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IANACM, but I think car mechanics have a model in their head about the gears and rods that make up the shifter, but they certainly don't know off the top of the
by Maro 15y ago
IANACM, but I think car mechanics have a model in their head about the gears and rods that make up the shifter, but they certainly don't know off the top of their head which exact gear will break or bend when you try shifting from 2nd to 3rd in a 1990 Ford Focus.
- msteinert 15y agoI also ANACM, however I can guarantee you that it is impossible for any gear to break or bend under those conditions (the first model year for the Ford Focus was 1998).
- 0x12 15y agoRegarding such 'trivia that might come in handy one day', it is possible on some cars to shift gears without using the clutch, but you have to get the timing exactly right. If you time it right the shift will happen from say to 2nd to neutral at one rpm (to neutral is always possible without the clutch), then you reduce the rpm until you know it will match 3rd gear for that speed (good hearing helps here) and then you can make the shift from neutral to 3rd without any force at all. The more 'sloppy' a gearbox the easier this goes. As long as you don't force things you'll be fine, if you do force it you'll likely be greeted by expensive grinding noises. On the classic 'beetle' and 'mini' engines I can do this without fail or any chance of damage. Modern cars (read more expensive) I haven't tried. Of course this is not what you're supposed to do but it's interesting when you have a 'junker' to play around with it until you can do it right.