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I'm not tremendously knowledgeable about automobiles, but in a car with an automatic transaxle, shouldn't dropping it in neutral and switching off the ignition

by aaronem 13y ago

I'm not tremendously knowledgeable about automobiles, but in a car with an automatic transaxle, shouldn't dropping it in neutral and switching off the ignition do essentially likewise? I ask because that's how I practice responding to uncommanded acceleration, which I've done on occasion since I first heard of the failure mode. I've done this a few times a year in each of several cars, and as far as I can tell it's had no ill effect, but if "as far as I can tell" isn't far enough then I'd like to know it.

sitkack 13y ago
I know of no specific danger in shifting an AT into neutral. You need to be EXTREMELY careful when switching off the ignition that you don't lock the steering column. It would be better to * switch to neutral * safely exit the road and stop * turn off engine I am glad you have practiced it. My concern is over the code running tiptronic transmissions, they are computer controlled manual transmissions where you no longer have an effective physical connection.
- tragomaskhalos 13y ago
  There was a programme on TV here in the UK a while back which featured an incredibly cost-conscious (read: mean) guy who turned off the ignition of his holiday hire car "to save money" while going down a winding mountain road in Spain. The steering locked and the car went over the side. Luckily he and his family survived and they were able to slaughter him on national TV over the incident.
- aaronem 13y ago
  My experience has been that switching the ignition from "run" to "accessory" doesn't risk locking the column, but now that I think about it, dropping the transmission into neutral should suffice -- the only concern I'd have there, with a runaway throttle, would be that it'd wreck the engine to have it running flat out with no load.
  - sitkack 13y ago
    The engine will only be run at max for 15-30 seconds until you pull off, it will be fine. Better that than a potentially fatal accident. Only hardware after all.
Too 13y ago
Switching off ignition is usually also done in software. Many ECUs store data (user settings, logging and fault codes) to non volatile memory before shutting down so the key only sends a signal. It's not a hard switch. But it could still help if all other ECUs except the faulty does shut down correctly.

by aaronem 13y ago

sitkack 13y ago

I know of no specific danger in shifting an AT into neutral. You need to be EXTREMELY careful when switching off the ignition that you don't lock the steering column. It would be better to * switch to neutral * safely exit the road and stop * turn off engine I am glad you have practiced it. My concern is over the code running tiptronic transmissions, they are computer controlled manual transmissions where you no longer have an effective physical connection.

tragomaskhalos 13y ago
There was a programme on TV here in the UK a while back which featured an incredibly cost-conscious (read: mean) guy who turned off the ignition of his holiday hire car "to save money" while going down a winding mountain road in Spain. The steering locked and the car went over the side. Luckily he and his family survived and they were able to slaughter him on national TV over the incident.
aaronem 13y ago
My experience has been that switching the ignition from "run" to "accessory" doesn't risk locking the column, but now that I think about it, dropping the transmission into neutral should suffice -- the only concern I'd have there, with a runaway throttle, would be that it'd wreck the engine to have it running flat out with no load.
- sitkack 13y ago
  The engine will only be run at max for 15-30 seconds until you pull off, it will be fine. Better that than a potentially fatal accident. Only hardware after all.

Too 13y ago

Switching off ignition is usually also done in software. Many ECUs store data (user settings, logging and fault codes) to non volatile memory before shutting down so the key only sends a signal. It's not a hard switch. But it could still help if all other ECUs except the faulty does shut down correctly.