Holding Down Clutch When Stopped?

[OddLawnGnome]

I've searched and searched on the web but all I can find elsewhere are reports that completely contradict each other.

So I figured I may as well ask people who actually drive the same car

Just got my 1994 DL a month back, it's my first manual car and I love it so far but this has been bugging me. Is it good or bad to hold down the clutch in gear while you are stopped?
Scenario 1: (what I'm currently doing) when stopped change to neutral, pop clutch out. When I see the lights across from me turn yellow, clutch down, into first and off I go.
Scenario 2: Pop clutch, stop, put in first, hold clutch down through the lights.

I can see how you might not want to hold the clutch down during the lights for comfort reasons, but from what I can gather so far the first one puts more wear on the tranny and the second wears out the throwout bearing and a spring somewhere.

 

[Rob10_99]

When your holding down the clutch, your TOB is spinning at crank speed with the pressure of your pressure plate on it. Not good for longevity. Low lubrication and life of the bearing at these conditions with a huge pressure plate on a lot of dsm's.
The trans was made to be spinning, it spins constantly, even in neutral. The thing that wears out in tranny's is the synchros or possibly the shift forks. Anything else that wears out if a cause of one of those failures without abuse obviously.(broken ring/pinion/lsd for example).

 

[Jst4Cyl]

This does put more strain on your TOB as you noted and would be a more logical to let the clutch out. I personally hold the clutch in as I change out my tranny quite often (reason being is from dumping the clutch rather than slipping) and replace the TOB while I'm in there. Again though my car is a weekend car only.

 

[endeffect0]

It does put the weight of your pressure plate on to the Throw out Bearing. this is more of a worry if you end up with an aftermarket clutch/ pressure plate combo. so don't sweat it too much. It would be considered a bad habit if you end up doing it at every single light. but its not the sort of thing you need to worry about unless you do it all the time. If your still getting comfortable with driving a manual transmission dont worry about it now. it would just be one more thing to think about. learn your double clutch down shifts, learn your heal toe foot work.. learn the left foot breaking.. then once you have all that taken care of be concious about not holding down the clutch at the lights.

just the fact that your thinking enough to ask that question shows your gonna be in pretty good shape



side note: with motor cycles they recommend you come to a stop, pop it in first and hold down the clutch in case a car is coming up on you who isn't stopping and you have to get out of the way.
Food for thought

 

[MichaelSuch]

On all my vehicles I've always held the clutch in at a stop sign/light. If I know I'll be there stopped in one spot for awhile I'll throw it out of gear. But so far with my truck, my car, my dads truck, never had any issues, both trucks are a little over 200k as well and had them both for about 6-7 years now. Only had my car for about a year so I can't speak too much for it yet.

 

[96ETT]

Everyone I have ever been with seems to hold the clutch in and leave it in gear while stopped at a light. I do it also. Although none of us have 'performance' clutches or anything they have not needed to be replaced yet.

 

[MaNGiNa24]

Holding the clutch in puts more wear on your components over the course of the clutch's life.

I just pop it into neutral most of the time.

If you ever upgrade to a clutch with more clamping force you'll definitely want to get used to leaving the car in neutral.

 

[black_gst]

holding clutch down for a long time is bad for your TOB and if you are driving around with a act 2600 PP its a bit of a workout but you trans was completely designed to be spining in netrul and doesnt wear out at all but your TOB will wear out

 

[zhjiln]

do not hold down the clutch while at a stop light... in fact i pop it in neutral as soon i see that light turn red and coast to the stop light.

 

[beyondspexj]

i too pop it into neutral while sitting at a light. only time i hold it down while in gear is when i know the light is about to turn green.

 

[MaNGiNa24]

Keeping the clutch down won't wear out the tranny but it'll put excess wear on your TOB (obviously) & your pressure plate which is usually the more expensive part of a clutch rebuild.

 

[OddLawnGnome]

Thanks for the replies! It's good to have a bunch of people who definitively agree that it's bad.

zhjiln: Correct me if I'm wrong but coasting for long distances will strip your brakes in notime.

 

[MaNGiNa24]

Thanks for the replies! It's good to have a bunch of people who definitively agree that it's bad.

zhjiln: Correct me if I'm wrong but coasting for long distances will strip your brakes in notime.

Not necessarily. Coasting will cause more wear on braking components, but it'll also extend the life of your engine's rotating assembly.

Most of these differences are negligible but over the course of 50k+ miles you'll notice the difference.

 

[OddLawnGnome]

I usually just slow down to third, pop into neutral, and coast for 10-20 feet. Never more than that though. That change down from 3rd to 2nd can't be doing anything good for the engine, I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Pretty much anytime I shift down into 2nd the revs jump to like 4 and the car bobs about for a second before it gets used to this. Is there some kind of secret skill I'm missing?

 

[96ETT]

I usually just slow down to third, pop into neutral, and coast for 10-20 feet. Never more than that though. That change down from 3rd to 2nd can't be doing anything good for the engine, I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Pretty much anytime I shift down into 2nd the revs jump to like 4 and the car bobs about for a second before it gets used to this. Is there some kind of secret skill I'm missing?

Yes you are downshifting too early in you dont want it to hit 4k. There is no need to downshift at all, just put in neutral and apply brakes. Very simple.

 

[anteversion]

Yes, its not recommended to hold down the clutch while its not necessary: like waiting on lights to turn green or any other circumstances. Unless when you are attempting to make a great startup in a race or at the drag strip.

Of course it will prematurely worn the TOB because it will spin many times when not necessary but it will also put all the pressure that is necessary to press the PP at the thrust bearing, wich is not good for crank walk. Every times that you floor the clutch pedal, the PP load is applied to the crank.

 

[black_gst]

I usually just slow down to third, pop into neutral, and coast for 10-20 feet. Never more than that though. That change down from 3rd to 2nd can't be doing anything good for the engine, I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Pretty much anytime I shift down into 2nd the revs jump to like 4 and the car bobs about for a second before it gets used to this. Is there some kind of secret skill I'm missing?

if you really want to down shift, rev up between down shifts to the approx rpm of ther next lower gears rpm at your current speed that will get rid of your "bobs"

 

[dyno_detour]

do not hold down the clutch while at a stop light... in fact i pop it in neutral as soon i see that light turn red and coast to the stop light.

I keep mine with the clutch in and RPMs at 3300! jk

I do exactly what zhjiln does.

 

[manny correa]

do not hold down the clutch while at a stop light... in fact i pop it in neutral as soon i see that light turn red and coast to the stop light.

i do the exact same thing...but just a tad different...i pop the shifter out of gear without engaging the clutch, it works awesome and of course only at low rpms(obviously coming to a stop) is this bad in any way? and does anybody else do it? p.s.. ive done this to all my dsm's without any know problems! to me its just that much more of a safety precaution( as in not "riding the clutch" unnecessarily..) any body with me? i also cut the clutch start-up wire to start the car without pushing the clutch pedal in. ill take all the precautions i can...

 

[Boostin2High]

Theres actually a post on here somewere stating that it is in fact a bajillion times better for your car to down shift instead of just throwing it in neutral. and it saves a piss load of gas as well.

I'll see if I can find the post.

 

[95CarbonEclipse]

Holding the clutch in with your foot will lead to premature sneaker wear out. With the cost of kicks these days, do yourself a favor and let the clutch out at the lights.

Downshifting into 2nd gear is perfectly fine when done properly (even better when double clutched).

Never attempt to downshift from 2nd to 1st unless at a complete stop.

 

[steelzeus]

Theres actually a post on here somewere stating that it is in fact a bajillion times better for your car to down shift instead of just throwing it in neutral. and it saves a piss load of gas as well.

I'll see if I can find the post.

Downshifting is harder on the trans. The sycnros have to speed up the gearset to match the patterns, and that wears on the friction surface on the cones more so than upshifts.

 

[wancsta]

Thrust bearing failure?

 

[dyno_detour]

Theres actually a post on here somewere stating that it is in fact a bajillion times better for your car to down shift instead of just throwing it in neutral. and it saves a piss load of gas as well.

I'll see if I can find the post.

I don't get it. Putting it in neutral doesn't put any strain on the transmission. How could it be better to down shift?

Try to find the post. I'm looking too.

 

[JFatch1890]

I use to just throw mine in neutral and coast to the lights.The only time i down shifted is when i was beating the car around a sharp turns or passing someone if i was in like 5th cruising down the highway.Its common sense that to stop a force something has to work against it so scientifically there's no way possible for it to be better to down shift and keep stress on it then letting stress off of it.In less in some magical way our cars break all logical scientific fact.Even so if one part gets worn from doing so its still nowhere near as put under stress as the other parts are by downshifting