The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Starting out in 2nd gear hard on clutch?

I have a 52 1/2 ton with a 3 speed transmission. It has always been difficult to shift from 1st to 2nd without some grinding (if I shift at around 5 mph and do the shift slowly, it doesn't grind). When I had the transmission rebuilt, they said the synchronizers were OK. They suggested skipping 1st gear and starting out in 2nd. I have started doing that, and I can actually keep up with traffic much better, but I have to feather the clutch quite a bit. I'm sure skipping the 1st gear shift reduces wear on the clutch, but feathering it more when starting in 2nd increases wear. Does anyone have an opinion on whether this is overall going to increase or decrease the life of my clutch?

I think you need a new transmission shop,.........
I dont see how you can start off better in second gear but....
looks to me like it would not be good to do this all the time..

I think I would get it fixed

BillyDon,

Do you know about the fine art of double clutching? With double clutching and a little practice you can shift the tranny with no grinding even if it has no synchros, both up and down.

Basic procedure is to accelerate to the point where you would normally shift, push the clutch in as you let off on the gas, shift to neutral, let the clutch out again, push it in again and shift to the next gear. Be sensitive to the feel of the gear shifting and listen to the tranny and motor.

Shifting down can be a little more tricky as you will want to step on the gas a little when you are in neutral with the clutch out so you can match the gears before you slide it into the lower gear.

When you get good at this, you can shift the tranny without using the clutch at all, by just using the gas pedal to match the gears.

Kurt

Ditto on the advice to find another transmission shop! There should be no reason for the gears to grind, especially on an upshift. Regardless of the advice you've been given, the 2nd. gear synchronizer is bad. Can you downshift from 3rd. to 2nd. while moving without grinding? Probably not! At any speed below about 25-30 MPH, a 3-2 downshift should be possible with no problems if the synchro is good, and any 1-2 shift in the 10-20 MPH range should be effortless as well. Starting out in 2nd. routinely will wear out the clutch in short order!
Jerry

you might also check your clutch mechanism and adjustment to insure that the clutch is fully disengaging .... and what kind of oil is in the trans?

also is this an actual 3 speed, or as someone recently called theirs "a 3 speed with granny" [the standard 4 speed]?

Bill

Starting out in 2nd, if indeed it is a 3 on the column, is going to drastically accelerate the wear on an organic clutch. Something is wrong, but if you learn to slowly let off the gas and quickly move from to 1st to 2nd, your gears will be closer to being synchronized and the synchronizers won't have to work so hard. I would rather grind gears than slip a clutch. I never use the clutch except for untracking on anything. With practice, you can feel when the gears are synchronized and you don't need a clutch.

I think that you got really bad advice from the tranny shop. Starting in second with the four speed that has the granny gear is standard procedure but not with the three speed.

I have a feeling your transmission shop is not familiar with these early transmissions.
If you would like to stop the second gear clash give me a call, I can talk you through fixing it.
I sent you a private message.