So I ran in to the liquor store earlier today and left my little brother in the car. As I came out, i saw him playing with my shifter in and out of gears with the car off. Is that bad for the transmission?

Also when I drive, I skip gears sometimes, like going from 1st to 3rd to 5th. Is that bad in anyway for the transmission?

 

No, and no.

 

Indeed.

Well, could be yes for the second one, it really depends. For example, some of the S2000 guys tend to get notchy shifting into 5th due to redlining second and dumping it in 6th gear, damages the baulk ring.

If you're at high RPM and skipping a gear, the baulk ring has to deal with more force than if you were to shift through them all, due to the large engine speed differential in second vs third, for example. It gets worse the more you skip, for example if you took first up to redline and put it in 5th to cruise, you'd be doing a lot more 'damage' (just more wear) to the 5th gear syncro than you would the 2nd gear syncro if you put it in 2nd.

Long story short, not really.

 

I go from second to fifth sometimes but I'll wait a second or two in neutral before I try and mash up the 5th gear synchro

 

oh I never red lined my car ever. When I skip gears I'm usually around 2.5k-3.5k.

100 Post =) wooo

 

Learn something everyday... my 5th gen would grind when I did my usual 1st redline -> 4th or 2nd redline -> 5th, i'd double clutch and no grind. But I see now that it's just stalling in neutral is what prevented the grinding....

 

Double clutching is the best thing you can do. If you double clutch effectively you put barely any wear on synchros at all. You could probably go 1,000,000 or more miles on original synchros in a trans if you double clutched every shift.

 

Seriously? Wow, I love this Forum. I learn something new everyday!

 

Let me get this straight...

Double Clutch: Clutch in, take out of gear, clutch out. Clutch in put in another gear, clutch out?

 

The only problem skipping gears is the load or lug you put on the engine. It will do it but all of the drive train has to work harder, and your engine is now towards the bottom of the RPM range. Sometime you will hear pinging depending on the type of gas used. You can actually shift gears without clutching if the rpm is right. I used to do that all the time driving a 2 ton truck. If you miss, its grind city.
Lyle

 

Yes that's right. The point of it is to more closely match the shaft speeds and engine speed, meaning the synchros hardly have to do any work at all.

 

of course city driving would kill your leg after a few kms..lol

 

yes true.. who has time for that..(now you are wearing out the pressure plate and TOB) besides thats what the synchros are for.. i dont think i have heard anybody's fail on this forum..

 

I had a 5th gen with bad synchros (among many other problems, still loved the car to death tho), there was always a little grind when I got it into 2nd (or when I skipped gears like aforementioned), unless I got lucky with the revs and got a perfect rev-match.

But as for someone who treats there car half decently and their synchros failing? Never heard of it.

 

I always skip gears when I am coming to a stop. I figure when coming to a stop, all you're really doing is slowing down with the clutch and break at the same time. I haven't had any issues so far.

Anyways, I do think it is not good to skip more than one gear, i.e. from 2nd to 5th...imo. I occasionally I will skip 4th because I am almost all the way to highway speed (70 or so, emphasis on the "or so" ). Since my rpms are high, and 5th is going to be at around 3000 at highway speed, why not skip 4th.

I hold the clutch in a little longer before performing this, I am trying to trick the sychos into believing I am coming out of 4th.

Overall, I think it is not very good for the gearbox to be skipping gears on the upshift. The downshift is a nother story..IMHO. Feel free to rip me a new one on this.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I guess I won't be skipping anymore gears. I sometimes wish I had an automatic, gf lives in the city which pretty limits me 1st 2nd and maybe 3rd gear.

Another question, any of you guys do "engine breaking" like downshifting into a lower gear to slow down so you don't have to use your brakes?

 

Yes, I pretty much downshift whenever I have to slow down. Also saves fuel; a minute amount, but every little bit helps.

 

I do it all the time in the winter. Reason: you get more control on the snow covered roads.

In the summer, I depend more on my brakes because it is not a necessary to engine brake on clear roads. I will usually engine brake only with 2nd gear in the summer. Most of the time I will pop her in to Neutral and Brake.

Hope this helps you

 

I have to ask, Has anyone actually tried engine braking in an Auto? I personally have had plenty of drops from O/D to 3rd, but thats nothing; i mean from 4th or 3rd down to 2nd. Im sure it'd be terrible for the tranny and engine but im curious.

 

Yes, I used to do the same when my car was an automatic.

Doesn't really 'hurt' the engine, but it's not the best to manually downshift the auto, unless you've got a manumatic (though those are extraordinarily rare these days).

 

IF YOU ARE DOWNSHIFTING A AN AUTO, NO OFFENSE, YOU ARE ASKING FOR TRANSMISSION DESTRUCTION!!!!!!!!!!


Sorry to all the autos, but man, that is not sensible. Correct me if I am wrong!!!! I was taught NEVER SHIFT an auto when moving.....thought this was taught in driver's ed.

 

Upshifting an auto is fine, downshifting electronically is fine, it's forcing a downshift by shift lever position that can cause issues over time.

 

What keeps the transmission from not just blowing to sh** when shifting? All the engine power is still on the gears. IMHO...I cannot endorse shifting an auto like a manual. I may be ol' school with a manual and don't know something about autos.


I guess I never drove an auto that way. I would worry about damaging the drivetrain.

Do you take your foot off the gas when shifting an auto? Remove the power like a manual? I still would feel uneasy about this.

 

Just because it's an automatic, doesn't mean it can't handle being manually shifted.

There are no conventional 'gears' in an automatic, not as you'd think of them in a manual. All of the gears in the auto are constantly meshed.

You don't have to let off the accelerator, no. If you time it right, you can blip the throttle and seamlessly 'revmatch' the downshift after moving the shift lever.

Regardless, this is all OT.

 

I did that all the time to my Accord before, then the tranny died at 185k. I guess it depends on the car though.

 

Doesn't the car jerk everytime you change the gear, like in a MT?

I would think the revs will go either through the roof on the downshift or bog on the upshift, depending on regular driving or sprinted.

Sorry to drag this topic, but I am really curious on how you use this method of auto shifting. Knowledge is power....the old saying goes

 

i used to downshift my auto for a decent amount of time then one night the diff blew out of the case lol

 

Sorry to hear that Maximus.

I take it you haven't been downshifting an auto like a manual anymore?

Do you have any details on what occured? Were you racing someone or were you just driving on a daily commute?