I agree with Peter and have heard the same about the throwout bearings. I
too was taught to depress the clutch before cranking, but this was before
owning a British car. In fact, my old Supra required the clutch to be
depressed before it would engage the starter. It was my mechanic some years
back that told me to always start these cars in neutral - clutch out. My
first Healey was notorious for slow cranking and I found a dramatic
difference when I stopped depressing the clutch - it would start much
quicker with a stronger crank. Even more of a problem was my E-Type, which
at one time would hardly crank at all unless in neutral, clutch out.
Mechanic also advised to go to neutral with clutch out when sitting for any
period at traffic lights, etc. He said the throwout bearings were too soft
and would wear quickly otherwise. I was at a Moss show up in NJ years back
when a guy in a Healey next to me was having trouble due to a slow crank. I
asked him if he had the clutch in and he responded "yes". I told him to let
it out in neutral and try. It started right up. I could tell he was puzzled
why.
Mike L.
>From: "Peter Schauss" <schauss@worldnet.att.net>
>Subject: Re: [Healeys] Why Don't depress the clutch ?
>I have heard two reasons:
>
>- Depressing the clutch pushes forward against the crankshaft, putting an
>extra load on the thrust washers at a time when there is no oil pressure to
>lubricate them.
>
>- The graphite throwout bearing adds friction to the whole system and puts
>slightly more load on the starter.
>
>I would add one more reason of my own:
>
>- If you want to maximize the life of your throwout bearing you should
>avoid having the clutch depressed when it is not necessary.
>
>HTH,
>Peter Schauss
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