Is it bad to shift without the clutch sometimes?

Car i had lost the clutch cylinder fluid and had to drive it like that for a good 20 miles all gears and crank started in 2nd gear to get going. it was a toyota corolla i think. it was only thing i could do to get it home. fun yes but i wouldnt do it! theres not much to the synco teeth and they wear fast being soft material.

 

Who told you that? Only two per shift hub at some point you'll have to shift into 3rd and then 5th.

 

That's because the syncros are doing their job. When you push the gear lever into another gear you are forcing them against the gear they are little brakes that stop the gear from spinning that is normal and how they work. When you force them against the gears with out using the clutch they have to slow the gear with a load on the gear train you nailed it with "pressure" if you use the clutch you don't feel the pressure do you? that should be telling you some thing. You can shift with out the clutch and if you are very good there will be no pressure and it will slide right in do you think you can do it every time? Highly unlikely. There is no earthly reason for not pushing in the clutch unless your left leg is broken.

 

Can it be done? Yes. Is the transmission designed for that? No. Does it cause damage? Not always but it can. Would I purchase a used vehicle if I knew the owner did this? NO!

 

It dont think it hurts anything, if anybody has driven anykind of big truck like a semi, thats the way they are shifted. The clutch is so stiff you would wear your leg out shifting 15 gears all the time.

 

Alright I rarely do it and feel like it is bad. The only reason I asked is b/c my brother is a diesel mechanic and he does it sometimes and says it is not bad for the tranny.

 

Whoever told you that was just plain wrong. There is no issue with skipping gears in a manual transmission. Heck in the performance manual transmissions of the Corvette and Camaro 6 speeds, they are forced to skip shift from 1st to 4th depending on driving conditions. There is nothing at all wrong with skip-shifting, and it does no damage at all to a synchromesh transmission.

I have had to do that before years ago in my old Mustang!

Just to clear some things up here: The synchro itself is not what wears when you "ride" the shifter, or run into what the OP states is "pressure" when trying to shift. What wears is the brass blocker rings (Which granted are inside the synchro, but can be replaced separately in most cases) The job of the brass blocker rings is to match the speeds of the input shaft to the output shaft, or countershaft, depending on the gear being selected. It is like a tiny, round brake that has "teeth" for the lack of a better word, on the inside cone shaped ring that grips on the convex-cone shaped gear. So what DOES wear whenever you are applying pressure to the shifter while waiting for it to slip into gear is the blocker ring. Being made of brass they do tend to wear a lot faster if you don't take care of it.

So short answer is that unless you can perfectly speed-match your shifts, you ARE causing excessive wear to parts inside your transmission.

By the way, I have been rebuilding manual transmissions for over 20 years now, so I have seen pretty much all types of driving condition damage.

 

So moral of the story, the only trans I would willingly shift with no clutch is one that has no syncros. You either get it right or you get it wrong, you'll know it if you get it wrong

 

Or one that is not yours

 

As stated plenty of times here, Can you? Yes. Should you? no.

I've done it from 3-4-5-6 just to see if could be done. Once...

 

Too bad it's so difficult to find manual rentals

 

So skipping gears is a no no? I do it all the time

 

i do it all the time in my t100. I have been for 80,000 miles. I can match up the gears with the engine just by hearing the rpms. I also get it just to "fall" into gear when I shift, there is no pressure required, nor for upshifting either. I only use the clutch for starting and stopping, unless I need to change gears quickly.

 

You can skip gears.

 

No problems at all skipping gears in your Tacoma.

 

...............ummmm whats the point? Go buy an auto. It sounds like you are getting lazy.

 

Bamatoy always has the beet mechanical insight here! And heck if he were not on here I am sure this would have blown into a long winded argument lol

 

LMAO, don't help my head swell up any more, it's big enough as it is!

 

Agreed, at least if thats your real photo in your avatar.
Only kidding!

I have to admit, you're brave wading into some of these topics on here.

I have only one thing to add since you've set them straight on the synchromesh transmission, and that is that it causes problems on non-syncho truck transmissions as well. Because there is still a small amount of torque on the drivetrain when the shifter is pulled into neutral, it wears the reverse tapered surfaces of the sliding clutches and clutching teeth in the gears to the point where the transmission will eventually jump out of gear. Now yes, it is VERY common for truckers to shift without clutching, but its a practice that causes non-warrantable damage in the long run, and here in BC you will fail your commercial road test if you shift without the clutch. Commenting as an Eaton Fuller trained transmission and driveline specialist.

 

I wouldn't do it unless you're really good at it and never, ever grind.