Wednesday, 4 May 2016

Things not to do in a manual transmission

In this article, I will talk about 5 bad habits that one may follow while driving a manual transmission vehicle. Not following these don’ts might affect the transmission and engine performance of the vehicle.

1.       Don’t rest your hand on the gearshift:

This habit is commonly seen among the experienced drivers who prefer to rest their hand on the gearshift and steer the vehicle with the other hand. We all know that during gear shift, selector fork engages the dog clutch to the respective gears.

If we rest our hand on the gearshift, we might apply unwanted pressure on the selector fork against the dog clutch. This can lead to wearing of the selector fork and the dog clutch. The scenario looks like forcing gear change without pressing on the clutch pedal which can damage the components.

The best way to deal with this situation is to use both the hands for steering. Gearshift should be touched only while changing the gear. Whenever you need a gearshift, press the clutch pedal, use your hand to shift the gear and then put your hand back on the steering wheel.

2.       Put the transmission on neutral at the stop light:

Drivers should have the practice of leaving the vehicle at neutral at stop lights instead of pressing on the clutch pedal and shifting to 1st gear. The clutch assembly has a release bearing which presses against the diaphragm spring when the clutch pedal is pressed. This applies unnecessary pressure on both the release bearing and the diaphragm spring which leads to wearing.

The best thing to do is to bring the gearshift to neutral and release the clutch pedal to avoid any unnecessary wearing within the clutch.

3.       Never use clutch to hold the vehicle on a slope:

When you have halted your vehicle on a steep hill, there is always a tendency for the vehicle to roll back. In this scenario, we should never use the clutch to hold ourselves from rolling back, as the clutch plate and pressure plate would be rotating at different speeds and this would lead to the wearing of the friction material on the clutch plate.

Hand brakes come in handy under this situation. Apply hand brakes to prevent the vehicle from rolling back. When you want to move forward, press on the clutch pedal and shift the gear to 1st gear. Then slowly start releasing the clutch pedal. As you feel a forward movement, quickly release the handbrake and then press on the accelerator to get the forward movement. With regular practice, one should be able to control it perfectly.

4.       Downshift the gear at lower vehicle speed:

On some occasions people get lazy to downshift the gear at a lower vehicle speed. In other words, we shouldn’t apply a lot of throttle when we are at a lower engine rpm. For example, if you are at 5th gear and the vehicle is running at 40 kmph, it is not a good idea to press on the throttle because the engine will be at a huge gearing disadvantage. You are simply going to ask the engine to put more effort to accelerate the vehicle. This will affect the fuel economy.

So if you are running the car at a lower speed, it would be in your best interest to downshift to a lower gear for better and smoother acceleration.

5.       Don’t rest your foot on the clutch pedal:

Resting your foot on the clutch pedal can affect the power transmitted to the transmission because the clutch may not be fully engaged. In this situation, you might also be wearing the clutch disc due to slipping.

6.       Don’t start your vehicle at 2nd gear:

This is again commonly seen among professional drivers who seem to have better control over clutch pedal. Moving the vehicle by up-shifting directly from neutral to 2nd gear will lead to engine lugging. It simply means you are asking the engine to put more effort in accelerating your car which can be done quite easily at 1st gear. We all know the fact that the transmission transmits maximum torque at 1st gear; hence it is always desirable to launch the vehicle at 1st gear.



       


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