Geoff,
Sitting in traffic with the clutch pedal pressed down is not a good
thing, at least in our cars with carbon-ring throwout bearings. You are
doing the right thing. Throwout bearings have a lot of pressure on them,
and don't benefit from prolonged use. Most cars today use a ball bearing
for this purpose. Some owners have adapted ball bearing throwouts for
MGs, but there has not been unanimous satisfaction with the conversion.
There isn't likely to be any effect on the clutch itself, since it is
separated from the flywheel when your foot is down on the pedal. Wear on
the clutch takes place when there is rubbing between it and the flywheel,
as when you let up on the clutch and the car starts moving. There is not
a lot one can do about that in stop-and-go traffic, since the drivers
behind will nudge you to move up ever time there is an opening, but you
can try to idle along in first gear as much as possible.
Bob
On Sun, 9 Jul 2000 19:02:39 -0400 (EDT) Geoffrey Gallaway
<geoffeg@sloth.org> writes:
> This message didnt make it through to the list last time so I'll try
> again...
>
> ---
>
> 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
>
>
|