Geoff,
When the clutch pedal is depressed, the following happens. The
releaser (throwout bearing) presses on the pressure plate (cover) springs
with considerable force which, through levering action , retracts the
pressure plate surface from clamping the disc against the flywheel. There
is force applied to the releaser causing wear (roller or carbon, only the
type of wear is different). There is force bending the diaphragm spring of
the pressure plate (or in some cases, depressing the coil springs). There
is wear on the friction disc surfaces as clamping is released (and as it is
taken up) from the slight slipping that occurs. There is a considerable
amount of forward thrust applied to the crankshaft as well, a problem that
can be quite evident in Triumphs. And finally, all the linkage and pivot
bits are stressed. A clutch simply will not wear out if it is never
released (except under some unusual "loads").
I, for one, drive as you do in traffic... but I try to avoid those
situations altogether. The "creepers" with ATs make it difficult at times.
As an aside, I'm not real crazy about the "modern" manual transmission
cars having clutch-in-or-no-start safety switches, a little rough on thrust
washers without benefit of oil pressure.
Hope this helps.
Peter C
> > ---
> >
> > While waiting on a traffic backup in my 70 BGT my friend and I got into a
> > discussion on clutches. As traffic would inch forward, I would press the
> > clutch in, shift into gear, release the clutch, move forward, and repeat
> > the process to shift into neutral. My friend was asking why I dont just
> > hold the clutch in while the traffic is stopped instead of engaging and
> > releasing it constantly.
> >
> > 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... :)
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> > Geoff
> >
> > --
> > Geoffrey Gallaway || I dunno, I dream in Perl sometimes.
> > geoffeg@sloth.org ||
> > D e v o r z h u n || -- Larry Wall
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