Every so often at a stop sign or red light I like to give my car a little juice. Usually I'll bring it up to redline in second, and then let off, or shift like into 4th or so because by that time I'm doing about 45 mph. Today I did so and shifted into fifth, which dropped my revs dramatically, fine and all, but I was just wondering, would this be bad for the drivetrain? I know that launching at high RPMs with a hookup is bad because of the sudden power transferred, could this be the same? Thanks.
I sometimes do the same thing. I dont slam it right into gear though.
What I do, is wind it out untill i get to the speed limit (lol or speed of my choice) and then wait for the revs to drop to where they would be in 5th, and let the clutch out.
I think just throwing it into 5th would be hard on the clutch in that scenario.
I dont think it would hurt anything else tho.
Generally I let it wind down a bit too, but sometimes I just toss it in there then when I let off the clutch I go "whoops" as my car seems like it just hit a wall :\ If it's just the clutch, than I feel a little better. Granted a dead clutch is a dead clutch, but it's a lot cheaper than some other parts. Thanks.
its the downshifting you need to worry about , not the upshifting. shifting from 2nd to fifth wont do anything but make you go slow
Its bad for the engine tho... It has something to do with the engine load. I read it somewhere but cant remember the
article. Its better to have the engine revving high in low gear than revving low in high gear... Im sure someone here
knows...
Another question. When coming to a stop, instead of down shifting, sometimes I just throw the car into neutral and brake. I've heard somewhere that it's bad for the gears or some crap, is that true?
Ron Carvalho wrote:Another question. When coming to a stop, instead of down shifting, sometimes I just throw the car into neutral and brake. I've heard somewhere that it's bad for the gears or some crap, is that true?
how would it be bad for the gears? its not in gear. i do that almost 90% of the time. its been 5 years and my car still runs fine
That's what I thought, it sounded like a load of crap, but just wanted to make sure. The way I figured, if anything it would wear out the brakes quicker. Thanks for your responses guys, they're greatly appreciated.
Just remember to not lug the engine as it harms the transmission more than the engine. Transmission straining loads are placed on the gear teeth, and the torque puts maximum loads on the transmission shafts. These forces deflect the shaft away from each other, with associated high loads on the shafts, bearing and engaged gear where it rides on the shaft. In the engine, the main and rod bearing see high loads with sometimes low oil pressure.
What you may want to do is 1-2-4-5 or 1-3-5
Ron Carvalho wrote:Another question. When coming to a stop, instead of down shifting, sometimes I just throw the car into neutral and brake. I've heard somewhere that it's bad for the gears or some crap, is that true?
That is exactly how you should drive. Use your brakes to slow down or come to a stop, not your gearbox. It is a lot cheaper to get new brakes then to fix your transmission. Continue that practice and you will prolong the tranny.
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I usually shift from 3rd to 5th when I get up to speed getting on the highway.
I shift into nuetral and use the brakes to stop also sometimes.. but thats just because my syncros are getting bad.
I don't ever have any problems....
btw.... your gears are constant mesh... it's your syncros that grind when you shift too fast.
Weebel wrote:btw.... your gears are constant mesh... it's your syncros that grind when you shift too fast.
Or perhaps not fast enough
Lord knows I've heard second more times than I'd like to count.
when braking, if you leave it in gear and coast, it cuts your injectors basically. saves gas is all. if you put it in neutral, then it keeps feeding the injectors to keep the car idleing. i forget who told me that. maybe it was taht tips to save gas post.
i herd awhile ago just leaving it in neutral and comming to a stop like that was bad on the fly wheel something about it spinning and stopping all the time, pretty shure it's bs though.
So to sum up this thread, going from 1-2-5 is probably worse for your car than going from 1-2-4-5 if you're going to get on it. And putting it in neutral while stopping only uses a slightly larger amount of gas, and doesn't harm anything. Thanks
it doesnt matter what gears you skip....its all relative to the speed you are going. so if you hit 60 in second gear and switch to 5th then you can still accelerate. on the other hand if you switch from 2nd to 5th going 15 mph....its going to bog down
Mr.Goodwrench-G.T. wrote:Just remember to not lug the engine as it harms the transmission more than the engine. Transmission straining loads are placed on the gear teeth, and the torque puts maximum loads on the transmission shafts. These forces deflect the shaft away from each other, with associated high loads on the shafts, bearing and engaged gear where it rides on the shaft. In the engine, the main and rod bearing see high loads with sometimes low oil pressure.
What you may want to do is 1-2-4-5 or 1-3-5
That is exactly how you should drive. Use your brakes to slow down or come to a stop, not your gearbox. It is a lot cheaper to get new brakes then to fix your transmission. Continue that practice and you will prolong the tranny.
I don't see how downshifting while using your brakes is going to harm the transmission.. Your using the transmission to
propel the car forward already whether it be 0-60 times, quarter mile times or passing hard on the freeway. What's the difference?
The only bad thing I see is a quicker wear on your clutch when downshifting.
whiteboyz24 wrote:its the downshifting you need to worry about , not the upshifting. shifting from 2nd to fifth wont do anything but make you go slow
Doesn't matter if it is up or down shifting. If the revs aren't matched, the synchros have a lot of work to do trying to bring everything to the proper speed before engaging.
Well.... they're made to bring everthing up to speed. That is considering that your foot is on the clutch. If you just pull on the stick, say to downshift from 3-2 you'll start to hear the engine revving as the syncro's are bringing it up to speed. That's very hard on them. But just a normal shift with your foot on the clutch, it's fine they're made for that.
about putting the transmission into nuetral and just hitting the brake is a big no no.....i used to do that and my father told me that is a big no no on semis and thats a good way to tear something out(forgot) because the part tends to get dry....something around that area i just know dont do it....wish i could remember and expain a bit more
kw_z24 wrote:about putting the transmission into nuetral and just hitting the brake is a big no no.....i used to do that and my father told me that is a big no no on semis and thats a good way to tear something out(forgot) because the part tends to get dry....something around that area i just know dont do it....wish i could remember and expain a bit more
12.33 @ 111.67 mph [Oct 2009]
Dyno'd on 08/02/09 - Mustang Dyno:
327.6 WHP 333.6 WTQ [10.1 AFR]
kw_z24 wrote:about putting the transmission into nuetral and just hitting the brake is a big no no.....i used to do that and my father told me that is a big no no on semis and thats a good way to tear something out(forgot) because the part tends to get dry....something around that area i just know dont do it....wish i could remember and expain a bit more
damn i guess i better stop. ive been doing it for 6yrs now and never had a problem
semis are also a completely different kind of vehicle, using air brakes, and transmissions with more foreward gears than three cavaliers. they're also invariably diesel-powered, which is much different from gasoline. finally, they often have trailers with huge amounts of weight behind them.
basically, whatever applies to semis doesn't necessarily apply to economy cars.
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i herd awhile ago just leaving it in neutral and comming to a stop like that was bad on the fly wheel something about it spinning and stopping all the time, pretty shure it's bs though.
its only bad if u keep the clutch disengaged and transmission in gear, because the flywheel and pressure plate are not "securing the clutch disc". this allows the clutch disc to spin loosely and cause it to come a part i believe. im tryin to remember from my college class( its been a while)
i always downshift when im slowing down. it saves on brakes and i FEEL that i can stop quicker than brakes alone(comfort thing) and for being harder on the tranny i dont see why, when the clutch disc takes most of the "shock" of shifting. To me it seems like grabbing gears in a car w/a short throw shifter would be more abusive to the transmission
