Can you damage your gearbox by..

Jon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
2,122
Location
Wolverhampton, England.
Car(s)
Ford Mondeo 2.0 Honda CBR600FS (Now wrecked!)
..Skipping gears when accelerating?

I've always done this as i don't see the point of going through all the gears when i wanna just slap it in 5th for fuel consumption sake. From 2nd straight to 5th for example? I've heard about synchro's an what not, but would these get damaged because of that? Sorry for ignorance.
 
Last edited:
On upshift - no, I don't think so. It will wear out synchros a bit faster, but if you're not in a hurry, you just wait a fraction of a second longer before putting in next gear, not "power shift" it with one slamming move.
In fact we were tought to do it in driving school too. Accelerate to 80 in 3rd, and put it straight in 5th.
 
You won't damage your gearbox by that. There's danger to your manifold though...

:roflmao:
 
Don't make me start....

No danger to gearbox really. If you go into a high gear too early you may put unnessercary strain on the engine, but nothing to worry about really as long as you're not stupid (i.e. 20mph in 5th).
 
If you go into a high gear too early you may put unnessercary strain on the engine, but nothing to worry about really as long as you're not stupid (i.e. 20mph in 5th).

I have ignorance yes, but give me SOME credit. :lol:

Saying all this because my gearbox has started making a tapping noise and is due to pack up, causing me to have to throw in the towel and cash out for a 2nd hand one. ?518 including fitting. It hurts. :(

I was just curious to figure out what could have caused this, but alas, i guess it's not that then. Thanks guys.
 
As long as you pause long enough to give the synchros time to settle down before going thru neutral, there is no damage potential on the upshift side. On the downshift side, it is HORRIBLY bad to shift into 1st at anything other than a crawl. As for selecting other gears on the downshift side, the synchros will almost always prevent you from doing so without quite an effort, so just listen to what the stick is telling you and don't force it... ever.
 
you will put some pressure on the crankshaft but it wont twist that easily:p
 
I have ignorance yes, but give me SOME credit. :lol:

Saying all this because my gearbox has started making a tapping noise and is due to pack up, causing me to have to throw in the towel and cash out for a 2nd hand one. ?518 including fitting. It hurts. :(

I was just curious to figure out what could have caused this, but alas, i guess it's not that then. Thanks guys.




are you sure the tapping noise isn't the engine pinging (detonation) due to too low of octane gasoline or lugging the engine or a combination of both?
 
are you sure the tapping noise isn't the engine pinging (detonation) due to too low of octane gasoline or lugging the engine or a combination of both?

AS I SAID, some credit?

*Hears tapping noise* 'Oop, *stops* 'Is that the engine? *Revs engine* 'Nope, not the engine'

:blink:
 
sounds a bit like my gearbox just before it completely lunched 3rd gear...
 
You have a car worthy of dishing out money on.

I...... do not.

-_-
 
Don't worry about it unless your really lugging the engine. If you have to mat the gas to keep it from stalling thats not going to save you any $$$ of gas.

Any one ever have a Standard drop a tooth OR a gear you where in... What a sound. I was off roading in a beater car had it in 2nd when a gear snapped. Engine went way passed red line and snapped a conecting rod The wheels locked and started to roll backwards and snaped the universal joints. But it was the sound that I though was the coolest... Hey it was a 50$ bush beater it was fun while it lasted.
 
As long as you pause long enough to give the synchros time to settle down before going thru neutral, there is no damage potential on the upshift side. On the downshift side, it is HORRIBLY bad to shift into 1st at anything other than a crawl. As for selecting other gears on the downshift side, the synchros will almost always prevent you from doing so without quite an effort, so just listen to what the stick is telling you and don't force it... ever.


skipping gears on DOWNSHIFTs is completly safe if done right.
 
...unless you're driving a van. i know not many people here do drive vans as their daily drivers but my dad drives an LDV van and you cannot skip gears going up or down, or whatever's in the back smashes into the divider, or the thing actually doesn't stop (needs engine nraking with the normal brakes to stop it)

i think a normal car should be fine tho, just as long as you don't dump too many revs on it. the high gear and high revs might cause something to go wrong. might start to wear the propshaft UJs, and cause a drivline shunt under acceleration...
 
My dad shifts from 2nd to 5th at times (2000 Maxima does 60MPH in 2nd gear :thumbsup: )

No problems at all. It's also a modern gearbox with good synchros.
 
Only bad if you go into the red on the REV counter or if you really stall the engine in doing so.
 
It shouldn't be a problem if you wait for the revs to go down to match the 5th gear at the speed you're going. In the worst case, you will just wear a bit the clutch.
 
Top