Shiftless after 30 years.

[Joe Rampino]

Looking for driving tips with the automatic transmission. My ST is my first automatic after more than 30 years of driving manuals. Should I shift to park when sitting idling at one of Boston's interminable stop lights? I'm not talking about a 60 second light, more like two minutes at a time. When I had manual transmissions, I would always shift to neutral to minimize wear on the throwout bearing. I know the automatic doesn't have a throwout bearing, but is there wear going on when idling in drive at a stop light? Should I shift out of gear, or would the extra engage - disengage cycle be more wear than it's worth? Looking forward to everyone's opinion.

[Broken External Image]:

 

[Ryan Y]

I have NEVER even though about that. Humm...I just press the break pedal. I would think putting it in park, then in drive would cause more wear.... I'm sure automatic transmissions are designed with that in mind, maybe??

 

[Josh Langel]

Very nice looking Trac

 

[Joe Rampino]

Mud Flap, thanks for the compliment. As someone else here said. "Love my trac"!

 

[EddieS'04]

It wont hurt to leave it in gear...the torque converter is designed to take the slipage at idle with brakes applied..

 

[scott r]

I don't think I've ever heard of an automatic tranny going bad from being sat at idle too much. I'd agree with the others, you're more likely to damage your transmission by shifting in and out of park. Not to mention, one of these times you're gonna slip and dump it in reverse and then you're gonna have a big mess.

I must admit, driving a manual transmission is a LOT more fun. My right arm and left leg are going to be MASSIVE. I haven't had a manual transmission for 10 years or so, I really had forgotten how much fun they are.

Do they even make a manual transmission sport trac? I don't think I've EVER seen one.

 

[Robert Poole]

They made manual 'Tracs when they first came out in 2001(actually 2000) but who's counting:lol:

by 2002 they were all automatics.



Have a good one



Bob

 

[Johnny O]

I put mine in Park only at long redlights so it's easier to read the newspaper. :lol: With the price of gas, if Boston redlights are that long you might as well shut it off. I shut the OD off on hilly roads and in town to save on the brakes a little. There's a lot of hills where I live.

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

No need to put it in park. Actually in the Boston you may NOT want to do that at a light 'cause some nut may bump your car and damage the park pawl. As said above, there is no wear and tear issues with leaving it in drive with the brake on. Good luck with your Trac.

 

[Benjamin Feinstein]

Auto Transmitions do not need to be shifted out of drive while at a stop. The Torq converter is filled with a liquid and when the breaks are applied the transmition side of the converter is standing still but the engine side is still spinning. When you release the breaks the transmition side then starts spinning with the engine side and the vehicle moves.



This is not a very detailed description but if you want to know more go to: howstuffworks.com and look at how automatic transmitions work. There is a manual transmition section as well.

 

[Joe Rampino]

wow - great reference! Thanks Ashaman. Northeastern University's engineering curriculum never covered that.