My impression (albeit a clueless one about the inner workings of cars) is that every press of the clutch causes a little wear & tear. I would think that keeping the clutch pedal down for a long time would cause more wear & tear
But someone recently told me that there is no stress to the clutch as long as you have it fully pressed to the floor…whereas other people freak out if you ride the clutch through a traffic light or whatever.
What’s the SD?
A clutch is a pair (or series) of plates. When they are locked together (pushed together with springs) they do not rub against each other (when your foot is off the pedal). When they are not touching (foot to the floor) they also do not rub against each other. When they are partially engaged (touching but slipping) friction occurs, and heat is produced. With heat and friction comes wear and tear.
I hope this explains it.
Wonko is correct about the clutch plate rubbing and wearing out, however a related consideration is the throwout bearing. This transfers the movement of the clutch pedal though the fork assembly and throwout bearing to the clutch pressure plate. The pressure plate is bolted to the flywheel and rotates at engine RPM. The throwout bearing allows the clutch fork assembly, which does not rotate, to apply pressure to the diaphram springs on the pressure plate. Pressure on these spring fingers removes the pressure clamping the clutch driven plate to the flywheel thus allowing the clutch to slip.
These throwout bearings used to be made of a carbon/graphite material that woreout with normal use. You did not want to spend too much time with the clutch pedal depressed because that wore the throwout bearing although it did not wearout the clutch plates themselves. We used to change clutch plates if you replaced the throwout bearing and vice versa as the transmission had to be pulled for either job.
Now these are all ballbearing assemplies and the problem is greatly reduced.
It’s still best to depress the clutch shift and release the clutch as that causes the least wear on the system.
GaryM
To continue, it is still best, if you are stopped at a long red light, for example, to put the shifter in neutral and release the clutch pedal until you are ready to take off, although it isn’t as critical as it used to be.
thanks for the replies.
This is illegal in at least some jurisdictions, and for good reason. Imagine what would happen if you were rammed from behind and in the confusion your foot slipped off the brake pedal. You won’t go very far if the transmission is in first gear, but in neutral, you are likely to roll into the next car, or into the intersection itself. That danger can be minimized if you use your hand brake, but it’s still illegal.
Another thing to consider…in an automatic, if your foot slips off the brake, you are going to roll assisted by the power of the engine, whereas in a standard, you will roll only due to the impact.
Finding unbiased proof of which is worse would be hard. Personally, I’ll take my chances sitting in Neutral in my 5-speed.
…and then re-engaging the clutch in fourth gear (on a fourspeed)?