Driving a vehicle with manual transmission certainly has its perks. Aside from enjoying a more engaging drive, you also have more control. It’s also less expensive to purchase and maintain a vehicle with a manual transmission.
Whether you own a newer vehicle with a manual transmission or you drive a classic car, it’s important to learn about manual transmission maintenance. Find out all the important dos and don’ts about driving a manual with this brief guide.
Certain driving habits are really hard to spot and correct, especially if you’ve been doing them since you started driving. But it isn’t too late to become aware of the common myths and potentially harmful things we do when driving a stick shift. Below are some examples:
Money shifting is when you miss the gear you want to shift to accidentally. It can also happen if you downshift aggressively. For example, you suddenly shifted into second instead of fourth. This significantly wears down the clutch, and it can put you in a pretty dangerous situation.
This happens even to the best of us. For those not in the know, there’s a reason why it’s called a money shift. It costs a lot of money to repair the damage that’s been done to your manual transmission if you’ve money shifted. To avoid spending thousands of dollars on repairs, always be sure to engage the correct gear while driving.
A lot of manual as well as automatic transmission drivers do this, but there’s a perfectly good reason to drop this habit now. Resting your hand on the shift knob accelerates wear on your transmission, specifically the gearshift’s fork. This fork wears down, especially if it’s engaged with the collar that helps slide the lever into different gears.
This is another thing that many of us are probably guilty of doing as well. Remember that the clutch pedal is meant to be engaged and disengaged. If you’re pressing down on it constantly, you’re keeping the clutch partially engaged. Doing this can strain the clutch and other parts connected to it, necessitating expensive repairs. Keep your feet off the clutch once you’ve shifted gears.
When going up a hill, many drivers will hold on to the clutch to prevent their vehicle from rolling backwards. This heavily damages the clutch disc and can cause road accidents. Instead of engaging the clutch, apply the handbrake to keep your car steady until you’re ready to move.
If you keep your clutch engaged even when you’re not moving, you’re going to wear out your transmission’s gears and clutch. When you’re at a stop, always remember to set your transmission to neutral and keep your foot off the clutch pedal.
Many drivers think coasting in neutral is beneficial because it helps save fuel, but it’s actually quite unsafe because you don’t have full control over your vehicle when it’s in neutral. You may lose engine braking and the ability to quickly avoid hazardous situations. Instead of coasting in neutral, shift to a lower gear.
Automatic vehicles shift gears on their own. This makes it easier to learn how to drive automatic vehicles. It also allows you to keep both hands on the steering wheel for better control. Meanwhile, when it comes to driving a manual, the driver does most of the work in such a way that they need to go through the gears in order when speeding up.
It’s easy to go into the wrong gear with stick shifts, but there are a couple of rules of thumb that you need to remember. One, if you can, it’s better to shift to a higher gear. Two, try to avoid the redline zone and higher RPMs that rapidly wear out the clutch and gears.
There’s a reason why you need to engage the clutch before you shift gears. Engaging the clutch momentarily disconnects the engine from the transmission so that you can safely change gears. Shifting without engaging the clutch can damage not only your clutch but also your entire engine.
While there are a lot of things you can do to harm your stick shift, there are also a lot of ways to care for it, too. Below are a few manual transmission maintenance and care tips you should know about:
It’s a good practice to regularly check and do maintenance on your transmission. Because service intervals vary, you should first check your owner’s manual for the recommended frequency of your manual transmission maintenance. Below are a couple of things you should remember to check when you do your scheduled transmission maintenance:
Make sure to properly press down and engage the clutch when you’re shifting gears. This allows your transmission to shift gears smoothly, and it also lessens the risk of damage to other transmission components.
As mentioned above, you risk damaging your transmission if you keep your gears engaged while your vehicle is stopped. Remember to shift to neutral when you’re at a traffic light or when you’re not moving.
Knowing how to drive a stick shift is a valuable skill nowadays. That’s why you should learn how to take care of your vehicle. If you’re interested in learning more about transmissions, you can check our short course on transmissions here.
As your ride racks up mileage, some transmission parts naturally wear out, no matter how well you take care of them. In this case, the most efficient way to fix the issue is by replacing the bad components. For top-notch parts that won’t break the bank, shop here at CarParts.com.
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Any information provided on this Website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace consultation with a professional mechanic. The accuracy and timeliness of the information may change from the time of publication.