I was thinking recently about the pressing down of the clutch as you start. There wont be much oil near the crank thrust bearing (which supports the clutch load) and so you'll increase wear of the crank. On a cold day or a rare occasion it wont be too bad, but every time will lead to much more wear I think. Saying that I have always started with my foot on the clutch, until I thought about it

JAmes.

 

What's turning inside a gearbox if it is in neutral?

And I never leave mine in gear or dip the clutch when I start it. I always park my car in my garden which is totally flat and it won't roll anywhere.

 

wow im gna do this from now on ..bare in mind i havent even bin driving a year unlike all the professionals in the house

 

I'm not meaning to offend but quite frankly, why would u even entertain your missus opinion on whether it is weird or not, especially considering that she probably doesn't understand WHY you are leacving it in gear,

I recall getting a call at knockhill from a mate " Hey Stevie, u got a mate with a saph cossie in the paddock" "Aye" "tell him to get over here, his handbrake has failed and the only reason its not in the wall is my steel toe cap under the tyre stopping it rolling away"

That was dumpeds nice saph cos.

Can't understand why anyone would not leave it in gear. That little bit harder to steal too.

RW

 

It's an old persons thing, if not that old then you've probably inherited form your dad or something

I used to do it when I had old cars with crap handbrakes but Jap stuff just doesn't need the worry.

Only time I'd do it os on a steep hill.

 

i like jap cars too,but come on.do you really thimk they are immune from any sort of problems? they do get wear and tear and break as well mate, just like every other make of car from rover to rolls royce.

 

If at a track day , don't put your handbrake on after you come back into the paddock from your session.

Once the discs contracts your car will roll across the paddock, as this Polo did a few years ago at Snett. Red face time from the Circuit driver staff member who's car it was.

 

You couldn't start our old Hyundai unless the clutch was down

 

What does low compression have to do with anything?

Benni.

 

when i owned my 205gti the handbrake cable snapped and i lived on hill...first was my handbrake.lucky i can drive properly ,but im not saying i didnt have any nearmissis and i didnt fix it for about 2months

 

Less resistance to turn the engine over if in gear.

 

ooh somone once told me if you leave your car in gear the oil drains off the gears quicker i laphed hard at him ...why would u need the oil to drain off u need it for protection lol

 

i always leave it in gear

 

Always leave it in gear, tell her she's weird that she does not ?

Wait, what's her excuse she might forget and try and start it in gear, lol i have heard that before fpsl

 

all ways in gear especially on our lass 56 plate megane as the handbrake somtimes pop's off

 

Always leave it in gear - main reason is to protect from handbrake failure !!

I was taught this by my driving instructor the first day I started driving and thats the way it is.

The reason why women dont do it is down to 2 things:-

1) They dont understand how cars work (and before the women start shouting at me this does not relate to all women just most - especially in dumb arse Essex near me where they are all experts in fake tan, handbags and fake nails and dodgy cars with pink interiors !!!! wtf is that all about)

2) Most women are taught by female instructors (who again dont understand how a car works) hence why they never learn - one of my ex's always had a go at me when I left it in gear and still couldnt understand why i did it even once i explained the reason - then again she was blonde and from Essex !!!!!!

p.s. just ask a women what a rear view mirror is for - answer "for doing make up" what else !!

 

The higher the compression ratio, the harder it is to turn the engine over, which is why diesels need more starting power

 

always !

 

I always leave car in gear! And if in garage or some flat places maybe not use the handbrake!



I thought he only had the flint one?

 

Always park in gear, don't use the handbrake unless it's parked on a hill (my old Fiat Punto GT handbrake froze on during the winter, so learnt not to bother!)
And I always start the engine with my foot on the clutch.

 

Never as the saff has automatic start as does my mondeo but i alway's push the clutch down up on starting them!

 

i never knew so many people did this!? i feel like i dont belong when i say i dont leave it in gear!!

 

yeah ive noticed the note changes when dipping and releasing the clutch, i never knew there was a reason for it

 

in gear especially on hils in cold weather and when just washed car etc to prevent hand brake seizing on .
remember when i was very young starting a car by accident on drive with it in gear crapped myself when i made the car jerk forward always remember that .

just makes sense to dip clutch when starting up tho . didnt think of the technical side about being easier just to crank the engine over not gearbox too , but next time someone asks me why i can sound dead clever now instead of just , dunno just do .

cheer .

 

????????????

 

the whole of the internals of the gearbox is what's turning mate

when you press the clutch, the mechanical link between engine and gearbox is broken because the clutch is not being clamped and so the gearbox internals and not rotating

the fact that the car is not inmotion is just because the gears haven't been engaged

if you were driving down the road and pressed the clutch pedal, the same thing would happen, the gearbox is "disconnected" from the engine

hoep that helps

 

also, i always leave my car in gear when i park, because it's an auto

but i do the same for the vans as well because i love to fill out accident forms for drivers who open the doors and turn the key without actually ebing in the van to "warm it up on a cold day like today"

 

if the internals of the gearbox stop when you press the clutch, why do you need syncros?






look at it the otherway...starting a car with the clutch pressed will increase your crankshaft thrust bearing wear....as everytime you press the clutch you are in turn pressing the crank into its bearings...


personally i start up in neutral.

 

I knw sombody who always parked his wheels facing the curb, one day some arse wipe clipped the wheel adn bent the steering rack :s

 

How did she pass her test then?


I always leave it in gear, and press the clutch when starting.

 

Inertia from the gears and because the prop is moving when the car is in motion ?

 

ok, so perhaps it's a little different for when you are driving along the road as to starting up for the first time but you get the point as you've already said the bit about wear on the thrust

we are talking about miniscule levels of wear and tear here though, 100,000 miles or more in some cases against the handbrake failing and the car rolling down the road into someone's scenery and it costing you loads on the insurance bill

 

yes, so not all the internals stop when changing gear,

and in my experience, most clutches will drag slightly, so the fist motion shaft doesnt stop when the clutch is pressed

 

i was refering to the intial start up of the engien where the gears don't rotate
when the engine is running the clutch is rotating the gears inside the gearbox, the syncro's engange the gears which is why you need to press the clutch to stop the drive going through the different shafts

when peoel crunch gears it's either because they have changed faster than the syncros have allowed or not given the pedal enough pressure to allow full disengagement of the gears

the next time you are driving a manual car, try to take the box out of gear while accelerating, it's very hard as everything is being driven and the forces are a bit much
if you lift off and take it out of gear it's much easier at the point of lifting off, but if you are lifting off and using engine braking to slow down, it's much harder again

the syncro's, in very basic terms, grab the gears and friction slows them down and they have 2 sets of teeth which mesh as opposed to no syncro which is getting two cogs to mesh or dog engagement (i think it's called) where you have very big lumps of syncro that mesh

i think we have gone off topic a bit

 

i can see that the input shafts may rotate as they are supported by the spigot at the end of the crank when first started up, and of course they will rotate at near engine speeds when the engine is up and running

 

[QUOTE=pani_k;3938264]What's turning inside a gearbox if it is in neutral?

QUOTE]

The input shaft, one gear wheel, baulk ring and a syncro ring will be turning as a minimum....

I always leave the car in gear and handbrake off unless on a steep hill.

Minimises the chance of the handbrake cable stretching, and also stops the rear calipers from seizing, particularly in the case of cars with 'cam type' rear handbrakes.

My other half has a Nissan Almera and the rear brakes are frequently siezed on if the handbrake is left on....had to change out 2 calipers so far too

 

was that an evo 205 gti and an rs4 that was posted here a while ago
i alwasys leave mine in gear because you never know what can happen

 

Yep, same here. That same thing is taught in the US driving books as well.

 

I always do this, my mrs thinks in all wrong too.

Since men are apparently never right, I just let it go :P

Edit: now shes asking her mates on msn to try and prove me wrong!

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAn...code/DG_069860

number 252

 

Mates was a Frontera but i remember that one, similiar thing, was a rare evo took all 3 of his cars as a result of the handbrake going iirc.