Just got a lot of work done on my car and was told that my clutch is weak and that I need to go easy on it. Mechanic said it could last a month, a year, who knows. So, how do I go easy on it? Is downshifting bad for it? (I downshift all the time.) Or does it depend on the rpms? BTW, they gave me an estimate of $780 to fix it – does that seem reasonable?
As I ask all my customers, year, make and model. A front wheel drive car is a lot harder to do a clutch job on than a good old rear driver.
give me y,m &m. I’ll look up the parts and flat rate time.
Oh ya engine size, tranny type(4 or 5 speed) any thing else you might think of.
Yeah, downshifting is bad for your clutch as you’re basically taking the wear and tear that would go to your brakes and transferring it to your clutch. Brakes are a lot cheaper and easier to fix than a clutch. Really, the only times you should downshift are on snow and ice or on a steep hill. Otherwise, use your brakes.
Presumably, he said this because the plate is wearing thin. If so, then things to avoid include:
- Shifting frequently.
- Revving the engine when upshifting (to increase acceleration).
- Riding the clutch, meaning, not taking your foot completely off it when you’re not using it.
- Downshifting.
On the other hand, I’ve been in a couple dangerous situations with my car when something needed babying, because I was driving outside of my normal habits.
The best thing to do is to ask your mechanic what he meant?
Leave it to Cecil:
You can, if timed properly, upshift through all your gears without using your clutch. It takes some trial and error to figure out the proper RPM for your vehicle to do this at, but once you do you will be able to drive without using your clutch except for putting it into first gear.
The RPM that seems to work for most cars is between 2500 and 3000.
>> You can, if timed properly, upshift through all your gears without using your clutch.
I have done that many times. If your clutch cable breaks, you can still get home or to the garage:
If the engine is cold, warm it up in neutral. Now kill it. Shift into first gear. Start the engine. The engine should fire right away and start moving the car. now you can shift up and down without using the clutch. Try to not have to come to a complete stop and you can keep the motor going. If you have to come to a complete stop you have to kill the engine and start it again in first gear. If you are stopped facing downhill you can then let the car start rolling and then engage the gears. If you have to come to a complete stop facing a steep uphill you may be in trouble.
I have helped friends with broken clutches on several ocassions and saved them the bill of the tow truck.
It’s a '92 Nissan NX 1600; front-wheel drive; 91K miles on it. Have put new brakes on the front
one time. Original clutch. I’ve always downshifted because I enjoy it, and to prolong the life of the brakes – never considered that the clutch was more expensive than the brakes. 
sailor - I hope I never have to use your advice, but it’s nice to have just in case - thanks.
FTR, I once did exactly what sailor posted to get home nearly 15 miles after my clutch cable broke. And I stopped at many a red light too.
sailor, your idea is fine if you do not mind replacing your starter every other month. Most vehicles cannot be started unless the clutch pedal is depressed anyway so it would not work. Besides downshifting which is terror on clutch linings, starting from 1st at too high of an engine speed also wears clutches. I learned at the Bob Bondurant school to start releasing the clutch pedal before you give the car gas. Just as the clutch starts to engage, give the car gas and and release the clutch equally. You don’t get acceleration from a stop like revving the engine first but your clutch will thank you. The other suggestions of matching engine and transmission speed to shift without using the clutch is not good on the synchros in the transmission. Synchros are gears in the transmission that help increase or decrease the transmission speed to match the input shaft. Before synchros, you had to double clutch to match the gears and input shaft speed. From a cost standpoint, rebuilding or replacing a whole transmission assembly costs a lot more than a new clutch. Only transmissions design for such use, like the Jericho transmission used in NASCAR, can be safely shifted without using the clutch. If I was you, and you plan on keeping the car for a few years, replace the clutch as soon a possible. This can prevent possible expensive replacement of the flywheel. The cost estimate you were given sounds about right. The peace of mind will be worth it and you won’t have to change your driving style. I still have a 1975 Dodge Colt I drive occasionally now and it is the only car I have ever replaced the clutch in. It currently has 240,000 miles, I replaced the orignal factory clutch at 180,000. My 93 Toyota pickup I use for a daily driver has 87,000 miles and I still have over half the clutch lining left.
Jim and I have had this same “discussion” many times - and once more, once I opened this thread. He says downshift to stop a car because he has a penis. I say use brakes to stop a car because I have a brain. (He’s standing behind me as I type this, so I’m basically just pushing his buttons, not really being misandronistic.)
I think that the danger of clutch wear caused by downshifting is exaggerated.
Think about it from a physics standpoint… the only wear being put on the clutch when downshifting is the energy required to bring an already-spinning, well lubricated engine from (say) 2000 rpm to (say) 4000 rpm. Once the clutch is fully engaged the engine is still providing braking to the car but the clutch is no longer wearing.
If you give the gas a blip while doing the downshift, this decreases the wear even further.
OTOH, when braking down a long hill you are wearing the brakes constantly.
BTW, Click and Clack are not automotive “experts”, they are entertainers with outdated knowlege.
Hmmm. When it’s time for me to slow down or stop for a light or something, I just put the car in neutral and step on the brakes, rather than downshifting through all the gears. I figure this’ll save wear on my clutch. Any thoughts on this strategy, y’all?
Okay, this is going to sound like an incredibly stupid question, but isn’t true that your car may stall if you brake without downshifting or does that apply to only certain kinds of cars?
Generally, the only situation in which you should be downshifting is when you’re racing. Otherwise, use the brakes; as noted above, saving wear and tear on them at the expense of the clutch is not an economically sound course of action, unless, of course, you’re racing.
Are you racing?
Push in the clutch. Or get a tune up.
“Are you racing?”
AHAHAHAHA!! No! I cannot drive stick at all. But, in Greece(well Europe), stick shifts are most often used and most of the people driving there tend to downshift before braking and if they ever slam on the brakes they stall, so I was just curious.
Unless…I’m some confusing the “downshifting” with putting the car in neutral…
See, because I am odd, sometimes I like to watch and I would see the driver let in the clutch, move the stick to what is appearently first gear (or maybe that’s neutral) and then apply the brake. Then, when they move, they let in the clutch, move the stick and then go.
I used to be able to drive a VW without using the clutch. I did it for practice.
"when braking down a long hill you are wearing the brakes constantly. "
Yeah, but brakes costs a lot less than an engine.
When you gear down on a hill, you use engine compression to slow the car. This does not hurt an engine.
Incidentally, you should do this in an automatic as well, just shift into one of the low gears.
Riding the brakes on a really long hill, though, is courting trouble. The brakes can heat to the point of boiling the brake fluid. Catastrophic brake failure follows, right when you need it least.
Who the heck taught some of you to drive?
If I may say so, what nonsense.
What downshifting gives you is control. It’s like putting your car on a leash with a little bit of give to it, but strong enough to keep the car from getting a mind of its own. Great for when you can see a serious curve coming up, or indeterminate amounts of traffic congestion ahead, or a bunch of other situations. I don’t use it for sudden stops, because there just isn’t time then to wait on the engine drag, but for situations that you see developing (or potentially so) ahead, downshifting is wonderful. It gives you power, restraint, and flexibility all at once.
When I replace my first clutch, I’ll let you know. My wife and I - mostly me - have put over 350K miles on stick-shift cars in the past 15 years, almost all of that on two vehicles we bought with under 60K miles on them (so presumably on clutch #1) and on one that we bought new. I downshift a fair amount, so at this point, I’m interpreting the cost of all this downshifting as zero.