I will have to give it a try. Not my previous post you can also use the starter to roll start the car in gear when your clutch goes out. Both are not good but work.

 

So how do you do that? By just jamming it into 1st gear, while the car is stopped? Ouch.

 

Its easy to put the car into gear with the engine off w/o using the clutch, try it some time.

 

Oh yea, that's right - totally forgot about that.

On my old B20Vtec CRX with a Stage 4 ClutchMaster's clutch I had done that once by accident. You could start the car w/o pressing in the clutch and that's exactly what I did with the shifter in 1st. Damn near whiplashed me!!!