I was driving home today and when I accelerated from a stop sign I shifted from first to second with out pressing the clutch pedal, it work so I tried doing it into third and it worked again. But the clutch seems to still work fine. Does this mean I have a bad clutch? or I have a bad transmission? Did I just destroy my car? Thanks for any information on this subject.

 

That's a pretty common phenonmenon. If the load is off the driveline, you pull the shift lever out of one gear, and the engine RPM is allowed to slow down to mathc the transmission RPM in the next gear, and the shifter is eased into gear, you can shift like that all day long.

One of the problems can be if the engine RPM is not allowed to slow down before shifting, the synchronizer rings (clutches) in the transmission correct the speed differences between gears. If the differences are too great, the synchronizers will not compensate and gear grinding will result.
Even when the RPM match is close, the synchro rings are still slipping, compensating for the RPM differential. This will wear the synchros faster, and will eventually result in no synchronized shifts with oir wothout using the clutch. If you shift like that under no load and allow the gear speeds to mathc, it shouldn't cause any problems whatsoever. I've even shifted straight-cut gear transmissions (without synchros) on tractors and lift truck that way without problems, but it takes a little throttle coaxing and careful RPM matching to keep the shift lever from slamming your arm back into your face.

 

Thanks alot Vader, very helpful!!

 

i used to notice this on a little cavalier i had.

i could shift from 4th to 5th without using the clutch as long as i didn't touch the gas.

i can do the same thing with the camaro. i can also pull the transmission out of 5th gear without using the clutch.

 

It's called "power-shifting"

It is actually easier on your clutch and over-all transmission, as when you slide into the next gear your engine RPM and vehicle speed are matched (at least in my experience).

I do this all the time, and so does my dad. I've never had to replace my clutch, and my dad has gotten 20 years out of a clutch.

If you do it right you can power-shift up and down thus eliminating alot of wear and tear on your driveline components.

 

Yup, power-shifting, nothing wrong with your clutch.

 

Actually, powershifting is a term used when racing. When you have a stick, the gas pedal stays planted on the floor the whole way down the track. Just barely touch the clutch enough to shift to the next gear. It takes practice, and speed to do it correctly. Not exactly easy on the drivetrain, but when youre going all out....you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

Powershifting--thought that was at full throttle and 'slammed' into the next gear. Anyway, you can also downshift doing that as well--you just need to match rpm. How much wear this will cause depends on how much force you use. If you let it fall into gear with little effort probably won't hurt anything. If you really want to cause some wear, take off in 1st gear without the clutch

 

As mentioned above, powershifting is actually when you keep your gas pedal planted on the floor while you press the clutch pedal and depress it between gears. Gets a nice little chirp out of the tires on relatively low HP engines

 

i do that, except i lift the throttle off the floor just a tiny little bit..so if the next gear doesnt "grab" i wont blow the motor lol...i leard that after i missed 2nd and spun it to 6300 or so... talk about valve float lol