How can I prolong the life of my car's manual gearbox?

I've been driving automatic for a long time now. But I'm back on the stick shift. I still know how to drive manual, but I'm not quite sure which habits are good and which are bad. For example:



1. When you're about to stop and you are currently in a high gear, is it ok to let your car slow down while being in neutral and using your car's momentum to go forward or must it always be changed to a lower gear until you come to a complete stop?



2. Do you always have to put the clutch pedal all the way down until it cant go any further to change gears or can it be almost all the way down but still allows you to change gears? Will it damage the clutch doing this?



3. Is it alright to be on 5th gear while doing 30mph/48 kph just to save some petrol?



Any other tips to reducing the amount of damage done to the clutch, the gear box etc would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!How can I prolong the life of my car's manual gearbox?
yes it is perfectly fine to roll to a stop in neutral. while illegal in the states there is nothing wrong with it. the gears dont have any force on them that way and are just free spinning. downshifting will increase clutch wear but not enough to notice. i downshift excessivly hard in my car and it doesnt hurt it at all but its not recomended for those wishing to expand the life of their tranny. besides brakes are much cheaper than cluches!



the answer to your second question depends on your belief as pushing the pedal all the way down or just enough to shift put the same amount of wear and tear on a cluch it really doesnt matter. the only thing i can say here is that only pushing it far enough to change gears allows for a quicker smoother shift. fully disengaging the cluch takes more time and may cause the engine speed to drop too far making a jerk when re-engaging the clutch. but if you can work the throttle correctly this is eliminated. also if you give it too much throttle before re-engaging the clutch the engine speed will be too high and will cause the vehicle to jerk clashing the gears in the drivetrain. the important thing is to remember to make the shift smooth. as long as this is acheived your tranny will last longer. learn where the engine speed should be in relation to the gear your shifting to from the engine speed before the shift.



with the prices of the push juice now days you would be crazy not to want to get better gas milage. its perfectly fine for the tranny the real strain is in your engine if the rpm's are too low and your engine is struggling to keep up.



main thing in clutch upkeep is dont ride the clutch and make smoothe shifts. with this your clutch will last longest. a clutch has a relatively long life as most people dont keep their cars long enough to replace their clutch. ive been riding on a worn out clutch for three years giving it h*ll and it still holds just fine. i dont notice a difference from the first time i drove it to the last.



also check your owners manual for recomended tranny fluid type and change intervals. its a good idea to follow the guidlines in the manual so the fluid doesnt breakdown and cause excessive wear in the gear box. all mechanics will recomend that you use dextron III automatic tranny fluid for all trannys auto or manual.



hope this helps,

conradHow can I prolong the life of my car's manual gearbox?
1. yes it is alright to be in nuetral because there is no more transfer (or any poor transfer atleast) going the shift plates. so their will be no wear.



2.if u want to absolutely have the trannsmission last as long as possible.. ALWAYS push it all the way down. this makes it so the clutch is completly dissengaged.. and the 2 plates are not rubbing together even partway.. saving your clutch and it wont skip either (make some small contacts) which would shove alot of torque through the tranny.



3. it should be fine.. your trading torque for rpms.. and aslong as you dont ride the clutch at all.. you should be fine.