"burning a clutch"

[b-bomb]

Lol. I learned to drive manual on my friends sentra with a stage 2 clutch. That was tough but I still managed to do it just fine so I'm convinced a monkey could be taught to drive stick with the right teacher. But like everyone else said, just don't ride it and you should be good.

[T3aM 83rD]

Thanks everyone for the help,
I think that I am progressing good, A couple of stalls in traffic while people honk on me but its all good.

Another Question,
When im on a hill at a stop, and I am ready to go again, whats the proper way of doing that, this morning I got nervious because I was rolling backwards and there was a car behind me and the car stalled on me,

Then I put it back into neutral, pulled up the hand brakes, started it up, put it into first, rev it alittle, slowly release the hand brakes while releasing the clutch, Is there an easier way?

[NAiL05]

Hills my info to n00bs.
1. If your worried do as you did use the ebrake to help and let it off

Ways to tackle:
1. You can let out your clutch a bit to wear its almost about to catch and it will hold you on the hill but not too healthy for it. Usually when you progress and become smoother you will be able to know where it catches and the rolling shouldnt be an issue.

2. Also when your on the hill and about to go look at the light and predict ahead of time because you know its gonna take you a bit longer than an auto where its mash and go.

3. To take off on a hill : brake/clutch in, put it in gear. Just let out the clutch when its about to catch and take off normally. Cant really explain it you have to feel it for yourself. My lil bro got it when I told him so yea dunno if that makes sense.

[ilovemycb7]

Depends how steep the hill is...
On a very steep hill you can either e-brake ortry and release the clutch and then move to the gas quickly...
On medium to not steep hills I often find that I can relax and stay calm, even though you feel like you are rolling backwards a lot you really aren't moving that far... so you just need to not panic then you'll be fine.

I've only been driving for like 10 months and I can remember when I was learning stick. I'm still not the greatest, but you'll be very happy in 6 months or so when it is all natural. It's a fun way to drive.

[deevergote]

Hills are a bitch... Even after 6 years of driving stick, I still get nervous when some douche gets too close to me on a hill. You WILL roll back a little normally... You just have to be quick with your feet to keep it to a minimum. The e-brake thing you did isn't a bad idea when someone is too close.

I've had a few instances where I totally burned out at a hill because I was afraid to roll back into the guy behind me.

[cp[mike]]

how well do you understand teh function of a clutch?

if you understand what its doing and why you need to work the pedals, youll get a better feel for it.


the clutch is basically a way to disconnect the running engine from the transmission, so you can change the gearing, and reconnect it.

lets say the engine is running at 1500 RPM and the car is at a stop, so the tranny is spinning at 0 RPM.

if you let off the clutch, the spinning engine isnt enough to get the car moving without stalling itself out. so what do you do? give it more gas.

the idea of a friction disc/clutch is so you can connect/disconnect smoothly and gradually.

lets say you only let the pedal out a bit of the way, so it just starts to touch... a little bit of force will be transferred from the spinning engine and will help get the tranny/car moving forward. but if you let it slip like this too long, itll heat up and burn out the friction disc. if you dont let it slip long enough, youll have harsh shifts.

what you need to practice is getting a feel for the clutch and how well it grabs, so you know exactly how fast to let out the clutch while knowing how much extra gas to give it. so you make it an even, smooth engagement of the clutch to get the car moving.

if you can get the car moving from a stop into 1 or R and you can shift from 1 to 2, you know enough to start driving - and now the best way to learn and be familiar with it is to just DO IT! get out there and drive, practice makes perfect.

[T3aM 83rD]

I have discovered that shifiting into 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th are all much easier than the initial shift into first.

A tricky thing is say your in stop and go traffic, where when you move its at like 5 mph for about 2 seconds then stopping again...go...stop..
This mornings traffic was like that, and i never fully let off the clutch, when I came to a complete stop i held the clutch in all the way and when it was time to roll up i slowly gave it some gas while releasing the clutch just enough to roll a couple of feet then stop again. I guess this means that the clutch was partically "holding" which i dont think is good.
what is the proper way of driving in this circumstance?

You guys are helping me alot.

[cp[mike]]

thats the same way i deal with stopandgo traffic. but also if the road is sloped downhill at all, i wont even bother putting it into gear, ill just let off the brake and let the car slowly roll forward. or ill just sit and wait for a while, let the cars go-stop-go-stop a couple times, then ill finally move up.

it sounds like youre getting the hang of it... what it takes now is just a while of practice until you feel comfortable... just dont ever pass up the opportunity to drive 5spd, i learned because i bought a 5spd car, and if i wanted to go anywhere, i had to figure out how to make it move. didnt take long, and once you learn, its like riding a bike... youll always remember.

[qbodsyt]

Do the best you can. Rather than "ride" the clutch through the entire roll, let off and apply gas for a little jolt and then clutch down fully and coast on that momentum. In busy traffic conditions you learn not to unnecessarily come to a complete stop as it just means more takeoffs.

The clutch was designed to be engaged and disengaged frequently. Don't fret unnecessarily about having to ride it to a degree in situations like that. I had a friend with an MX6 who was always paranoid about clutching AT ALL and ended up trashing his transmission instead. Transmissions cost a lot more to fix/replace than prematurely worn clutches.......ride the clutch, don't wreck the tranny.

[palinix]

I have discovered that shifiting into 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th are all much easier than the initial shift into first.

A tricky thing is say your in stop and go traffic, where when you move its at like 5 mph for about 2 seconds then stopping again...go...stop..
This mornings traffic was like that, and i never fully let off the clutch, when I came to a complete stop i held the clutch in all the way and when it was time to roll up i slowly gave it some gas while releasing the clutch just enough to roll a couple of feet then stop again. I guess this means that the clutch was partically "holding" which i dont think is good.
what is the proper way of driving in this circumstance?

You guys are helping me alot.

Anytime I'm in stop and go traffic for more than 10 mins or so I always wish I was driving an auto instead... just for that time period. Stop and go traffic is hard on the clutch and there's not much we can do about it.

The best thing to do would be to try and minimize your use of the clutch as much as possible. What I usually do, is try and get a little extra distance between my car and the car in front of me. In this way, you can release the clutch completely for a short period of time when starting off, then re-engage in fully when you need to come to a stop.

On level surface, you can actually move the car along in first gear, clutch completely dis-engaged, with no use of the gas peddle. I find this works well in continuous stop and go situations and it takes less of a toll on the clutch.

[Chrisisiced]

On level surface, you can actually move the car along in first gear, clutch completely dis-engaged, with no use of the gas peddle. I find this works well in continuous stop and go situations and it takes less of a toll on the clutch.

X2

As long as you're moving the car wont stall out on you. I usually wont hit the clutch unless i feel the car about to stall. But yeah cruising in first with little to no gas is great in those situations.

[cleanz_28]

stick Shift is Great.
I Just started driving Stick Shift back in Dec. when I Picked up the Cb7 and Joined this Board.The first time I was at a steep hill,I burned out Crazy(1st day driving).keep at it Its fun learning,and teaching friends and Family,its has become a lost art.Every one has a Automatic.

e-brake is your best friend,turn off ur stereo,so u can hear and feel when the clutch engages.


Good Luck


-Jose

[NAiL05]

Yea when I travel in traffic and need a bump I just let off the clutch without using the gas haha I just bump the car so the car is rollin.

[Rootznation]

bro sounds like your doing good man, just be glad you didnt have to learn on a 2180cc 67 VW bug which is my other car by the way. that was just intense thats the reason my accord was auto b4 haha big mistake its now 5-speed and i love it

[T3aM 83rD]

I have yet another question...
Today while I was driving, my clutch lost pressure, I hooked it with my foot and pulled it back up and then it was fine again. This was while I was driving for about 45 min where the last 15mins were in traffic. After that and for the rest of the day it was fine. Is this something that happens normally when your on the clutch repeatly for about 15min in traffic or was something wrong?

Other than that I have been doing well, the car no longer jerks when Im changing gears, everything seems to be going smoothly.