So... Have I been killing my tranny? Need advice.

[Naaman]

I've had the car (98 Z) for nearly two years. Bought it with 44,800 miles and it just turned 68,000 this week. I have been doing somethings that I'm learning may be bad for the transmission.

1) Whenever I come to a stop, I leave the car in gear and hold the clutch pedal down. I've learned that because the clutch is turning at engine speed in this case, it causes bearings to wear. I'm wondering if this can account for a recently developed (possible) symptom: when engaging 1st gear, there is a slight shudder (not sure if it's slippage or not, also, I'm not sure if I've noticed it on reverse).

2) I always downshift sequentially when slowing down. Foot on brake, and clutch in/out between gears. My understanding was that engine braking did not put any additional wear on any components. Have I misunderstood? I like to be in gear when slowing down just in case I need to accelerate suddenly to avoid a hazard or something (I don't like to be "unready" at any time when driving). I usually go directly from 2nd to neutral right before I come to a stop.

Also, there is a wheezing/whining noise that escalates with road speed (not rpm). Can this be due to damage to the output shaft caused by my driving habits?

No-one taught me how to drive stick. Just had to learn on my own, so now I wonder if I've busted up my car which is in otherwise immaculate condition.

[az gt eater]

You'll wear out your clutch faster , but you shouldn't be hurting anything the way you are doing it.

[reaper ws6]

i do the same thing on mine, that's actually the smart thing to do. Things just were out man over time, the trany should be fine, but your clutch may have a couple of miles left.

[Firebirdjones]

When you hold the clutch pedal down while stopped and in gear, the only thing moving is the throw out bearing, everything else is still. That's how it was designed to work, no issues there. It's the lazy people with a shaky left leg that started leaving the clutch engaged and popping the trans in neutral
That method by the way actually entails more moving parts like the input shaft and bearings, and the main shaft and it's bearings. So it's turning stuff inside the transmission (which is more expensive and harder to replace stuff )

Downshifting? A little more wear on the syncro's but it doesn't hurt anything.

[Deviant LS1]

1) You're just putting wear on the throwout bearing. Instead of the transmission turning in neutral while at the stop light the transmission is now stopped and the throwout bearing is turning instead. If you're getting a jump or shutter as you put the transmission in first it sounds like the clutch isn't totally disengaging. When the pedal is in the clutch is still slightly dragging causing the transmission to spin internally and then you put it in first everything engages rather harshly. I would recommend replacing the fluid and bleeding the clutch.

2) If you're slowing down and just using the clutch to bring the revs up through each gear you're putting extra wear on the clutch. Each time you're releasing the clutch you're slipping it up into higher RPMs as you downshift. Rev matching puts less wear on the clutch as you're down shifting. You blip the throttle to where the RPMs should be for that next lower gear and then release the clutch. A proper rev match will smoothly grab the correct rpms when you let the clutch out and you won't feel the car slowing down and grabbing revs at you let the clutch out.

[Knight]

^This.

[Firebirdjones]

Carefull, you'll have everyone sounding like a bunch of "racer joe's" while driving around

[Naaman]

2) If you're slowing down and just using the clutch to bring the revs up through each gear you're putting extra wear on the clutch. Each time you're releasing the clutch you're slipping it up into higher RPMs as you downshift. Rev matching puts less wear on the clutch as you're down shifting. You blip the throttle to where the RPMs should be for that next lower gear and then release the clutch. A proper rev match will smoothly grab the correct rpms when you let the clutch out and you won't feel the car slowing down and grabbing revs at you let the clutch out.

I understand rev matching, but I only use it on down shifts to accelerate (because of the length of my legs, I can't heal/toe the pedals to rev match when braking: the steering wheel interferes with my knees, so it's just not physically feasible). But if I'm understanding you correctly, are you saying that I SHOULD blip while decelerating? And if so, are you referring to blipping while engine braking only (no brake pedal), or while applying the brakes (heal/toe down shifting)? It's my understanding that heal/toe shifting is used when you want to keep the rpms as high as possible for corner exit speed or other racing applications... I just want the car to stop.

[Deviant LS1]

Rev match before you start braking. You don't have to heel toe it for a red light.

[Firebirdjones]

It's my understanding that heal/toe shifting is used when you want to keep the rpms as high as possible for corner exit speed or other racing applications... I just want the car to stop.

You would be correct. It has been used in road racing applications for many years. But going back even before that, "rev matching was a necessity for transmissions that weren't syncronized, that was the whole purpose for "rev matching".

Since then it's become belief that it's necessary with all manual trans cars, but it's really not the case. You can if you want to, but it's not necessary, that's what the syncro's are in the transmission for.

If you simply want to slow down, and people are feeling the car lung you forward too much and feel they need to rev match, then it's a simple case of people going down too low of a gear for the speeds they are going. It's also a big waste of gas. No wonder people on here can't get mileage out of their cars
Too slow you down initially, I simply go down one gear and that's all that I need. It's not excessive rpm so it's still comfortable driving for your passengers. You don't need to be doing anything silly like going from 6th to 3rd or 4th to second, that's a bit excessive in my opinion.

I go from 6th to 5th in most cases, and then as I make my turn I go to the next necessary gear and drive away.

[Smittro]

Many times "heel-toe" is used in racing on FI (turbo) cars to keep the boost up for exiting a corner.

There's no need to down shift through all the gears nor rev match to slow down.

Push the clutch in and hit the brakes, that's what they are for..

[Firebirdjones]