Friday, August 15, 2008

How Manual Transmissions & Clutches Work



Here's another amazing video from Youtube. If you ever wondered how a manual transmission works along with the clutch system, this video shows in great detail how both work together.

The clutch acts as a connection between the engine and transmission. When you push down on the clutch pedal you literally disconnect the engine from the transmission, this gives you the opportunity to shift gears without a lot of grinding and gear clash.

The clutch holds the disc [which takes all the load] against the engine flywheel. When you disengage the clutch your pushing against the clutch springs and freeing up the disc so it free-wheels and allows the transmission gears to engage smoothly.

Newer transmissions have synchronizers built-in to allow a smooth shift. A lot of failures are caused by worn out synchronizers which requires replacement of the synchronizer assembly. Notice the syncronizer demo that shows how the shaft is slowed down before gear engagement to avoid a rough shift [2 1/2 Minutes into the video].

Mechanic Information: Now you can understand why there MUST be at least 3/4 inch FREEPLAY on you clutch pedal. This relates to mechanical linkages that are manually adjusted. Any kind of clearance is required for the throwout bearing [takes the radial load during disengagement] will wear out and the clutch will fail sooner than later caused by slippage.

I don't understand why they threw in an automatic transmission feature but it is interesting to say the least.

I wasn't too impressed with the music but I hope you enjoy the presentation and how much detail it shows!

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