for me, if the stop will be longer than about 20 seconds, put it into neutral and let the clutch out.. otherwise, in 1st gear and clutch disengauged..

also, shift reasonably rapidly and the engine will be at the almost perfect rpm for the next gear when upshifting.. downshifting if you revmatch requires more skill..

 

what is the throwout bearing?

 

correct me if I'm wrong here, but the throwout bearing goes around the input shaft, and your clutch arm, (which goes in and out to ingage/disengage your clutch) rides on this. When you hold your clutch pedal down, the throwout bearing slides down the input shaft and pushes down on the clutch fingers disengaging it. As long as you hold the pedal down that bearing is spinning. That's why people tell you it will wear out more. I had a 90 Acura Legend with 175k miles on it and had to replace the throwout bearing because it would make a funny humming noise sometimes. The clutch was surprisingly still in great shape, but I replaced it as well.

 

While this practice might gain you a few thousand miles on the life of the thowout bearing, I was taught that it's not really a safe thing to do, especially in heavy traffic. It's prudent to keep an eye on the rear view mirror and be ready to move if someone behind you has a bad case of rectal/cranial inversion. If you're sitting there in neutral, you've significantly reduced the amount of time it will take you to move if you have to, and in the heat of the moment, getting the transmission back into gear might not be as easy as you'd think.

Just something to think about.
Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

Wouldn't you be stalling if you had it in gear and disengaged the clutch?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ThaWyze1

 

Uhh.... disengaged means that the clutch pedal is pressed down...

When you 'engage' the clutch, you are releasing the pedal, engaging the clutch to the flywheel/pressure plate.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Intrepid175

 

Yep, I was following his logic not his words and I made the same mistake. When there is no gear selected and the clutch pedal it out I consider it disengaged, but you are correct.

 

How about the times your navigating around a parking lot? I often am in first gear and have some combination of clutch and gas to go really slow. Is that bad for the clutch? Is it avoidable?