ekinshuya

I have a 97 civic dx hatchback with 5 speed transmission. After i made a right turn i shifted to 2nd gear and then shifted to 3rd at 25mph in a neighborhood street. However, after i let go of my foot on the gas and the mph dropped to 25 or 24, and when I stepped on the gas again lightly to speed up, THE CAR SHAKES like crazy.

Also i was driving in 5th gear at 50mph and wanted to stay exactly at 50mph. But when i let go of the gas pedal, i can feel the car jerk a little back, and when i step on the gas i can feel the car jerk forward (like picking up speed). Is this NORMAL? it feels weird because I swtiched from automatic car and it never jerk when i step on the gas. So its hard to stay exact speed and not have it jerk everytime i let go or step on the gas.

jkaz

this is to be taken no offense from what-so-ever, i'm just trying to help you.

commonly, when someone switches from automatic transmission to a manual transmission, they are not used to the transmission at first. you're first problem with the car shaking sounds like you may be going to slow for the gear, just a thought. keep in mind i'm not there with you so this may have nothing to do with your problem. the thing about it jerking, are you coming off the clutch too hard? the car will jerk forward if you come of the clutch too hard, but your problem seems like you were in the middle of a gear driving, not needing the clutch. maybe someone else has had this problem too, and can help you. bump for this guy.

Johnny Ricer

Your going too slow for that gear if your doing 25 you should be in 2nd tops. If you are doing 50 there shouldnt be alot of shaking in fifth gear. The car should'nt excelerate at all basically because of the missing torque.

jkaz

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by soundpsych &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your going too slow for that gear if your doing 25 you should be in 2nd tops. If you are doing 50 there shouldnt be alot of shaking in fifth gear. The car should'nt excelerate at all basically because of the missing torque.</TD></TR></TABLE>
he's right , you should be in 2nd gear in most cars. third gear you should be going at least 30-32MPH. although it is spelled accelerate.

ekinshuya

yea i was at 3rd gear but let go of the gas and the speed drop to 25mph, but i step back on the gas to speed up but it jerks like crazy. ( i wasnt using clutch). I mean even tho it may not be correct gear, would it just speed up slow instead of jerking like crazy? Also at 4th gear going at 40mph or even 5th gear going at 50mph, as soon as i let go of the gas (not using clutch anymore), the car jerks back, and when i step on the gas to speed up it jerks forward

ekinshuya

btw although i switched from an automatic, when then engine is cool it doesn't happen. It only happens after i drive for a while, like 20 min or more.

jkaz

i promise you the jerking in 3rd gear is from going to slow. thats what a manual car does when you let off the gas, let the speed drop, and try to step on the gas again. i swear, shift in second going 25MPH, let off the gas, and press it again. it won't do it. your 5th gear prob is beyond me.

ekinshuya

jkaz, thanks for the suggestion but i think my car does that too in 1st gear. Like after i balance out the clutch, and speed is around 10mph, if i stay 1st gear and let go of gas and gas only, it will jerk too. this is normal?

ekinshuya

also i dont get the part why it doesnt happen when the engine is cool, but the problems usually happen when ive been driving for a while? sorry for all the noob questions

Johnny Ricer

You are stating the main principles of driving a manual trans...
You let off the gas and dont press in the clutch the engine stops running basically it stops delivering fuel to the motor therefore the transmission keeps the engine moving...
yea I spelt it wrong not sure why maybe I keep slamming my head on the desk to much therfore Im starting to loose a sigificant amount of brain cells.

ekinshuya

soundpsych, so basically after im done balancing the clutch and gas at shifting gears, and drive with just using foot on gas, and IF i let go of gas pedal i need to PRESS down the CLutch ALL THE WAY? and balance it out all over again? do i need to press the clutch a bit down, halfway down, or all the way down while giving it more gas again?

Johnny Ricer

You need to release the clutch until the motor starts bogging from the load and than apply a small amount of throttle as the car accelerates release the clutch completely. When shifting completely press in the clutch switch gears than at the same time as you slowly let off the clutch give it gas. From what im understanding you are riding the clutch and pretty soon your not going to have one the clutch should only be used for a few seconds when launching from a stop and like 1 second during the shifting period.