What is wrong with my clutch? Or what am I doing wrong??
 

In all gears the car jerks whenever I shift gears and let out the clutch. Really jerks, to the point of being annoying.

Unless I shift at higher rpm, like if I shift at 1900rpm or higher it's no existant.

Or should I just let the clutch out slowly whenever I shift??? I dump it in every gear except 1st.

I still don't know what I'm doing. I had somebody drive my car from the last owner's house because I didn't know how to drive stick. I taught myself how to drive.

Don't think of the clutch pedal like a light switch - it is not simply on or off. Dumping the clutch in every gear but first is your problem. You don't have to feather the clutch in every gear, but you should practice a controlled release, unless you are racing and have a clutch that can handle you dumping it all the time (i.e. - not a stock clutch).

In the Finnish language ?Clutch? is ?Switch?.
This is also shown in the Fin's driving habbits here , clutches and brakes are worn out within 3 years.

Shifting at lower rpm's can be tricky. And with you being a noob on a MT its a concern for you to try and do it right.

First learn to launch the car from a incline and clutch control in tight maneuvering.

The jerks you are feeling is timing more than anything. To soon you get the slow down jerk. To fast and you get the pull jerk. And remember a MT can be smoother than a AT,, but only at certain times or shift points.

One thing I like about my 06 Civic is ,,, it holds rpm when you shift. A lot of folks don't like it and have complained to the point that Honda has a flash for the ECU concerning it. I kinda like it as it makes rev matching almost a thing of the past. Even when driving on the spirited side it seems the tach is where it needs to be,, or darn close to it. I have to get in the Ranger to play with heel and toe or rev matching. <<<<< Talk about a waste. :p

Just keep playing around with it. IMO Honda's don't have the best clutch/tranny interface. Many people like them. Ive found them very lack luster. And can be hard to drive at times. The linkage on my civic is, IMO clunky. The ball and cable idea they have is cheap and stupid. While it may feel good to a novice. It feels very vague and rubbery to me. And from day to day the clutch engage point seems diff. Its so rubbery and vague that I cant clutchless shift it.

On the other hand my Festiva had a very good clutch and tranny linkage and feel. I wish i could find another one in good shape. It would clutchless shift like a dream. And you could leave it in first at a stop light with engine off and the clutch switch jumpered and hit the key. I would roll, start and take off in one semi smooth motion. There were times I wouldnt use the clutch at all. Take off, upshift and downshift no clutch.

Another good setup Ive seen is my brothers Rally-Art. The clutch is hands down the best production car clutch Ive ever driven. And the short throw 5MT is sweet. Everything is very positive. Its also a great clutchless shifter. All it takes is a flinch at the throttle and flick it into the next gear.

Just play with your timing between the throttle and clutch. One of the draw backs of postive engagement is sometimes smoothness.

psy

Slip the clutch (pedal) at every gear change...altho' not as much as in 1st gear(to start the heavy car moving). The clutch is not a switch! Think of 2nd gear, 3rd gear, etc. as an extension of 1st gear...only the RPM match is quicker (because the car's mass is already moving). And relax! Everyone has to learn this .... Personally, I would not hit a Northbound bull in the South end with an automatic tranny! Why not let the car steer & brake for you as well as change gears? I like the control of gear ratios, especially on decel! You will, too...in time.... -Ted Hart

Does it jerk forward or backwards? If forward then your engine rpm is dropping too much by the time you are letting the clutch out if the car jerks forward you are not letting off the gas enough or or hitting the gas too soon. Depending upon the engine idle speed and how quickly is drops in rpm if it drops slowly it should give you a nice smooth shift is you let the clutch out in about a second of time from bottom to top - let it out smoothly and steady but don't just dump the pedal. Then hit the gas smoothly not too fast or else you can get a jerk from engine throttle lag. Just take your time shifting - back off gas to stop accelerating, press clutch in quickly, pop out of gear, pause in neutral, pop it into the next gear all the way, let clutch out, press the gas. As you get better you can hit some gas as the clutch is almost all the way out. A lot of the newer cars have a rpm holding feature so the engine doesn't drop quickly making it easy to shift - no jerking from too low of an rpm in the next gear.