Geoffrey Gallaway wrote:
> I was under the impression that sitting still in traffic with the clutch
> depressed and i neutral was a Bad Thing would wear the clutch quickly. Is
> this true or is it only while the car is in gear?
>
> A general description of how this (the clutch) works, whether I'm wrong or
> not, would also be appreciated... :)
Both of you are right, but from your own eras.
Modern cars use a roller bearing for the clutch throwout. That
means when you push down the clutch, a roller bearing pushes
on the fingers of the clutch release unit and the pressure
plate pulls back from the flywheel, leaving the clutch disc
sandwiched in there free to spin. (or rather, not spin as
the flywheel spins)
However, older cars like MGs, at least in their original
spec, have carbon faced release bearings. Prolonged sitting
with the clutch out wears down the face of the bearing quickly
and it'll need to be changed. (which is a drive-train-out job)
So on a modern car, it's no real sin to sit with the clutch
in, but it can be hard on an MG.
--
Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
"It is the nuclear missile Harrod's would sell!" - Sir Humphrey Appleby
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