Manual transmission

SYLVERBLONDE

MEMBER
2000 JEEP WRANGLER
6 CYL
4WD
MANUAL
97,000 MILES

I recently purchaesd a 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, with 97,000 miles and a 5 speed. All seems well so far, but my question is; when approaching a stop signal, should I shift into neutral and brake while waiting for the light to change, or should I shift into a lower gear (like 1st) and keep the clutch depressed until the signal says go? Which is better? Thank you for your time.

2 Replies

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

Personal preference. Holding the clutch pressed adds to the wear of the clutch throwout bearing and engine crankshaft thrust bearing. I usually shift to neutral and release the pedal. Doing that will put a little more wear on the first gear synchro each time you stuff it back into first gear. That can reduce the life of that part by about one percent, in other words, not much. One note, ... If you leave it in gear and get rear-ended, your foot will slip off the clutch and you could end up moving into cross traffic. This is really a personal preference thing and depends on how long you're going to be sitting there in gear.