Hello all. Just had a quick question. I have gotten into the habit of popping the car out of gear without pressing the clutch when I'm coasting to a halt. For example, if I see a red light up ahead, I will take my foot off the gas, begin pressing the brake pedal and then shift into neutral without pressing the clutch. Doing this does not grind the transmission in anyway and it comes out of gear fairly easily. Does this cause some kind of wear on the synchro for example or anything else for that matter? Just want to know if this is a bad habit I should try and stop. Thanks in advance as always.

 

i wouldnt imagine so, it seems like there is less wear doing that, than what a synchro sees shifting from gear to gear in normal driving..

im guilty of doing the same thing from time to time

 

Assuming you're not forcing it out of gear then you're actually creating less wear by not having to actuate the clutch.

Now, if you want to get real fancy try matching revs and shifting up and down w/o the clutch...this actually saved me once when the clutch master cylinder went out on my old Audi and I was able to drive it to the shop w/o having to have it towed.

 

interesting....

 

Yeah, that shouldn't harm the transmission...It's probably less wear than my consistant heel-toeing... or maybe not... I rev match

 

It will put extra wear on the shift forks in the tranny. The reason is the is the gears are under load when you are pulling them out of gear. With the clutch in there is only a small load from internal friction and gear inertia on the gears. With it in gear even with no throttle here is compressin braking effect of the engine that reverse loads the gears. You are shifting against this force. Certainly not as bad as at WOT, but not as gentle as with the clutch pedal in.

 

"Forcing" it out of gear can't be better than a quick tap on the clutch pedal as you shift to neutral?

 

If you're not forcing it and it's a natural progression (smooth), I don't see what the problem is. . .

 

I think it's best to leave that for trannies that don't have synchros. The clutch in these cars lasts a long time when used correctly...I'd use it.

I have 124k on the original clutch. I don't think the car's ever done a true burnout or a standing start under a lot of load. If I shift much too fast into 2nd, it'll grind. Other than that, it's perfect. Street driving isn't measured in fractions of a second, I'd rather take the time and use what the car provides (a clutch) to do a proper shift.

 

"Long" isn't nearly long enough. You've obviously never had the pleasure of doing a clutch job. . .

 

Yeah, Wade B. has like, 300K something on his ORIGINAL RUBBER CENTER CLUTCH...

impressive to say the least.

 

Crazy. . . Gives me new confidence in the strength of rubbers.

 

i've done that on the presnt ride and an old volvo 1800es that i had for 28 years and never had a problem.

 

Well, my car has a build date of 2/83...that is awhile.

I might look into doing the job next fall, if it holds up until then. It gives me time to save, plus I'll be at school. I won't need the car every day like I will for a summer job.

Not sure if I'll drop the engine and do a bottom end service too, instead of attacking it the old-fashioned way.

 

You're driving a cheap Porsche...drive it however the hell you want and have a good time!