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Keeping Your Vehicle In Great Condition

Hi there, my name is Nellie. Welcome to my site. I am excited to share my knowledge about automotive service on this site. I would like to help everyone learn about how to keep their cars and trucks in excellent condition over the years. My site will cover all of the different maintenance and repair tasks required by vintage and modern vehicles. I will talk about the tools and safety equipment you must use for each task. I hope you can use the information on my site to keep your vehicle well-maintained and running great. Thank you for your visit.

Keeping Your Vehicle In Great Condition

3 Tips For Ensuring That Your Clutch Lasts As Long As Possible

by Ana King

One of the most important components of any vehicle with a standard transmission is the clutch, which also happens to be one of the most expensive components to replace when it wears out. Listed below are three tips that can help you ensure that your clutch lasts as long as possible before needing to be repaired or replaced.

Keep Your Foot Away From The Clutch Whenever Possible

The single biggest way to reduce wear and tear on your clutch is to keep your foot away from the clutch pedal as often as possible. While it may not seem like resting your foot slightly on the clutch pedal while you are driving is doing anything, a slight bit of pressure can still engage the clutch and cause unnecessary wear on it even when you aren't shifting gears, 

In addition, do not make the mistake of simply leaving your car in gear when you pull up to a traffic light or sitting at a drive-thru for an extended period of time. This forces you to keep your foot on the clutch in order to keep the car running, which is completely unnecessary. Instead, shift the car into neutral and use your parking brake to keep the car stationary at a traffic light or other stop as this will not put any wear or strain on the clutch.

Drive Conservatively

Sure, one of the most entertaining parts about having a car with a manual transmission is being able to accelerate quickly from a stop, but this can often lead to a severely shortened lifespan for your clutch. The reason for this is that when you are tearing away from a traffic light of stop sign, you are often allowing the car to remain in one gear longer than it was designed to in order to accelerate faster. As a result, your clutch and transmission are both being put under a lot of unnecessary strain in that short amount of time. 

Use Your Brakes To Slow Down

Finally, make sure that you do not ride or use the clutch to slow your vehicle down. It is a very common mistake for someone to depress the clutch and coast in order to slow down their vehicles before shifting into a lower gear.

While using the clutch and coasting to slow down does work, it utilizes the clutch unnecessarily since you should never actually use the clutch until you are actually ready to shift gears. Instead, use your brakes to slow down as much as necessary and then shift into a lower gear to reduce the potential wear on your clutch.

Contact your local auto service or mechanic today in order to discuss how you can extend the lifespan of your clutch. Keeping your foot off of the clutch whenever possible, driving conservatively, and using your brakes to slow down are all simple ways to ensure that your clutch lasts as long as possible.

For more information, contact local professionals like Arringdale's Engine Rebuilding & Auto Repair.

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