The following notes are mainly for clients who have already had the in-car briefing, where they will have been given a full explanation about the workings of the clutch along with the Graphic Briefing illustrations. Clients who have not had the first lesson are encouraged to have a look at this page but don't be put off if you don't understand it all. I find that on the first lesson clients quite quickly grasp how the clutch works.

Suggestion: It will be easier to understand the following information if you can look at the diagrams whilst reading the text. Print the complete page and then you can refer to the diagrams as you read the text. Once printed put the pages into a ring binder for future reference.

If you haven't looked at the 'How the Engine Works' page here is a brief and uncomplicated explanation of how it does work.

As each piston rises to the top of its cylinder a fuel/air mixture is ignited. The resulting explosion forces the pistons back down the cylinder. This up and down movement is converted into a circular motion by the crankshaft. On the end of the crankshaft is a large circular disc which is called the 'Engine Flywheel'. The rotating flywheel provides the drive to the car's road wheels. To control this drive we have a device called the clutch.

When the clutch pedal is pressed down, the clutch plate is separated from the flywheel.

With the clutch pedal up the clutch plate is pressed firmly against the flywheel.

Once 1st gear is selected the easy thing would be to just take the foot off the clutch pedal - but this would mean that the clutch plate would just bang up against the flywheel and the car engine would stop!

There is no way that the car, a tonne weight, can get going that quickly. If you look at the diagram above you will see that the clutch plate is directly attached, through the gearbox, to the car's wheels. If the car is stationary then so is the clutch plate. The clutch plate can only start to rotate as the car's wheels start to revolve and this has to happen slowly to allow the engine time to overcome the car's inertia (i.e. reluctance to move). If the driver doesn't control the clutch plate and just allows it to rapidly spring back against flywheel, the clutch plate (which has the tonne weight of the car attached to it) will force the engine to slow down. If it slows the engine down too much the engine will just give up and stop! i.e. The Stall.

When the clutch pedal is pressed down the clutch plate moves away from the engine flywheel. This disconnects the engine from the gearbox so there is no drive to the road wheels. When the gear has been selected  the clutch pedal is lifted so that the clutch plate just touches the flywheel (bite point) then it is lifted  S--L--O--W--L--Y so the clutch plate gradually takes up the drive from the flywheel.

When setting off from a stopped position release the brake and pause briefly on the clutch, to allow the car to start moving, before continuing to raise the clutch pedal slowly.

If the clutch pedal comes up too quickly , at a given engine speed, the car will either stall or start off far too quickly. If the clutch pedal is raised more slowly, at the same engine speed, the car will move off in a controlled and far less alarming manner.

Make sure that you raise the clutch slowly ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP! If you just let go of it halfway up you may experience one of two extremes. Either a sudden and uncontrolled acceleration or a really nasty and aggressive stall. But don't worry - you now know how to avoid this. Just gently bring the clutch pedal up all the way to the top of its travel. It really is that simple!

The clutch breaks the connection between the engine and the rest of the vehicle. With the clutch pedal down you can do what you like with the engine. You can rev it up, slow it down or switch it off and it will have no effect on the motion of the car. With the clutch pedal down you can also stop the car (with the brakes) without stopping the engine at the same time.

Once the car is on the move we don't have to get over the car's tonne of inertia so we don't have to be quite so slow when bringing the clutch pedal up. We still have to bring it up carefully to match the speeds of the clutch plate and flywheel but it can be a bit quicker than when setting off from a dead stop.

Finally. Assuming you are in the correct gear and that you have enough gas, the only thing that will cause the stall to happen is the clutch pedal coming up too quickly. So, Take Your Time!

How to recover from a stall

If you do stall, keep calm.

Everyone stalls a car now and again. If you keep calm and methodical the problem will be over and you will be on your way in a very short space of time.

There are two ways to deal with the situation and this will depend on where the stall happens.

Situation1: The stall happens where the car is relatively safe, e.g. when in a queue of traffic or when moving off from the side of the road.

Solution:

1. Hold the car on the footbrake to prevent the car rolling onto other road users

2. Quickly glance down to check that you are in 1st gear (you may have stalled because you tried to set off in the wrong gear) and as you do this:

3. Clutch down

4. Restart engine

5. Bite point

6. Proceed when safe to do so by releasing the footbrake and quickly applying a bit of gas before bringing the clutch pedal up slowly through the bite point.

NB if you are on an uphill slope you may have to engage your handbrake so that you can move your foot off the brake pedal and over to the gas pedal, before setting off.

Situation 2: The stall happens where it is not safe, e.g. you have emerged and you are in an unsafe position on a roundabout or a busy road. Under these circumstances it may sometimes be better not to stop the car. If this is the case then:

1. Clutch down - don't use the brake - keep the car rolling if you can.

2. Glance down and check that you are in the right gear as you quickly restart the engine.

3. Bite point and proceed if safe to do so.

NB Keeping the car moving may be the answer even in a 'safe' situation, it may prevent a rear end shunt but the driver will have to be quick witted, react to the problem skilfully and be very aware of the situation all around the car!

Guilty of stating the blindingly obvious here but the best solution is to avoid the stall. Just make sure that you are always in the correct gear before setting off, apply some gas and just be patient with the clutch!