MaximaSpd85

iTrader: (14)

like the title says i've never owned a 5 speed until a few days ago and just had a few questions. Before i begin i know nothing about trannys or 5 speeds and how they work. i know how to drive them, but still just need experience and practice to perfect it. first question about the car in general really, is the idle is around 600 in neutral. it stays there for 10-15 seconds then it plummets to around 450 rpms for a quick second then rises back to 600. it just noticed that today when i cleaned the throttle body, changed the pvc valve and changed the fuel filter BUT i cant tell you if it did it b4 b/c i never paid close attention to it nor have i stayed in neutral for long. normal or not? next thing is about driving a 5speed: when i am driving in 4th gear and i see a red light up ahead i go ahead and press the clutch, put it in 1st gear and hold the clutch until i come to the light to be ready for the next green. hope u understood that. is that a bad thing to do maybe? or just make sure i keep on the clutch?? lol i've always driven that way but dont know if i should try not to do that. now about the tranny itself, this maybe a dumb question..sorry. from neutral to first is there a different sound that should arise? ok, sorry im a noob but just wanna make sure i dont mess it up. like i said i learned how to drive stick a looong time ago but just dont know things about it. thanks, any advice is welcome on the dos and donts of stick shift driving

max2evoix

Check the ivac
Idle
Valve
Air
Controll

itsdaveonline

Nothing wrong with that, but why not spice it up and downshift to 4th? Personally ive never driven a 5-speed max but i have driven '85 rx7 and its way more fun to shift around and stuff.... But regardless your not shifting wrong or anything...

99se5speed

iTrader: (8)

Holding in the clutch isn't really that good. Use it when you need to only. From 4th to 1st...wtf? Try not to let of the clutch while you in high RPMs you might just blow your tranny. Like the others have said definitely clean your IACV because that's probably what's causing the idle drop.

MaximaSpd85

iTrader: (14)

i dont shift from 4th to 1st, i put it in first gear but i hold the clutch to get ready for the green light. im cruising in 4th gear, i see the red light, i push the clutch and i hold it until i come to a complete stop, but in the mean time i get the downshift over with so that i dont have to do it wen the light turns green. just didnt know if holding the clutch at speeds that high would cause a problem. should i just brake only until im ready to stop then press the clutch?

99se5speed

iTrader: (8)

You can hold the clutch, I just meant that you should be careful and not let it go. I was told never to hold the clutch unless you need it. I'm in nuetral when i'm at a like and shift to 1st when it turns green. I just don't get how your able to put it into first gear cruising at such high rpms. I can only go into first when i'm less then 5mph and half the time it still won't go in, so i have to double clutch or just rev the engine to match the tranny.

Tatanko

iTrader: (34)

IACV...idle air control valve.

4x4Max

iTrader: (12)

DO NOT hold the clutch in at a light, DO NOT. This is bad for your throwout bearings and it WILL make them go bad after a while. I'm surprised nobody mentioned it earlier....and plus, why would you take the effort of holding the clutch in, when you can keep it out and not do anything. When slowing down, put the clutch in, take the car out of gear, and let the clutch out. When the light turns green, put it in, put it in gear, and go. Don't hold it in!

Mxrider52

iTrader: (8)

I wouldnt recommend going from 4th to 1st when your coming to a light. Why not just push the clutch in and put it into neutral? That the same thing as holding the clutch in first gear. Much easier on the clutch and trans when in neutral.

And isnt it hard to put the car into first as 1st gear is usually locked out unless your going like 5 mph. Are you forcing it into 1st? If it wont just slide in(which it shouldnt above 5mph) your damaging your synrcos. Either just go to neutral or hold the clutch while in any other gear until you completely stop then shift to first. Holding clutch in puts wear on throwout bearing and clutch

86maxima96

iTrader: (10)

about the dropping from 4th to 1st and holding the clutch in, why bother? if i saw the red, i would just drop it in neutral and coast in. when you see the opposite traffic light turning yellow, soon to be red, (read: you're about to get the green), then i would put the disengage the clutch and shift to 1st.

think about it this way: when you push the cluth in, you are techinically stretching something. the more you hold it in, the longer it is stretched and the faster it will wear out. i do not recommend holding the clutch in. one of my biggest peeves when i let people drive my car. (rarely do now.)

someone mentioned downshifting. completely pointless when you are coming up to a red light. if you were coming into a turn and going for a quick exit, downshifting would be used. but at a red light, just put it in neutral and use the brakes to slow your car. a brake job is much easier and cheaper than ANY tranny work. good luck. driving a stick really isn't too bad. it helps a lot to know what's going on with your car when you do certain things. makes everything else logical. but above all, enjoy it. my 5-spd max is my first car and i love it every time i go for a drive. the tranny is not quite bulletproof, but a very solid unit nonetheless and can handle a little abuse or stress from a learner.

kcryan

iTrader: (1)

Yep, Throughout bearings dont like it, just go t Neutral for a while, then 1st when the lights close to changing, its not horrible though, lots of peeps do it..

kcryan

iTrader: (1)

Ohh and downshifting, tough on tranny, clutch, and today most importantly GAS, just use brakes, there cheaper now

the_3d_man

iTrader: (1)

If you keep putting it in first like that you will quickly find that it will stop letting you as the synchro wears out. Don't shift into first unless you're almost at a stop, or if you just really need to take off fast, and even then if you are above 10-15mph I would just go into second. Also don't hold the clutch in. I usually put it in gear and hold the clutch if I think the light is about to change but not if I am coasting or if I am just waiting.

99fivespd

both front and rear 3M Windo-weld urethane is very good and somebody is, I believe, now selling inserts. Put synthetic manual transmission fluid in tranny. now you can drive like you stole it
not really , but it helps.

Blackwind

iTrader: (9)

as far as shift patterns go , when im in:

city- 1-2-4, that way i have 3rd available in case i need to break out.

hwy- (from a stop) 1-2-3-5, this way i have both 3rd and 4th in case i need to bust someones ****.

but i do this cause ive been driving for a looong time.

scrhale

OK as stated, do NOT hold the clutch in as this does NOT put excessive wear on the clutch plate itself, but the pressure plate. When you are coming to a stop, leave the car in gear. If you are in 3rd, 4th, or 5th just stay in gear and when you are almost stopped THEN put the clutch in and put it in neutral. This removes a little bit of stress from the brakes and places it on the transmission.

Now I got to get my flame suit on and defend myself. "You are a retard you would rather stress the transmission" will be stated 50 times after this post, but here is my reasoning. So let's say you are doing 75 MPH and coming to a stop. With stock gears, that puts you just over 3K RPM (in 5th). I am sorry, but if you were to brake in this situation all the way to 10 MPH and then put the clutch in and shift to neutral then you are doing the transmission no harm. The amount of stress at that RPM is insignificant. The situation explained by the original poster in which he comes to a stop in 4th does state which RPMs he is at, but I can imagine he isn't 4K+.

NOW if you were at 50 MPH in 2nd gear because you just finished gunning it then, yes, get out of gear because you are at 4.5K+ RPMs which is a high stress moment for the transmission if there is no throttle being applied.

LEAVE IT IN GEAR TILL THE LAST MOMENT.

96blkonblkse

iTrader: (18)

well in my numerous transmissions ive gone through, it is hard to put it in to 1st while even moving slow. I dont put it in first unless im crawling or stopped. Also why not just throw it in neutral and let off the clutch and relax your leg, its pointless to put it in first what if you accidetnly let go of the clutch while your doing 50mph and in 1st, your tranny and engine are going to hate you for that. When i see a red light, ill put it in neutal and just slow down then if the light turns green ill throw it in second or third depending on the speed. The 5spds have more then enough low end torque to take off in second without looking like an idiot.

nguyen925

i would just shift to neutral and coast in..i wouldn't bother holding in the clutch and shifting to first if it was a red light. i dont see good reasoning behind that. my perspective on the rpms was that if it was in lower rpms you would save gas. so if you were to stick it in Neutral your rpms would drop from 2k to maybe 600-1000. why put more wear on parts when there's no real reason to? and the thing with the idling doesn't sound healthy for your car. it should be consistent in the amount of RPMS you have while in the idling.

konak85

iTrader: (10)

when coming to a stop, i always leave it in whatever gear it is already in until i slow down to about 20 mph then i put it in neutral, then complete the stop. Keeping it in gear helps the brakes stop the car.

MorpheusZero

iTrader: (10)

a few things: holding the clutch in like that will wear out the TO bearing like previously stated, and jamming it into first (even with the clutch in) at significant speed is very hard on your first gear synchro. Just shift to neutral or leave it in gear until the very last minute--much better for the tranny.

scrhale

Thank you for agreeing (same with Morpheus). This is exactly my logic. To the person who said that it saves gas, I can see your logic too. I have to disagree with your point though because, in manual transmissions, there is a near fuel cut when you are using 0 throttle. Therefore that point is kinda void. This is where automatic transmissions lose fuel efficiency. While braking in "D", the car still has throttle being applied to it (Very little ... but some ... the same "some" that allows you to coast with no gas) which not only wastes gas, but also is harder on your brakes. Gotta love 5 SPD.

BlackMaxdout

I think this is the first time I have ever heard this. I've always been taught to downshift. Engine braking isn't harmful if you do it right.

scrhale

I kinda agree with BlackMaxdout ^^ . There is really no harm if done right and you don't re-engage in a high RPM (4K+). At 4K+ it just doesn't feel right. It is common knowledge that just pushing the clutch in is "damaging" it. Of course this process occurs over what is expected to be 100K+ miles, but still. If you are downshifting 2-3 times every stop then you lose just that many more times you can put the clutch in. Downshifting isn't rough on the synchros, but you are also using them just that much more. That is the reason I have become accustom to double-clutching (that and the fact that my synchros are on the way out the door).

kcryan

iTrader: (1)

Meh, disagree with me, everyones got different opinions however i want to clear up a few parts.

"There is no harm done when you downshift correctly"....not so true, there may be minimal harm done, but everytime the transmission is engaged and the clutch is let out, some wear is taking place, so for me, any wear i can avoid is a good thing.

"The engine doesnt waste gas when its downshifting because there is no throttle applied or something like that"....Ok, so if it doesnt add gas when the revs climb (which i disagree with) then theres not enough gas to support the raised revs, and you lean the hell out of your A/F ratio, causing major damage to your engine. (i dont htink this is what happens, i think the EFI compensates for the revs, and you waste gas)



Anyway, any of these things will be fine, and were just arguing over small stuff, if you do downshift, just be gentle with it.

Good luck man

Frank Fontaine

Great advice. That should be common sense when driving a manual. Riding the clutch is as offensive as riding a bicycle on the left side (unless in Britain, Singapore, India (doesn't matter at all), Australia, or Philadelphia.

Frank Fontaine

You are correct. That's a pretty misinformed statement by the other dude saying that gas is cheaper than brakes. About as misinformed as thinking that hybrids make any financial sense and have a sensible break-even when gasoline is under $7/gal.

scrhale

Are you referring to me when I went on blabbing? I am not mad or anything I just think that you misinterpretted my statement. If you aren't then I'll just shut up, but in no means did I ever say gas is cheaper than brakes.

scrhale

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....uel+cut+manual Post 17

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....uel+cut+manual Post 9

FUEL IS CUT TOTALLY!!! Don't hate on the FSM ... sorry but I like being right.

975spdmax

I learned not to put it in first unless you are stopped. Usually I can't even get it into first if I'm going real slow. So just put it in neutral and then brake. All it takes is once to forget it's in first and let the clutch back out and blow your trans.

ting

I am new here, and I am also looking for 5 speeds.

Apparition

iTrader: (5)

I have to be honest, I hold the clutch in at lights a lot because I thinks its more or less the same as pushing in the clutch approaching a light, putting it in neutral.. then when the lights turns to push in the clutch yet again and put it into first and release the clutch. IMO its less wear to put the clutch to the floor disengaged and let it go when the light turns. also I've had no problems at all. but w/e maybe I need to change this.

MaximaSpd85

iTrader: (14)

thanks for all the good replies guys, i was expecting rude remarks and jokes about my lack of knowledge...so if we were to take a vote "put it in neutral" would win huh? about the car not going into 1st gear at higher speeds, the car goes into 1st at any speed smoothly actually. so i take it no one elses does that?? anyways, i feel really stupid actually cuz out of all of my 5 speed journeys it never hit me to throw it in neutral instead of first. and that seems like the obvious thing to do, i just always prepared myself for the next launch i guess. anyways, thanks again for all the input. now i gotta go mess with the iacv

BlackMaxdout

I'm not sure how you came to this conclusion. When you let off the gas, the throttle body closes which prevents almost all air from entering the plenum. Then the IACV takes over. But when you are decelerating, the reason you are decelerating is because the engine is essentially shutting off. Like posted before, the engine experiences fuel cut, and begins to hold the car back.

MaximaSpd85

iTrader: (14)

^^^ i guess im not really the only one that does this then

kcryan

iTrader: (1)

....Not sure i guess i could be wrong, to me my logic still makes the most sense, either way you guys know my opinion....

Maxima-4DSC

iTrader: (1)

IBpowershiftingeverytrafficlightbekawsithinkimmari oandretti
























j/k and i agree take her out gear and coast into the traffic light there is no need to hold the clutch in....

MorpheusZero

iTrader: (10)

He could be saying one of two different things:

1) that in order to rev-match without using just the clutch you've got to give it a squirt of gas, which is true

2) that in a fully off-throttle state, more gas is given at a higher engine speed, which is probably somewhat true, but trivial. How much gas your car uses when off-throttle is also completely trivial compared to when it's on-throttle, you will not notice a change in gas mileage if you downshift in order to slow down as long as you don't rev-match.

scrhale

In a fully off-throttle state, you use 0 gas. My 2nd link in my previous post points to an FSM image in which it states so. Not rev-matching and gently pulling the clutch puts MAJOR wear on your clutch plate. At that point you are forcing the clutch with momentum to increase the speed of engine instead on using the engine's own power. That should be under the 5SPD no-no's. Now yes I am guilty of doing it if the change is only 1K RPMs (ie. I put the clutch in, shifted, and waited a long time to pull the clutch out).

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

Not normal, but not serious. Try cleaning the IACV and throttle plates (I dunno if that exactly matches the symptoms, but it's a good thing to do anyway).

First, when you realize you're going to stop, press in the clutch, and let the car coast down to nearly a stop before putting it into first. If you push it into first while the car is moving too fast, you're putting a lot of undue wear on first synchro, even if the clutch is in. Really, it's best to never put the car in first while it's rolling.

Second, whenever the clutch is in, the throw-out bearing is spinning and the pressure plate of the clutch is under stress. While pressure plates rarely fail, throw-out bearings sometimes do. It is better to leave the car in neutral with the clutch out until it's about time to move forward. With some practice, you'll be able to go from neutral w/ your foot on the brake, engage the clutch and put in first and start moving very quickly. This is an important habit to build.

You should feel and maybe hear a very soft clunk as it goes from neutral into first. It should not feel ratchety or make slapping noises - that is caused by the gear being forced into mesh before the synchro has stopped the motion of the gear. If that happens, clutch all the way in, back the shifter off into neutral, clutch out, clutch in, and this time try for first more patiently. (Also, this is exactly what you should do if it doesn't want to shift into reverse). There is no reason to force a functioning transmission into gear, and if you do you are damaging it. I very seldom shift into 1st while the car is moving, and in reality I never need to (I just do it once in a while if I'm bored).

Another skill worth developing right away is how to minimize use of the clutch. When learning, most drivers focus on feeling the 'grab point' of the clutch. You know, the partial clutch pedal position where it starts to grab. While it's reasonably important to know and develop a feel for this grabbing, you don't want to keep the clutch pedal here for very long. It heats up the clutch disk and rapidly accelerates the wear.

This is especially important when the car is stopped on an uphill - it's important to learn how to freeze the clutch at partial engagement in order to 'hold' the car with the clutch and engine, but then it's even more important how to complete it quickly so that you can wait till the last possible moment so you never hold it for more than a split second. When I learned to drive stick I also tried to pause at the friction point during every shift to engage as smoothly as possible - it just doesn't work and it's a bad habit.

The 'trick' IMO is to learn to engage the clutch while keeping the clutch pedal moving upward. Basically, you put the throttle pedal steadily down and lift the clutch pedal steadily upward. Don't even pause either foot - just lift on the left, down with the right. By practicing the pace and timing of your lifting of the clutch, the clutch will spend enough time in that friction (grab) zone to make a smooth shift. The reason this is so important is that clutches have a built-in springiness, and if you try to hold the clutch in the friction zone it will tend to 'bounce' around rather than grab smoothly. Your shifts will be butter-smooth and quick.

Then once you get the knack for upshifting on a roll this way, you can pull out from a stop too. Again it will be silky smooth and easy when done properly.

Another tip to make your passengers more comfortable is this: if you're accelerating from a stop and going thru the gears, take a moment to slowly let off the throttle before each shift. Otherwise, everyone gets thrown forward when you put in the clutch. Then, when you do engage the clutch, go back into the throttle gradually.

All the talk of clutch wear might sound like it's fragile. It's really not very fragile. But bad habits will kill a clutch in a few thousand miles and good habits will make it last hundreds of thousands of miles.

Downshifting: There is no hard answer to whether is makes sense to use downshifting to slow the car, if you're doing the downshift properly. IMHO, brakes are cheaper, more efficient, smoother, more reliable, and overall better at slowing the car. While you can use the engine to brake the vehicle, I see no reason to. Plus, to make a properly synchronized downshift you either apply wear to a synchro and the clutch or blip the throttle and/or waste a little gas. You also can't modulate it. Brakes have none of these problems.

If you're in an emergency stopping situation, and your brakes are somehow way overheated or you blew a brake line, careful use of your e-brake and downshifting is the thing to use. But that is almost nonexistant in a Maxima.

Engine RPM != fuel usage. If the throttle plates are closed (you're not on the gas), the ECU injects no fuel. The fuel usage I'm talking about it the blip to get the revs up, not the part where the revs are slowly coasting down.

Dave

99se5speed

iTrader: (8)

Dgeesaman has by far explained everything that was needed! I'm actually thinking of coming down to PA for you to check out my tranny. In the near future.