Clutch pedal pushed in or not for engine shutdown?

[TurboDieselPoint]

Clearly, it is best to press in the clutch pedal to start the engine, but is it also better to press in the clutch pedal when I shut off my car or should I leave it out? Which option is better for the engine, DMF, pressure plate, etc? So far I have been leaving it out when I shut off the engine and initially thought nothing of it, but I have heard some folks insist on doing the opposite, so I'm now a bit curious about which is the better thing to do.

Thanks in advance!

TurboDieselPoint

 

[showdown 42]

When you depress the clutch you press the throw out bearing . The more it is depressed the more wear. Leave it out on both start and shut down. The exception is in very cold weather when the transmission oil is very cold and puts more pressure on the starter. BTW sitting at a red light with the clutch pedal depressed creats more wear.

 

[TDI smile]

The reason for PUSHING in (down) the clutch when statring the engine is only a SAFETY Reason, so that those, that do not know how to operate a clutch, don't drive into the wall (or whatever) ahead of them. It all started with the AUDI in the 80. Too many problems by people who did not know how to handle a Stick shift Transmission, mainly in the States. It became the NORM for the Industry.

One more thing for shut down: You should leave the engine running for another 30 second or better for 1 minute, so the Turbo slows down.

 

[AndyBees]

What they said ^^^^

 

[Ol'Rattler]

If you are in neutral, leave the clutch up, if you are in gear, leave the clutch depressed during shut down. Doesn't make much difference as far as clutch wear is concerned although I prefer to leave the tranny in first when parked.

 

[Metal Man]

The car doesn't care. I am very leery of any VW parking brake so for me it's clutch in, in gear then release.

 

[TDI smile]

The car doesn't care. I am very leery of any VW parking brake so for me it's clutch in, in gear then release.

I leave a gear in too, but I slip first or second in after the engine is shut off. Works without the clutch.

 

[bollweevil]

The fun times are when your clutch will not release - t/o, hydraulic failure, etc and you have to start engine with clutch engaged.

I was taught many years ago to place car in reverse when parked on a hill or worried about movement while parked. Reverse is supposed to be a stronger gear. Typically,
I turn off motor after placing shifter to neutral, but doesn't matter. Place trans in desired gear after stopping.

 

[vanbcguy]

Reverse on VW transmissions is made of glass. It definitely isn't anything remotely resembling strong.

Sent from my HTC One XL using Tapatalk

 

[TDI_Coast2Coast]

I think the reasoning behind leaving it in reverse is the gear ratio. I think reverse is the lowest gear ratio, which would make it harder to roll in gear.

I would never leave car in neutral. I've had the ebrake let go when I was young. Car was in gear, but car also had zero compression, so it rolled(slowly) when brake let go. The clip that held the ball on the end of the ebrake cable broke so the ball was rubbing against inside of drum(eventually cutting drum literally in half). I remember my Dad and I looked at each other like "***?", as half the brake drum fell to ground when removing tire.

That was the last Plymouth(ugh) I would ever own or even drive in...

 

[k1xv]

I, in fifty years of driving, have never heard of pushing down the clutch when shutting off an engine.

 

[AndyBees]

I, in fifty years of driving, have never heard of pushing down the clutch when shutting off an engine.

Me neither! ......... it's never been a matter of discussion in my circle of the world!

But, who shuts down the engine while the manual transmission is still in gear? Does that make any sense at all? Helk, if the engine is running and the tranny is in gear, the car is moving! That seems to be a no brainer!

So, if you pull into your drive-way, garage, etc., driving a standard shift, do you just turn the ignition off? I don't! I push in the clutch and step on the brake to stop as well as turn-off the ignition... pretty much all in one move! Generally, I am in 1st gear and that's where I leave it as well as engage the e-brake!

Now, granted, in some circumstances, I may hit the clutch, nudge the gear shifter into neutral and turn off the ignition, again, pretty much all in one move. But, then I put the tranny in 1st gear and engage the e-brake!

 

[emscar]

1 minute cool down for an 01M too?

 

[belome]

People worry about the craziest stuff around here.

 

[burpod]

1 minute of turbo cool-down is ridiculous.... unless you've been at the drag strip. 99% you don't have to worry about anything, just shut the car off. perhaps if you've just pulled off into a service area on the interstate after blasting it at 90mph, then let it idle for 15 seconds.

 

[Jettascuba]

Starter turns easier starting the car when in neutral, than with clutch depressed and in gear.

As far as the turbo is concerned, I simply don't have the patience to wait 30 seconds, and having the car idle in front of my gate or stop street(s) close to home, cools it down in any case. My turbo is lasting fine, but then I don't do drags up my driveway ;-)

 

[TDI smile]

^^^ that should be just fine too. It lasted that long, so - it will last a lot longer.

 

[Powder Hound]

Reverse on VW transmissions is made of glass. It definitely isn't anything remotely resembling strong...

Not glass, but they didn't bother hardening the metal (bean counters probably saved 10 cents/car ... ) so saying it isn't strong is right on target.

 

[Ol'Rattler]

Starter turns easier starting the car when in neutral, than with clutch depressed and in gear.

Wrong. In neutral with the clutch out and in neutral, the input shaft is turning against cold oil. If the clutch is in, in gear or not, the input shaft does not turn.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

1 minute of turbo cool-down is ridiculous.... unless you've been at the drag strip. 99% you don't have to worry about anything, just shut the car off. perhaps if you've just pulled off into a service area on the interstate after blasting it at 90mph, then let it idle for 15 seconds.

What if you haven't been on the race track but your turbo temp is 1300F? Should you cool down then or just shut it off?

As for which gear to leave it in when parked (if you choose to do that, which I don't), first gear if the car will roll forward, reverse if the car will roll backward. This makes sure that the engine will turn in the correct direction and not rotate backwards if the car moves or if someone hits you. Reverse rotation can be bad for the timing belt tensioner.

 

[Slurry Pumper]

Now I have to decide the probabilities of getting whacked and to which way the car will roll. I think I'll just set in neutral and place a piece of pressure treated 4x4s under a few tires. Then rope off an area with construction cones, and finally hire someone to direct traffic.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

The idea was more whether the car is facing up hill or down hill, not which direction some idiot is going to hit you from.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

People worry about the craziest stuff around here.

First, most cars built in the last 15 years have a clutch/starter interlock that require the clutch be depressed to start the car. Solves that problem. And honestly in 40+ years of driving manual transmissions I've never thought about whether or not the clutch is or out when shutting the car down. I really can't imagine it matters.

And the Audi sudden acceleration problem was finally determined to be pedal confusion, hitting the accelerator instead of the brake. It was mostly on cars with automatic transmissions.

Finally, I don't think it matters what gear you leave the car in. I leave mine in reverse in my garage, out of habit. Haven't broken a reverse yet. And parking anywhere that the car might be bumped (parallel parking in Boston, for example) I leave the car in neutral and set the brake. Dragging brakes a bit if the car is pushed is easier on it than if it's in gear.