Subaru Impreza GC8 & RS Forum & Community banner
1 - 15 of 15 Posts

· Registered
2004 Forester XTi
Joined
·
1,010 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
If you have a Manual Transmission, you know not to rest your palm on the shifter while cruising, right? All the credits to El Constantino from Minneapolis, MN. Here you go! ...and I hope this helps some of you out there.

"TECH NOTE:

Hey remember when I told U not to rest your hand on the shifter while driving (i.e.not shifting). Well, I did some checking on why the manual says not ot do that. It seems resting your hand on the shifter while driving ruins the syncronizers. The "syncs" are the parts of the transmission that help us change gears smoothly. Like when we drop from high gear to low gear, for instance from 5th to 4th gear or from from 4th to 2nd ect... They allow us to do this smoothly by synching or lining up gears so that we may move the stick shifter into position. It is kind of like using a pry bar to get a stuck chain on, a bike, back on the sprockets so you can ride it again. Resting your hand on the shifter even if it doesn't feel like your putting strain on the shifter does add up in wear and tear on this vital part of the transimission. Before the 1940's there were no syncros in cars so everybody driving stick had to learn how to "Double Clutch" to line up the gears in automobiles. It was trickey and you got a lot of grinding gears when doing this. But transmissions were a lot stronger in thoes days and heavier too. The people who use "D.Clutching" to day are Big Rig drivers and race car drivers. Doing this technique helps a driver go smoothly around a track and keeps the Turbos spooled up for high torque applications, also less skidding going around corners. COOL HUH?

COOL NOTE:

Also our Subies don't have a syncronizer for going into reverse, it helps keep the weight down and takes up less space in the transmission. So going into reverse in a Subaru "Stick Shift" will never be smooth. If it is then youv'e got problems... hehe... Best way to beat stickyness in reverse is to shift to first then shift to reverse OR let the clutch out in neutral tap the throttle then smoothly try to get into reverse OR let the car roll forward or backward then get into gear. Remember to be smooth, don'tt fight the shifter, it's your friend, so work with it.

One more thing... some of the hurkey-jerkeyness comes from our flywheel plate in our clutch pack. It is heavy but not heavy enough for our torquie` little engines. Subaru put heavy ones in so our take-offs are smoother from a red light and in stop and go conditions."
 
G

·
I was going to say that reverse seems synchroed to me. :) '01...

But I still don't understand how resting your hand on the shifter can cause wear on the syncros. If you take the boot off and look, the sifter arm has a ball at the end that sits in a socket. About 1/4 of the way up the shaft there is an arm that goes up to the tranny. It's not like by pressing down you're going to get anywhere... the little socket is mounted to the tranny tunnel. I could understand if you had a shifter that went straight down into the tranny, but that's not the case with our cars.
 

· Premium Member
Two Mini Coopers!
Joined
·
11,959 Posts
Supposedly the synchro rings and shifter levers are very tight tolerances, and the levers can cause them to ride against each other. So instead of floating on a film of oil, they are just barely rubbing metal to metal. Over time (months, years, whatever) of constantly applying that pressure, they rub, heat up, and wear out more quickly than usual, leading to failure.

Kind of reminds me of a person who rides with their left foot on their brake. Disc brakes also ride touching the rotors, to a very slim degree, and by keeping your foot even so slightly on the pedal will lead to increased wear, heat, and eventually failure.

Remember, many parts in your car (rod bearings come to mind) are put together with only a few hundredths of an inch apart, if that! Some are so small you cannot fit a human hair between the two parts, and I bet your transmission is similar to that in specs.
 

· Registered
2004 Forester XTi
Joined
·
1,010 Posts
Discussion Starter · #7 ·
Wooo, ok. I guess I wasn't the only one resting their palm on the shifter. I guess the newbies are always learning like me. I'm sure hard shifting/ power shifting will kill the syncros a lot quicker, also. Oh well, I just race when I have to. :rolleyes:
 
G

·
You shouldn't rest your foot on the clutch pedal either. The throw out bearing in my parent's miata chirped like a bird and I think it's because I used to rest my foot on the clutch pedal. I don't remember if there was a dead pedal or not.
 

· Registered
2001 STM Sedan
Joined
·
467 Posts
well i still find it hard to believe there is a synchro on the reverse gear since it would be about 100 times easier to get in. but however everything else is completely correct. But FWIW i have yet to see a worn out syncho set from resting your hand on the shifter. Or at least on honda's anyway.

Jeremy
 

· Registered
05 LGT limited
Joined
·
388 Posts
Resting your hand on ther shifter won't hurt the syncros, cause they are fully engaged when the car is in gear, and can't move against each other. It could cause extra wear on the little plastic bushings on the tips of the shift forks, but any additional wear would be minimal.
 

· Premium Member
Two Mini Coopers!
Joined
·
11,959 Posts
yamarocket630 said:
Resting your hand on ther shifter won't hurt the syncros, cause they are fully engaged when the car is in gear, and can't move against each other. It could cause extra wear on the little plastic bushings on the tips of the shift forks, but any additional wear would be minimal.
This MAY be the case with the newer cars, but was not the case on older cars, Me personally, I would err on the side of caution and rest my hand on the wifes leg instead. :D
 
G

·
yamarocket630 said:
Resting your hand on ther shifter won't hurt the syncros, cause they are fully engaged when the car is in gear, and can't move against each other. It could cause extra wear on the little plastic bushings on the tips of the shift forks, but any additional wear would be minimal.
That's pretty much what I thought.

How about a VW shifter with it's cable linkage? :p
 
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top