Auto Transmission
Submitted: Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 15:10
ThreadID:
52553
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Replies:
11
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Stephen M (NSW)
Just wondering how many people out there with an auto transmission, put it in neutral when sitting at lights or when stuck in traffic for long periods. I have always done this in any auto vehicle whether its the wife's car, previous vehicles and currently do it in the prado. I mainly do it when you come to those intersections where you approach an amber light and know the sequence of lights where you have the traffic starting to flow from left to right, then have the arrows etc. By me doing this is this putting any extra wear and tear on the moving parts eg t/bar, transmission, tail shaft, diff etc by putting in and out all the time. I'm looking at it like sitting at the lights in a manual and riding the clutch.Is this similar to sitting there with it in drive and waiting ?? or is this part of the torque converters job ?? Some people tell me that's why its an auto. Am I going to pro long the clutch packs and reduce heat etc there fore giving the transmission a longer life span or totally a waste of time and just leave in drive ?? Regards Steve M
Reply By: Member -Signman - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 15:19
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 15:19
Just leave it in D..that's what 'slush boxes' are all about !!
AnswerID:
276647
Reply By: Member - MrBitchi (QLD) - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 15:33
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 15:33
Leaving it in D won't do it any harm at all. Won't make any difference to longevity.
AnswerID:
276651
Follow Up By: ob - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 15:41
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 15:41
putting it in and out of gear will slightly reduce its life
Cheers ob
FollowupID:
540527
Reply By: KSV. - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 15:47
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 15:47
There is better remedy – get manual! Seriously though it make no difference apart of slightly increased fuel consumption. If vehicle is stationary then nothing moving in auto transmission and everything happens in torque converter. It just makes oil a bit of hotter in expense of some extra fuel consumption. However if you depress accelerator and increase revs before shifting from “N” to “D” you put unnecessarily extra stress on your tranny and this is make no good to it. Better live in "D".
Cheers
Serg
AnswerID:
276653
Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Sunday, Dec 16, 2007 at 01:18
Sunday, Dec 16, 2007 at 01:18
Hey Serg,
completely off topic but can you send me a member message, or if you can't do that can you give me your email address somehow pls?
cheers
FollowupID:
540721
Follow Up By: KSV. - Monday, Dec 17, 2007 at 10:54
Monday, Dec 17, 2007 at 10:54
Send me mail to my rubbish address q-
sign@optushome.com.au and I will replay from proper one.
Cheers
Serg
FollowupID:
540902
Reply By: Fazz - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 16:20
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 16:20
I would suggest by taking it in & out of drive you would actually be putting more strain on your drive line, e.g. diff assembly, universal joints etc. Plus the clutch packs & bands would have to continually re-engage. (Thus creating more wear)
The only plus would be if you got creamed from the rear whilst waiting at the lights.
Cheers,
Fazz
AnswerID:
276660
Reply By: Member - Axle - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 16:32
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 16:32
The biggest worry is Steve, if you forgot you stuck it in neautrel and planted the foot,.....lol.
But thats just something i'd probably do! ;))))).
Cheers Axle
AnswerID:
276661
Follow Up By: Stephen M (NSW) - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 19:52
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 19:52
Hi Axle, yep done that already. Had to wait until the revs come back down before I could put into drive with out it thumping in. Wife just looked at me and said Dic#head. Just laughed. Think just leaving in drive sounds the go. Regards Steve M
FollowupID:
540550
Reply By: brushmarx - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 17:04
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 17:04
I had the same query when I bought my first auto 4x4, and contacted the RACQ for thier view.
It was : Iif it's likely to be more than a minute waiting, stick it in nuetral.
The slight extra transmission strain and heat build up from leaving it in drive balances out with the slight wear and tear by changing to nuetral and back, when left in drive for up to roughly one minute. After that time it is more beneficial to drop it in nuetral, save fuel and keep the transmission and engine cooler because of it.
No guarantees that was correct, but thats whai I was recommended.
The other method is to drop it in reverse, and scare the krap out of the car behind you.
Cheers
Ian
AnswerID:
276663
Reply By: Stephen M (NSW) - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 19:58
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 19:58
Thankyou all, sounds like leaving in drive would be better off then in and out. I do notice when aircon is on and compressor has cut in the engine idles up which it should do but have noticed its not as smooth when I put back into drive obviously due to higher rpm, sounds like I might be doing more harm than good. Thanks again. Regards Steve M
AnswerID:
276693
Follow Up By: Chaz - Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 21:24
Friday, Dec 14, 2007 at 21:24
Hi Stephen,
I’m going to go against the grain here.
I have always had auto’s. I repair them, overhaul them, modify them for racing, durability and strength and I always put
mine in neutral when I stop. The amount of extra wear on the clutch packs is minimal compared to the heat build up in the torque converter when stationary in gear. Providing the engine rpm is as low as possible when you shift into gear, there shouldn’t be any unnecessary strain on the driveline. Rough gear changes in a manual will put much more stress on a driveline that an auto in most cases.
I’ve had temp gauges fitted to my auto’s in the past and you can see the difference if you stop in gear for more than a few minutes. Heat is the biggest killer of auto transmissions. When the transmission gets too hot the clutches will start to slip and this will in turn generate more heat and destroy the clutches much faster that going in and out of neutral at idle.
FollowupID:
540565
Reply By: Fazz - Saturday, Dec 15, 2007 at 08:09
Saturday, Dec 15, 2007 at 08:09
Chaz,
I also for many years rebuilt auto's & I agree with your comments, but only UNDER EXCESSIVE LOAD, not at low idle speed!
The only slipping is as you say from the torque converter & at idle that is of no concern, you need revs to to make it engage fully.
No excessive heat build up in that scenario.
I have seen more damage done by people thinking they were in drive, planting the foot on the throttle (whoops not in gear) then selecting drive when the revs are to high. Now you can create transmission problems. (And I bet most of us have done that at some time or another?)
Best left in drive, the way it has been designed.
Cheers,
Fazz
AnswerID:
276743
Follow Up By: Chaz - Saturday, Dec 15, 2007 at 17:25
Saturday, Dec 15, 2007 at 17:25
Hi Fazz,
Fair comment, but I can honestly say that I don’t think it’s ever happened to me. May be because I always go into neutral and it’s just my subconscious driving style that I always drop back into gear before taking off.
In all fairness, I should add that I have always had high stall converters, and in most cases there is virtually no shock to the driveline when engaging drive or reverse. Also, when driving in a stop/start city environment, I find that dropping into neutral actually helps to cool the trans down more because you’re circulating more oil through the cooler and when the converter doesn’t get the chance to lock up, this can help.
I guess it really doesn’t mater if you leave it in drive as long as the trans gets regular servicing. I use TransmaxZ, which also helps.
FollowupID:
540670
Reply By: Member - bushfix - Saturday, Dec 15, 2007 at 09:31
Saturday, Dec 15, 2007 at 09:31
I must be a square. If it is going to be longer than say 20 secs, then I put it in "park" and put the handbrake on.
AnswerID:
276752
Reply By: Muzzgit [WA] - Sunday, Dec 16, 2007 at 01:14
Sunday, Dec 16, 2007 at 01:14
The only time I do it is if I have the camper on because I can hear the electric brakes are on all the time. I don't like to use the electric bakes on the camper unnecessarily.
AnswerID:
276847
Reply By: Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) - Monday, Dec 17, 2007 at 11:23
Monday, Dec 17, 2007 at 11:23
Havnt had an auto for ages but
yea used to do it all the time.
As for those saying it wrecks the tranny if you give it revs then drop it into drive................... Maybe but it used to make pulling burnouts easier
AnswerID:
277040