Originally Posted by chay823

Yeah I've kinda noticed that about me too...it's gotten alot smoother lately...is it true that a clutch will adjust to the way you drive or something like that? Maybe that happened if that's the case?

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy

How many times have you seen someone sitting at a light in their manual vehicle on an incline, waiting for it to change while holding their vehicle not with the brake, but with the clutch. And maybe taking a little further by "playing the clutch" (engaging enough to move forward a little, then letting it up to allow the car to coast backwards). People like this are not mechanically logic and their actions are proof. They don't know what's going on in there when they do this. They don't realize the amount of heat being generated by the friction between the partially engaged components.

Originally Posted by 2ManyHobbies

Good way to ruin the clutch! I believe it is also true that when sitting at the light it is best to put the car in 'neutral' and release the clutch. True? I seem to remember my old man replacing some bearing in the clutch on his old '73 Duster. Then again that was a spring clutch and not hydraulic!

Driving the MT on my TL compared with the MT on my '97 Civic did take some getting used to. Especially with the engine speed being adjusted with each shift.

Thanks for all the info!

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy

Here are some excerpts from some writings I've done over the years. Hope these get you started in the right direction. If you have questions, please feel free to ask.

And remember. Just because someone has been driving a manual transmission for years does not mean they know how to do it correctly. Don't absorb bad habits.


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What follows is a collection of writings which I have posted at various times on this website in an effort to help answer some questions regarding the proper manner in which a manual transmission should be operated. While there are certainly many ways to drive a car with a manual transmission, there is really only one correct way. I was most fortunate to have learned these techniques while I was still in my teenage years. In so doing, I was able to avoid developing entrenched habits before they became really bad habits and difficult to correct. It is my hope that this helps you learn what I have learned and perfected over the years. If you do, you will reap the rewards, both financial and in the knowledge that you have mastered a technique that few do in their lifetimes. Have fun!

Under normal driving situations (not racing), when you start out from a standing start, you do so with the lowest possible RPMs, get the clutch out to full engagement as soon as you can while adding throttle. If you do this correctly, the transition will be smooth and seamless, and the wear on your clutch disk, pressure plate, release bearing, and flywheel will be minimized.

If properly designed (sufficient size and clamping pressure, etc.), and properly installed with no defects (correct torque, non-faulty equipment, alignment, etc.), then the next, and most important, factor to the life of the clutch assembly is the operator.

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON WHY A CLUTCH CANNOT LAST THE LIFE OF THE ENGINE UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS.

When I speak of engine life here, I am referring to life before a serious teardown or part replacement such as a timing chain (200,000+ miles) or headwork. If you cannot get at least 100,000 miles out of a clutch, you are doing something terribly wrong. Obviously, racing and other extreme conditions such as towing constitute a whole different approach and, as such, do not come under this.


Don'ts:

Do not use any more engine speed (RPMs) than absolutely necessary to get the car rolling in first gear.

Do not hold the car on a hill with the clutch.

Do not wait for a traffic light to turn green with the transmission in gear and the clutch depressed.

Do not rest your foot on the clutch while driving.


Do not ride the clutch in any gear (obviously you will to a small degree in first to start off).

Do not down shift by just removing your foot from the gas, moving the shifter into a lower gear, then releasing the clutch slowly.


Do's

Start off smoothly and with low engine speed, and shift in such a manner that if you had a passenger on board, they would not even notice the shifts.

Hold the car on hills with the brakes.. that's what brakes are for. NEVER hold a car on a hill with the clutch. The amount of heat generated by doing this is incredible.

While waiting for a light to change or while sitting in heavy traffic, put the transmission in neutral and get your foot completely off of the clutch petal. Leaving it in gear for extended periods heats up and shortens the life of the release bearing. The normal condition of a clutch is fully engaged so it stands to reason that's where it should be most of the time.

Resting your foot on the clutch petal while driving engages the release bearing.. see above.

Avoid riding the clutch as much as is humanly possible. You will extend its life significantly.

If you do not know how to properly downshift, DON’T. Use the brakes (should do this anyway), and avoid downshifting any more than necessary. Improper downshifting is analogous to riding the clutch because that is what you are actually doing. Learn how to properly downshift first and save yourself the frustration of premature clutch failure.

Clutches are wear items, heavily affected by heat caused by friction. In a front wheel drive car, they are costly to replace, so unless you like shelling out a lot of money periodically for the replacement of these components, learn the correct way. Learn it until it becomes second nature like breathing.

Downshifting

Ah yes, downshifting. If I had to name just one facet of manual transmission errors-of-operation, this would probably be it.

To understand how to operate a manual transmission, you have to know how the clutch assembly and transmission work, and I am going to take the assumption that most do on this forum. I will only clarify synchronizers. They serve to match the speed of the gears in the transmission as the shifter is moved to a given gear. Now for downshifting.

Let's say you are in fourth gear and you are approaching a stop sign, so you decide to downshift from fourth gear into third. What most people do is just remove their foot from the throttle, depress the clutch while moving the shifter from fourth to third, then start releasing the clutch slowly until they achieve full engagement. If you do this, what you are actually doing is riding the clutch in third gear. After all, the engine has returned to idle (or close to it), you get into third, then just ease the clutch out which pulls the engine from idle up to the RPM's at which it will operate at whatever speed you are traveling in third gear. Here is the correct way to do this in steps that I will break down in a moment.

Raise your foot off of the throttle.

Depress the clutch.

Start the shifter up into third.

As you pass through the neutral gate, let the clutch out a bit (doesn't have to be all the way) while at the same time blipping the throttle to increase engine speed BEYOND that which it will operate in the chosen lower gear.

Depress the clutch again.

Engage the chosen lower gear.

Let the clutch out while adding throttle.

As the engine RPM's decrease they will be met by the engaging clutch and opening throttle.

This should be a simple, smooth, fluid motion and you will know you've done it right if there is no jerking as the clutch comes out in the last step. Now for some details.

As you move into the neutral gate with your foot off of the throttle, the engine RPM's will be returning to idle. This is the point at which you want to blip the throttle a bit while at the same time engaging the clutch some. You want to get the engine turning faster than it will when you are in the lower gear you have chosen. The reason is that you want to spin the gears up to a speed that equals that at which they will be operating when you finally release the clutch in your downshift. If you do this right, there is no clutch slippage because the engine and the gears in the transmission will be spinning at the same or nearly the same RPM's. No slippage means you will get into gear with full engagement of the clutch sooner and with virtually no wear. To best understand this, you really need to know how a clutch assembly and transmission work together to deliver power from the engine to the drive wheels.

This takes a lot of practice, but if you get it down, you will be heads and shoulders above just about anyone else who drives a car with a manual transmission. You will begin to notice the mistakes other are making when they drive. Learn from their mistakes and it will both save you money and make you a far better driver.

So it's in with the clutch, start the shifter into the chosen lower gear, while passing through the neutral gate, blip the throttle and at the same time engage the clutch a bit to spin up the gears, then back in with the clutch as you get into the chosen gear, then finally release the clutch in one smooth operation.

Here's another little tip. Say you are waiting at a light for the green and your transmission is in neutral like it should be with your foot completely off of the clutch petal. When the light turns green, instead of just depressing the clutch and pushing the shifter up into first, pull the shifter partially into a higher gear first, such as second or third. The gears in those selections are not spinning as fast as the gears in first. By starting the shifter into a higher gear before you go to into first gear, you will cause less wear on the synchronizers and they will last far longer because they do not have to stop gears which are spinning at a higher speed. For cars which do not have synchronized reverse, definitely do this and you will not experience the grinding affect when shifting into reverse.

Say you are driving normally, shifting up through the gears to the one in which you wish to be for cruising. As you disengage the clutch and move the shifter to the next higher gear, you might notice a slight resistance just before you finish the shift. What you feel is the synchronizer for that gear forcing the drive gear(s) from the input shaft and the gears selected to "mesh". That is to say, their speeds are forced to equalize so that as they engage, there is no grinding and no damage to the gear teeth. That said, we can move to double clutching.

Instead of going right into first as the light starts to go green, try starting the shifter into second gear.. don't have to go all the way into gear, though it won't hurt. This slows the gears down just as though you had gone on into first, but it's much easier on the synchronizers. And you won't get the "crunch" you mentioned when you have to move quickly.


To prevent rollback; practice, practice, practice, practice.

One way to do this is to find a nice little hill someplace where you won't be a bother to anyone. Take along some masking tape and mark off two sections with the tape a foot apart. Your goal is to keep the car from coasting back more than 1 foot.. of course you do not use the clutch to hold the car.. use the brakes. As you learn to do this, find another hill a little steeper. And so on, and so on.

Originally Posted by justnspace

Southernboy, I enjoy reading all your post concerning manual transmissions.
Here are some of post:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...rrect+shifting

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=762841

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...rrect+shifting

Originally Posted by chay823

So does the GM fluid make the throws in your shift smoother? Cuz I notice some notchiness in my 3rd to 4th shift

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy

The 3rd gear problem is covered under a TSB. If it is not severe, you might want to consider just doing a drain and fill of your transmission fluid with General Motors Synchromesh Friction Modified fluid (part #12377916).

Originally Posted by chay823

So does the GM fluid make the throws in your shift smoother? Cuz I notice some notchiness in my 3rd to 4th shift

Originally Posted by chay823

Ok...maybe it's just me...idk. I've come a long way in driving this car from when I first started. Thanks to using some of SouthernBoy's tips of course thanks for the call that time when I was struggling with the 1st to 2nd shift and jerkin like a fool...Its smooth as silk now.

Originally Posted by JORTS

is it a bad thing to be in a higher gear at a lower speed??....like if i am crusing around 40-45 mph i will often go ahead and get into 6 gear and cruise at this speed....the way i look at it is the higher the gear you are in, the less the engine has to work, and the better MPG i am getting...as long as the engine can still give enough power and isnt struggling i do this...

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy

Laboring your engine is never a good idea and using 6th gear at those speeds can certainly do that. I would recommend not using 6th until you are doing 55+ MPH unless you are on a level stretch of road, A/C off, and light traffic. In those cases, you could use 6th at 50 MPH.

Keep in mind, our engines are not large and are don't have a lot of torque so laboring them (also called lugging them) is not their friend. For 40-45 MPH, I'd stay in 5th and if you are faced with some hills, 4th is better.