Hi guys.
I am just curious. When driving and shifting normal I press the clutch pedal in fully. BUT, when I come up to a stop street or a red traffic light where I know I will need to stop dead, I press in the clutch pedal only half way and put the car in neutral.When putting in gear again and pulling away, I press in the clutch pedal fully.
So basically, I use the clutch fully when changing gears and only press it halfway when I know I am going to pull it out of a gear and put it in neutral. Can this cause wear or damage to my syncros as I am doing this with all my cars when driving. No scratching occurs.

I dont think so. As long as the stick slides out and there is not extra pressure required than NO i dont think there is any additional wear on the box.

Pulling your gearbox into neutral without disengaging the clutch won't cause any wear or damage to your synchros, pushing the clutch only halfway is as good as not using it at all. If you're that worried about it why not push the clutch all the way to the floor? At least you won't get into a bad habit that may cause you to crunch gears while shifting.

Wake up to your self!!

Quote:

I suppose so. Why I am lazy is because here where I live town driving can become tiresome.
The damn traffic lights are 50 to 100m apart and not syncronized at all.You bloody pull away from one, go through the gears and when you barely hit 3rd you have to stop again.
Wellcome to ZA.

Quote:

I suppose so. Why I am lazy is because here where I live town driving can become tiresome.
The damn traffic lights are 50 to 100m apart and not syncronized at all.You bloody pull away from one, go through the gears and when you barely hit 3rd you have to stop again.
Wellcome to ZA.

You know, I once was told that it's best to put the trans in neutral and let the clutch out when you sit at a light. It's suppose to save the t/o bearing an presure plate.

I never do and it's never been a problem.

I just thought i'd throw that in.

I think I should probably go to bed.

Quote:

Considering I inadvertently adjusted my clutch up one day to the point that the TB was permantly against the clutch, and i drove it like that for 6 months before I got around to fixing it, I would think that its really a moot point about sitting in neutral at lights.

Sitting with the clutch engaged will wear out the throw out bearing................it's just that you maybe talking about the part lasting only 80,000 miles vs 110,000.

Now to the original question; I heel and toe downshift even on the street leave the car in neutral at lights etc. and am generally easy on gearboxes. I'm using the standard 1200 4 speed and when I come back to the pits I often slide the car into neutral without using the clutch.Way back when gear boxes were non syncro , folks went up and down through the box without ever using the clutch without any issue. I've routinely done this in heavy traffic on my road cars............only hitch is you'd better know what your doing. As long as the box slides freely out of gear and doesn't go KA-thunk or crunch you're fine.

Tom

Yip, slides freely out of gear and into neutral.
I can push it out of gear and into neutral with 1 finger, so light is it.
But on the other hand I hear the other people's advice and maybe I must stop being lazy and push the clutch in fully.
Rather replace a worn clutch pedal than open and replace gearbox parts as through experience I have learned that a gearbox opened and fixed at a gearbox shop is never the same as a factory assembled gearbox.