How reliable is the Manual Tranny? Noobie driving

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kontakterr61

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Hi. i bought a used acura tsx, and i was wondering how reliable the manual transmission is.
i am new to stick shift, so i have been trouble getting to drive the car smoothly. i have stalled countless times and have had really rough shifts (bucking) making the car shake like crazy.
i have also had my fair share of grinding :/

i have gotten better, but i still occasionally make mistakes, like letting go of the clutch too quickly making the car buck forward and backward like crazy.

so i ask the question. how worried should i be about the life of my tranny and engine? am i destroying it? or is the image of honda being "unbreakable" really true?
should i be worried as a noob learning on my own car?
 
It'll be fine. Make an effort to get better (as I'm sure you are) and you'll get used to it. I doubt you'll kill it though, unless you drive it like that for a long time :)
 
Everyone has to start somewhere, of course you will stress the clutch more if new to driving manual. I would suggest asking someone who know how to drive stick to show you and give you some tips. But just practice and you'll get it, have fun and enjoy the car.

When I learned it was on a Acura Integra. I stalled out a lot of times including intersection and people start honking. And of course get that unforgettable burn clutch smell too. Starting off form a stop is the hardest part, once car is moving then its fairly easy. You just have to get used to where you feel it catches.
 
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Work on your car to driver feedback and you'll get good enough before you wear anything out.

At worst you'll wear 5000 miles of clutch off in 1000 miles. And clutches are usually good for 50-150k.

Try this exercise: Sit in a parking lot with the car idling in 1st gear and your foot on the clutch. Raise the clutch so the revs drop below idle. Then feather the gas so they rise back to idle. You should by now have started rolling. Keep this up until you're rolling at ~3 mph at idle with the clutch all the way out.

First time will take 5-10 seconds. Repeat until you can do it in one second.

I assume you have a tach. Smoothest shifting is when you rev-match. Usually the next gear up is ~66% of the gear you were in, so if you go shift at 3k get the motor at 2k while freewheeling then let the clutch out. Usually this happens on its own as the engine slowly spins down (due to the emissions "dashpot") so you can watch/listen for that moment and then let the clutch out.
 
You can accelerate wear on the clutch facings with improper use.
Synchros can wear, and the engagement teeth [dogs] can wear also.
Fresh fluid, bleed the system , and make the total travel and freeplay of the pedal correct. This can help a lot. Poor shifting may not be only because of your technique, in other words.
 
Don't worry. I was a slow learner on manual transmission also,
but now I'm what you might call an expert.

I have some advice.

1) Treat the clutch like an on off switch during regular driving.
You can half depress it during slow parking lot maneuvers to
control speed more accurately than with accelerator pedal, but
at speed higher than 20 mph the clutch should be pressed right
before changing gears and let go completely right after changing
gears. When you get better, you can smoothly engage and
smoothly disengate, but don't drive around with clutch half
depressed. Clutch is essentially a brake. It will not wear out
if it is engaged, but if it slips it wears. Brake jobs are easy.
Changing out the clutch is much harder.

2) On hills, learn to use the emergency brake. Engage emergency
brake. Apply power, and when car starts straining against the
brake disengate emergency brake. If you don't, you may have
problems engaging clutch in time and the clutch may slip. Your
nose will tell you if this has happened.

3) When you get advanced enough, learn how to double clutch
down-shift.

cheers3.gif


Jae
 
I once tried to teach my wife to drive my stick shift F150. Not only was I a poor teacher, but also the slave cylinder was hanging up and you had to fanagle the pedal to get it to work right. Anyway, she smoked the living out of that clutch. I saw it rev to the mid 3000s and we were hardly moving, then I smelled a metallic like odor permeating the cab. At that point, she lost interest in driving the F150. That clutch was installed about 70,000 miles and I now have 150,000 miles on it. She smoked it back somewhere maybe in the 80 or 90K mile range.

I think you will learn clutch and shifting better with higher gears, not going off the line. Once you get good at moving shifts, then the off the line should be easier. I learned with a tow truck that had a creeper gear, so off the line was cake, could even put it in creeper, turn the key and the engine would start and you would move out at the same time.

Even after 30 years of driving a stick, I still occasionally get it to buck a little and sometimes accidently dump the clutch (forgot not in neutral), dramatically killing the engine. As with any abuse, the less the better, but I would not worry about it too much. Just don't drive it with a cold engine and stay away from hills until you get fairly comfortable with it.
 
I learned to drive at the very beginning with a manual-trans vehicle. Every vehicle has a slightly different clutch personality but don't let that scare you. Be patient and if the frustration level gets too much call it a day.

As for starting out in first gear, I liken the sound of the clutch/throttle operation to the sound one makes when they take a good bite of delicious soup-

"mmmmmMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm" (not easy to describe in print though).

I don't know how many times I've stalled the engine due to engaging the clutch too quickly. I learned on an old '49 Chev 1/2 ton pickup which was pretty hard to stall though it could be done. As a thought, if you have access to someone with a manual-equipped pickup truck it may be easier to learn because of the lower gearing associated with them. Just a thought.

Be patient.
 
Originally Posted By: kontakterr61
or is the image of honda being "unbreakable" really true?
should i be worried as a noob learning on my own car?

Yes, Hondas are really unbreakable, as you're finding out. Noob? After six months you're no longer a noob. Worried? Yes, by now you should have learned. Take it back and get an automatic. There's no shame in that.
 
I got my license with a manual but right now I don't trust myself to go into traffic with.

Mine was a Renault Europa, probably it has the most hard to engage, awkward, cumbersome and sticky clutch on the planet. Being a 1.4, no-hydraulics and the engage point at the upper portion was making the fun.

In the begining concentrating on both pedals may be hard. I'd say just focus on the clutch pedal an try to make a smooth and slow take off, very slowly releasing it. It should engage and go in 1st smoothly without ever pressing the accelerator on flats, even if Renault 1.4. On uphills depress the accelerator so that engine revs. steady at about 30% higher than the idle. Typically 1000 to 1200 rpm. Try to do the same. This is not simultaniously using the pedals, this is the moronic way and I got my license this way, withouth rocking the car. Making 2nd and higher shifts are much easier so don't worry about them, try using accelerator and cluch simultaniously with them first.

Any tricks how to buy a manual w/o knowing to drive one?
 
Originally Posted By: ikeepmychevytoo
this is the moronic way and I got my license this way


Congrats.
 
Originally Posted By: ikeepmychevytoo
Any tricks how to buy a manual w/o knowing to drive one?

Throw in an extra $50, and make the seller teach you. What's he got to lose? It's not his car anymore.

My dad used to say just stick it in third, rev it up, and let out the clutch. Once you get moving, there no more need for shifting, and it'll get you to the other side of the village.
 
I have to ask, because I'm unsure of this. In the US, when you choose to take your driving test in a vehicle with automatic, and if you pass, will your driver's license not say "valid only for cars with automatic transmission"?

For example, when I got my license in Germany, like 95% of all people there, I took my driving test in a car equipped with MT. I may legally drive vehicles with MT and automatic. Had I taken my test (and driving lessons) in a car with automatic, I would be restricted to driving only vehicles with automatic.

Letting people who are not in command of their vehicle on a basic level loose on public streets is nuts. Figuring out how to smoothly shift a manual should not take more than half an hour with guidance and a big empty parking lot. Learning how to properly parallel park on a steep hill (should be a mandatory part of every driving test) should be next.
 
I agree with the thought.....in Cali in '74 we could not graduate driver education without driving a stick, no graduating driver ed., no license. In 2008 we have hope, so who knows how dumbed down we have become......
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman
I have to ask, because I'm unsure of this. In the US, when you choose to take your driving test in a vehicle with automatic, and if you pass, will your driver's license not say "valid only for cars with automatic transmission"?

[SNIP]


Unless the laws have changed you can drive either sort of vehicle even if you passed with a #$@&*%!! automatic as I did back in '76.
 
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