Am I effed... or will it be ok this one time?

[fox racer]

ok, well i effed up toniote. i came to a stop sign, but i didnt kno i was in 3rd (SAVE the comments) and so i almost stalled (obviously) so i gave it gas (but too much) and eased off the clutch. after abour 10 ft i got going then noticed wat happened, hit the clutch went into first and drvoe on.

but once i notice i was in third, it STUNK like burnt clutch. it was prevelant but went away preety quick too. the dam thing only has about 600 miles on ti too, so tell me, di i totally mess up my clutch or wat? will it be ok if this is the only time? the car drives fine now and dont smell anymore.

 

[281pony]

should be ok.

i did it a couple times when i first learned to drive a stick. never smelled though, but its fine to this day.

 

[Euphoric306]

you just lengthened the life of your new clutch by about -1000 miles

nah dunno on the exact number but it sure wont last long doing that too often...

 

[Mysterio]

I kept it in second and dropped the clutch thinking I was in first.(Last minute desicion to drop it and thought I had put it into first while rolling). It smelled pretty bad, just shaves a bit of life off the clutch but it shouldn't do any immediate harm. Mine still grips REALLY strongly after that.

But yea like that guy said. Just try not to do it anymore. Once won't be a problem. But if you keep doing it it will kill it a LOT quicker.

 

[HISSIN50]

other than glazing the friction surfaces a hair (which you likely took right back off), it should not make any tangible difference in anything.

It is not hard to grab 3rd instead of first with a stock shifter.

 

[fox racer]

It is not hard to grab 3rd instead of first with a stock shifter.

the thing is i wasnt really paying attention and i was tired.. the shifter was up, i presumed first but in reality, it was third. and no i dont plan on doing this again! lol live and learn i guess.

 

[HISSIN50]

I hear ya - I did it when I was not tired. I tried rowing through a T56 with stock shifter once - forget it. I could not have told you if I was in 2nd-6th. LOL.

 

[sgarlic]

We used to do that back during my high school days. We'd put it in 5th, and see if we could feather it enough to actually get to the point of letting the clutch all the way out without stalling. Talk about horrible smells from the clutch. Whew.

 

[Mysterio]

I hear ya - I did it when I was not tired. I tried rowing through a T56 with stock shifter once - forget it. I could not have told you if I was in 2nd-6th. LOL.

I actually wrattle the shifter back and forth more than I probably need to to make sure i'm in neutral now. It's kind of become a thing I do without even realizing it. I'll pull it outa first and go into neutral if i'm slowing down and use the break to stop and ill hit the shifter back and forth to make sure it's in neutral, even though I knew I just put it there. I don't even realize I do it half the time.

 

[GRGT1994]

Meh, you prolly burn up no more clutch material than comparable wear on brake pads if you rode the brakes for a bit.

Make a habit of it, and the clutch will surely wear faster. But still, you are only talking about shortening the life some - not destroying it.

 

[TheUser]

I let one of my friends drive my LX one time (I was in the passenger seat and we've been friends for a long time). It's hard to tell what gear they're in from the passenger seat, but he mistaked 3rd for 1st the whole time. I knew it felt slow and I'm sure he could tell it wasn't the same as when I drive it, but I didn't know what it was until I started wondering why it wasn't taking off very well.

That's no different than when we all learned to drive a stick, and our clutches seemed to make it then. I'll say what everyone else has: as long as you don't make a habbit of it, I think you'll be alright. If people can drop their clutch at 3000 grand and still drive the car, I think you can take off in 3rd a couple times

 

[Euphoric306]

sliding the clutch is way worse than dropping it... just for the record

but its worse on the tranny, diff, u-joints, and oh yea... tires


speakin of which... F_CK tires are expensive, for the cheapos still

 

[tjm73]

No big deal. If that would hurt a clutch once, the Tempo I learned to drive stick on would not have gone to over 200,000 miles onthe factory clutch (108,000 miles of it being my doing). I slipped the clutch and started in the wrong gears countless times when I was learning. You'll be fine.....just don't make it a normal practice.