clutch issues: Should I be able to do this?
 

While driving and with my foot off of the gas I am able to take the car out of gear without pushing in the clutch pedal. I am NOT able to put it in gear without pushing in the clutch pedal however.

I could swear that every car I've had in the past wouldn't let me do this, so it's kind of freaking me out. Should I be able to put the car into neutral while driving without pushing the clutch pedal? If not, what could be wrong?

Oh, and please don't say I'm going to need a new clutch. I'll cry crocodile tears if I do.

u need a new clutch

CRY ***** CRY :D :p

if your using engine braking then u should not be able to do this. however i could do it on my dads 89 witch had clutch problems:o soo.....

Sigh...:(

You should be able to up and down shift w/o using the clutch if you know how. Some transmissions are more tempermental than others, but I don't think that being able to take it out of gear w/o the clutch implies there's something wrong with your clutch. It seems to be a YMMV deal. If you want to check your clutch, see if it stalls the engine in 2nd. If it can stop the engine then it's fine, replace if it doesn't slow down the flywheel enough to stall the engine. More to the point, to couple the engine and tranny you need to have them spinning at the same speed, i.e. slow down the flywheel, but to uncouple them just requires them to be released since they are already spinning at the same speed.

Hi Matt

Relax . the clutch is OK

Clutch problems are usually indicated by slipping under acceleration or juddering when your letting the clutch out when taking off.

Normally when driving one pushes down the clutch pedal when changing up or down.
This disconnects the engine from the driveline system.
The clutch in a normal car is quite progressive , that is , you can vary the amount of coupling quite well , which makes starting off at the line very easy to do at low rev's without stalling the engine.
Race cars on the other hand generally have verry ON or OFF clutches.
They often do away with the conventional friction linings for more tougher stuff and it gives it a real SWITCH type action.
(in my countries language a cars clutch translates to ?switch?)

When you press in the clutch the load gets taken off the transmisions parts wihich then allows you to disengage one gear and another.
Gears in a car gearbox are always meched (except reverse) but are not locked up untill the syncronizer is moved into place via the selectors / linkage / gear stick mechanism.

So when you change gears you are in fact changing positions of the synchro's and it is these parts that like to be unloaded with the clutch action to allow easy movement.
Of course some synchro's will allow themsleves to be moved (disconected from the gear) without the clutch being pressed.

If you syncronize the cars road speed and engine speed the load on the sychro is almost nothing.
At that time you can take it out of gear with very little effort without pressing the clutch in.

It is also possible to engage a new gear with the same mothod.
Matching the cars speed with engine speed and then the syncro will slip in and lock.
But of course it takes a lot more practice , and true , some cars syncro design makes it a little trickier to do.

I dont actually recomend using this no clutch technique.
When taking it out of gear you are placing more strain on one face of the selector fork , , the syncrho doesn't get extra wear tho.
When trying to place a gear IN with this method you are getting more selector fork wear and possible syncro damage on their tiny teeth.

So its up to you to balance what is better , less clutch depresses which will make the clutch last longer versus the extra syncro and selector wear.

Hope this helps....

Hi theclencher

In the way old days trucks didnt have syncronizers in their gear boxes so they had to push in th eclutch , take it out of gear , realease the clutch , push in the clutch , syncronize road and engine speed and select the new gear and then release the clutch.

Real pain the buttox.- but it worked and was strong.

Now days on modern trucks they may have more conventional synchros fitted but on some it is still recomended to double clutch under some circumstances to save on transmision wear and allow easier shifting.

Pull lightly on the shifter as you take your foot off the gas and as the load on the gears is released it will pop out of gear. If you want to get into the next gear it is best to have the rpm and speed matched and do it at a low rpm - not recommended because you are dealing with a lot of enertia and can chip the edges off the gears. Clutch health is a function of material left indicated by how high it grabs and how much adjustment is left, not easy with hydralic pedal linkage however.

I never considered it a pain to double clutch, it was the way it was done. What do you consider "way old days"? I've been out of the business for a long time but I don't think truck manual transmissions have changed all that much. None of the transmissions I used had syncros.

I rode with an old-timer once who almost never used the clutch execpt to start out. He could shift lighting fast and smooth as silk by timing his shifts just right.

-- Scott

Hi scostanz

You must have been out longer than you remember , many trucks have synchro's now.

The Volvo FH16 has 14 combinations of synchro'd gears.
16-speed synchromesh gearboxes are available on MAN trucks.
And Scania was one of the first to offer synchro gearboxes in trucks back in the mid 60's with the LB76 model.

yup same here. you are fine.