What gear do you leave your car in when parked? (long theory)

[meth0d]

This might sound like a strange question, but...

I realize that I always leave my car in 2nd gear when parked, and I always seem to have trouble with 2nd gear.

I'm not incredibly technical, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I tried something and it seems to have helped...

When you put the car in gear (any gear), and release the clutch, it's the job of the synchro not only to make the engine speed to the gear, but also to make sure the transmission stays in the gear you selected? IE, without synchros (or if your synchro goes bad), won't the gear just pop back into neutral? I know this doesn't happen in trucks without synchros (obviously), but our transmissions are designed differently right?

Also, when a gear is engaged, everything is "bound". I can't think of the right word. But the gears are interlocked, clutch, flywheel, everything is together and there's stress on everything.

So here's my theory. Now keep in mind this is coming from someone who is not incredibly technical, and only has conceptual knowledge of how a transmission works -- I'm basically going by how my R/C car's 2 speed tranny works. :) When the gears are interlocked, and the synchro is holding the gear in place, this is causing stress on all the parts. You put the car in 2nd gear when parking, and go inside for the night. As the car cools down, and in the winter gets really cold, all the metal contracts. This causes even more stress. On top of all of this, the transmission fluid gets a little thicker and drops a little in the case. Right? So on top of the stress of leaving a gear engaged all night, you factor in cold temperatures and possibly the lack of transmission fluid between the engaged gears -- obviously theres some metal on metal contact and the tranny fluid wouldn't easily flow between them -- especially in -5c and under conditions.

The reason I was thinking along these lines is because yesterday after work I actually warmed up my car, while parked, until it reached normal operating temperature. I STILL experienced the grind into 2nd gear twice! It's almost like you need to shift a few times to re-lubricate everything...? So this morning, instead of leaving my car in gear, I left it in neutral (with the parking brake engaged of course). And this morning... the grind was very very very minimal! Fluke? Probably. Does anyone else with a grind want to try leaving their car in neutral Sunday night (Monday morning will be cold) and see if it grinds on Monday?

Anyways, someone who knows way more than me (pretty much everyone) should comment and give me reasons why this theory is crap or why it might be sort of on the right track. I'm clutching at straws here to figure this out... I mean, it's either this, or Honda synchros are total GARBAGE, and replacing them won't do a damn thing except stop the problem for a very short period of time before they wear down again.

[Jarek]

That's an interesting theory.. I don't have an answer for it though.. I usually leave it in 2nd gear if parked on an uphill or first if on a downhll. Maybe I'll use reverse from now on.

[Satan_SRV]

Is it bad to leave it in neutral?

[CrazyVTEC]

I thought that was what the parking brake was for???? If the parking brake is engaged then there should be no/very little stress on the transmission. The reason you put the car in gear is like an insurance policy, in case for some reason the parking brake doesn't hold, so that your car doesn't roll off. If you put up the ebrake first then putting it in gear should not put any significant amount of stress on the transmission unless for some reason the ebrake fails and the car rests on the tranny
I Think:confused:

[clumzy]

You can pretty much leave it in any gear. My wife always puts it into first and as a test I parked on a hill, turned the car off, pulled the e-brake, into 1st and released the e-brake. The car rocked back and stopped. Simple as that.

You're theory may be valid but your understanding of synchro's is not exactly right.

Here's a couple of pages off howstuffworks.com that give some basics about how manual transmissions work and how the clutch works:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/transmission.htm
http://www.howstuffworks.com/clutch.htm

In this very simple transmission:
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/trans1.gif

We see that the gear selector only moves the dog-tooth collar along the spline shaft (to the differential). The blue gears are of different sizes are 1st and 2nd gear. For the purpose of this discussion we can just say that it's not the "synchros" that are "interlocking" the transmission, but the dog-teeth are engaged into the gear.

Synchronizers on the other hand look like this:
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/trans6.gif

"A synchro's purpose is to allow the collar and the gear to make frictional contact before the dog teeth make contact. This lets the collar and the gear synchronize their speeds before the teeth need to engage"

Very helpful site. In fact I was thinking of writing up a FAQ on double-clutching and heel-toe-ing in relation to what happens in the transmission. But as always, time is short and real life interupts.

[Jarek]

Well yes, I first use my parking brake and THEN put it into gear, so the brake holds the car, not the gear. I never leave it in gear only, that's a no no.

[Dynamatt]

come to think of it...i used to park my car in 2nd gear...and for the past year i park in neutral therefore minimizing stress on the tranny...and this winter compared to last, my 2nd gear grinds less in the morning...but it still grinds...for get rid of grinding, before i shift to 2nd i have to put in neutrl first, then slip to 2nd or double clutch....

fluke?...i dunno...imagination?...maybe!...

dude, but you may be on to something...

[bakchoi]

question from an SS driver:
why do you guys use second? is it presonal preference?

[Dynamatt]

Originally posted by bakchoi
question from an SS driver:
why do you guys use second? is it presonal preference?

when i first bought my car, i noticed that clumzy did it...so then i did it too!...

[mito]

Originally posted by bakchoi
question from an SS driver:
why do you guys use second? is it presonal preference?

what do you mean if I use second? I use it everyday just like 1st, 3rd and 4th.

[clumzy]

The reason I don't use 1st is that it's technically the easiest to "move" the transmission.

Like you notice how easy it is the pedal on a 10spd bike in 1st gear but say 10th gear is really really hard? Same idea but this time there's more "engine braking" resistance in 2nd gear than 1st. 5th would technically have the most resistance.

But in practice, like I was saying, even in first gear you're not gonna roll back on most moderate inclines.

[Satan_SRV]

Ok so you are not on an incline...what's the problem with leaving it in Neutral? Like really, how long will it take a parking brake fail....

[Grant]

If I'm on a really steep incline I will put it in gear AFTER I apply the handbrake (and turn the wheel so the car rolls into the curb) but normally I leave the car in neutral and just set the brake. I have never had a grinding problem in any gear and my car has never rolled away.

My thinking is God forbid if anybody hits my car while it's in gear or even worse some yahoo decided to try to tow it. A dent on a bumper is a pain but a dent on a bumper and a stripped tranny is worse..