Replacing Seat Belts and Upgrading Safety Features: Auto Safety

5 Bad Manual Tranmission Habits That Can Damage Your Vehicle

Many people prefer driving a manual, but that increase in control compared to an automatic does mean that there are a few mistakes that you can make, and many of them can cause considerable damage. Here are just five of the most common manual transmission errors that can damage your vehicle.

1. Downshifting for Braking

Some people downshift – dropping from one of the higher gears to a lower one – rapidly when they are approaching a red light in order to slow the vehicle down. Unfortunately, this is not fuel-efficient and certainly not good for the vehicle itself. Repeatedly downshifting will cause additional wear that your car is not really designed for. That strain will be taken by the clutch disc, which is a lot more expensive to replace than your brake pads.

2. Resting Your Hand on the Gearstick

It can seem natural enough to rest your hand on the gearstick while you're driving, but it isn't actually a very good idea. For starters, keeping both of your hands on the steering wheel means that you'll be better able to exercise full control when you need to. Aside from that, the gearstick just isn't designed to take that kind of constant pressure. When you shift, you push down the shifter fork onto the rotating part below; these two parts shouldn't be coming into contact under other circumstances.

3. Leaving It in Gear When Stopped

Plenty of drivers leave their car in gear when they stop at a light, reasoning that they will be able to get going sooner once it turns green. However, this is one of the worst things that you can do since you'll need to keep the clutch pedal depressed in order to prevent the car from stalling. This means that substantial pressure will be applied to the bearings that cushion the pedal.

4. Using the Clutch to Hold Your Car on an Incline

You can use the clutch to hold your car while you're on an incline, but it will rapidly burn the friction material that covers the clutch disk. Replacing that disk is quite expensive, and might take quite a lot of time if you're dealing with an older model. If you do this, you might even notice a singed smell due to the burnt fibres.

5. Riding the Clutch

'Riding the clutch' simply means holding your foot on the clutch pedal while you're driving. People do this for many reasons; you might be driving on a busy road and need to shift frequently, or you might simply be resting your foot on the pedal as your cruise. In any case, applying that pressure, even though it's quite gentle, will wear down internal components prematurely and cause your vehicle to require repairs at an auto shop like Timber City Motors.


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