Just over-revved the engine, should I be concerned?
Discussion
Just had a bit of a brain fart driving home after a very long stressful day. I wasn't paying attention properly and at around 80mph or so, I've gone to drop from 6th gear to 4th with the intention of blasting away on a clear stretch of road but instead, I've struggled to find the gear and the next thing I know the revs shoot up to the redline whilst the car decelerates - at which point I quickly press on the clutch and properly put myself in 4th gear. About 30 seconds later I can smell burning which is presumably the clutch because I am clearly not with it I don't exactly know what happened and am now paranoid about what damage I may have caused. There are 3 scenario's I can think of that may have happened:
A) I was going to fast to drop it into 4th - I can't see this being the case though as I was doing 80mph or so and I know I can get around 110mph out of 4th
B) I had put it into 2nd - but I am sure the effect of engine braking would have been much greater and the decelerating would have been much harsher as 2nd will only get me to about 60mph usually, which at 80mph is going to be quite a significant over-rev.
C) While I was finding 4th, maybe I had put foot flat on the throttle out of habit (as by then I'd normally have found the gear instantly). Being in neutral as this happened would explain the deceleration, the redline and possibly the smell when I finally found the gear as it would effectively be power shifting but would it really cause such a bad burning smell?
I feel like it has to be 'C' out of all of those but I really don't know, obviously option C would mean I've actually over-revved at all but would dropping into 4th at full throttle really cause such a bad smell? I checked all the temperatures within the car computers after and everything seemed ok, accelerated in a few different gears and again all seemed ok. The smell lasted for 3 minutes or so.
Is it likely that I've caused any significant damage to the engine or clutch from this one mistake? Usually, I drive fairly sensibly and have a lot of mechanical sympathy.
Would like some opinions of you guys that may have done the same... Want to know if I should be worried or know if I've taken half the lift out of my clutch etc.
A) I was going to fast to drop it into 4th - I can't see this being the case though as I was doing 80mph or so and I know I can get around 110mph out of 4th
B) I had put it into 2nd - but I am sure the effect of engine braking would have been much greater and the decelerating would have been much harsher as 2nd will only get me to about 60mph usually, which at 80mph is going to be quite a significant over-rev.
C) While I was finding 4th, maybe I had put foot flat on the throttle out of habit (as by then I'd normally have found the gear instantly). Being in neutral as this happened would explain the deceleration, the redline and possibly the smell when I finally found the gear as it would effectively be power shifting but would it really cause such a bad burning smell?
I feel like it has to be 'C' out of all of those but I really don't know, obviously option C would mean I've actually over-revved at all but would dropping into 4th at full throttle really cause such a bad smell? I checked all the temperatures within the car computers after and everything seemed ok, accelerated in a few different gears and again all seemed ok. The smell lasted for 3 minutes or so.
Is it likely that I've caused any significant damage to the engine or clutch from this one mistake? Usually, I drive fairly sensibly and have a lot of mechanical sympathy.
Would like some opinions of you guys that may have done the same... Want to know if I should be worried or know if I've taken half the lift out of my clutch etc.
"the revs shoot up to the redline" does not equal bouncing off the redline repeatedly right?
As long as you weren't doing that I think you'll be fine. Simply a bit of burning from the clutch is probably what you smelled.
Drive as normal tomorrow. Try not to be paranoid. Pay attention to temp gauges etc and bite points but don't overthink it.
As long as you weren't doing that I think you'll be fine. Simply a bit of burning from the clutch is probably what you smelled.
Drive as normal tomorrow. Try not to be paranoid. Pay attention to temp gauges etc and bite points but don't overthink it.
stanglish said:
"the revs shoot up to the redline" does not equal bouncing off the redline repeatedly right?
As long as you weren't doing that I think you'll be fine. Simply a bit of burning from the clutch is probably what you smelled.
Drive as normal tomorrow. Try not to be paranoid. Pay attention to temp gauges etc and bite points but don't overthink it.
When I noticed what was happening I saw the revs rising pretty quickly, as it approached the red line (where my gauge cluster flashes red) is when I depressed the clutch.As long as you weren't doing that I think you'll be fine. Simply a bit of burning from the clutch is probably what you smelled.
Drive as normal tomorrow. Try not to be paranoid. Pay attention to temp gauges etc and bite points but don't overthink it.
I dont believe it bounced of the limiter at all but I could be wrong? Maybe it was bouncing before the needle could get all the way around the gauge to show that it was at the limiter? But thinking about it I don't recall hearing it bounce at all.
TREMAiNE said:
When I noticed what was happening I saw the revs rising pretty quickly, as it approached the red line (where my gauge cluster flashes red) is when I depressed the clutch.
I dont believe it bounced of the limiter at all but I could be wrong? Maybe it was bouncing before the needle could get all the way around the gauge to show that it was at the limiter? But thinking about it I don't recall hearing it bounce at all.
If you over rev (due to potentially dropping into 2nd at 80mph) it won't bounce off the limiter. The revs would simply rise to match the road speed / gear ratio I dont believe it bounced of the limiter at all but I could be wrong? Maybe it was bouncing before the needle could get all the way around the gauge to show that it was at the limiter? But thinking about it I don't recall hearing it bounce at all.
From what I read you just hit the limiter?
If you over rev the car will lurch forward, quite violently in some gears.
I have over revved a couple of cars. Worst one was a hire car that blew the gearbox up.
My civic I missed going to third and went into first while at the top end of second. Car lurched forward I quickly dipped the clutch quick glance down and the rev counter was showing over 8k. Limiter was at 7000rpm. Car ran fine for the next 10000 miles before I sold it and it’s still going as far as I know.
If you over rev the car will lurch forward, quite violently in some gears.
I have over revved a couple of cars. Worst one was a hire car that blew the gearbox up.
My civic I missed going to third and went into first while at the top end of second. Car lurched forward I quickly dipped the clutch quick glance down and the rev counter was showing over 8k. Limiter was at 7000rpm. Car ran fine for the next 10000 miles before I sold it and it’s still going as far as I know.
Aiminghigh123 said:
From what I read you just hit the limiter?
If you over rev the car will lurch forward, quite violently in some gears.
I have over revved a couple of cars. Worst one was a hire car that blew the gearbox up.
My civic I missed going to third and went into first while at the top end of second. Car lurched forward I quickly dipped the clutch quick glance down and the rev counter was showing over 8k. Limiter was at 7000rpm. Car ran fine for the next 10000 miles before I sold it and it’s still going as far as I know.
If the engine is being driven mechanically by the momentum of the vehicle, the rev limiter is irrelevant and has no effect.If you over rev the car will lurch forward, quite violently in some gears.
I have over revved a couple of cars. Worst one was a hire car that blew the gearbox up.
My civic I missed going to third and went into first while at the top end of second. Car lurched forward I quickly dipped the clutch quick glance down and the rev counter was showing over 8k. Limiter was at 7000rpm. Car ran fine for the next 10000 miles before I sold it and it’s still going as far as I know.
It sounds like no obvious damage has occurred, if it had you would know about it. I would continue driving it and not worry, does the car have a warranty on it?
I know some manufacturers e.g. Porsche are very hot on over-rev issues as the ECU does log these things. I know someone who did this to a Fiat back in 2000, that car was never quite the same again, the electrics had a mind of their own.
gottans said:
It sounds like no obvious damage has occurred, if it had you would know about it. I would continue driving it and not worry, does the car have a warranty on it?
I know some manufacturers e.g. Porsche are very hot on over-rev issues as the ECU does log these things. I know someone who did this to a Fiat back in 2000, that car was never quite the same again, the electrics had a mind of their own.
Yes, I know Porsche are hot on this stuff.I know some manufacturers e.g. Porsche are very hot on over-rev issues as the ECU does log these things. I know someone who did this to a Fiat back in 2000, that car was never quite the same again, the electrics had a mind of their own.
I drive a Ford which is still under warranty. I know Ford are pretty tight with warranty claims anyway but I am a little paranoid about having the record of an over-rev on my ECU but I guess what's done is done.
It's entirely possible I didn't over rev it and it may have just been a power shift where I've gone into gear and lifted the clutch up already at full rpm...
Seems to run ok so fingers crossed it was just that. I'll monitor over the next few days though.
TREMAiNE said:
gottans said:
It sounds like no obvious damage has occurred, if it had you would know about it. I would continue driving it and not worry, does the car have a warranty on it?
I know some manufacturers e.g. Porsche are very hot on over-rev issues as the ECU does log these things. I know someone who did this to a Fiat back in 2000, that car was never quite the same again, the electrics had a mind of their own.
Yes, I know Porsche are hot on this stuff.I know some manufacturers e.g. Porsche are very hot on over-rev issues as the ECU does log these things. I know someone who did this to a Fiat back in 2000, that car was never quite the same again, the electrics had a mind of their own.
I drive a Ford which is still under warranty. I know Ford are pretty tight with warranty claims anyway but I am a little paranoid about having the record of an over-rev on my ECU but I guess what's done is done.
It's entirely possible I didn't over rev it and it may have just been a power shift where I've gone into gear and lifted the clutch up already at full rpm...
Seems to run ok so fingers crossed it was just that. I'll monitor over the next few days though.
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