Posted by Vaughn on Sunday, January 01, 2006 at 1:30PM :
In Reply to: Need RKI's advise on proper operation of M37 transmission. posted by katzbalger on Sunday, January 01, 2006 at 12:43PM :
The original intent of a clutch was to get the vehicle moving safely. The use of a hand crank to start the engine, while the transmission was in gear, proved to be an unsafe practice in early vehicle design. Once in motion, shifting of the gears did require the use of a clutch. The transmission does know when you do and don't use it and it lets you know by grinding of the gears when you don’t do it properly. A synchronized transmission is fairly forgiving, but those sliding gear transmissions will definitively yell at you. The proper way is to let off the gas pedal to lessen the load, shift into neutral and then shift into the next gear. This does take some practice and it sounds like you’re do pretty well at.
I was about 150 miles from home in the mountains when the clutch linkage broke on my Jeep truck. I had to negotiate mountain roads and city stop and go traffic to get back home. When I came to a stop light or stop sign, I shifted into neutral, turned off the engine, shifted into 1st gear and when the light changed, I started the engine and away I would go. Don’t recommend you use the engine on/off approach except in emergencies.
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