Auto trans, shift to neutral at stops?

[ledslinger]

I've had lots of cars, most with manual transmissions. I am a little uncomfortable with auto transmissions, and like to decide the proper gear instead of a gear being chosen for me. I don't like to drive manual transmissions in stop and go traffic though.

When I stop at a stop light and know I will be stoped for over about 15 seconds, I usually shift an auto transmission into neutral during the stop. I don't like the feeling of the transmission pulling against the brakes and how hard I have to hold the brakes if left in gear.

Good idea or not? I know it cycles the u-joints, but all slop in the driveline should be taken out if I shift into neutral after I stop. Might save a drop or two of gas but also might slightly wear the clutches, but probably less than a normal shift would.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

That is the Aamco method.......

 

[S2500Dog]

Shifting the automatic transmission into neutral will not hurt anything and may actually benenfit the durability and longivety of the transmission as long as proper maintenance intervals are done.

 

[The_Jeff]

Leave it in gear. You aren't wearing the brakes if the car isn't moving. It's even a good idea to creep an inch every few seconds if your brakes are hot to keep the pads from transferring.

 

[Vizzy]

Yep, leave it in gear.

It was designed to be left in drive for long periods of time, so just leave it there.

Although I don't think it would be detrimental to occasionally move the transmission through the gears every so often while at a stop.

 

[Torino]

Depends on the weather. Here in Las Vegas (which has a habit of getting a bit hot) my juiced 67 Mustang fares a bit better when placing it in neutral at stop lights. But, not a real big issue. John--Las Vegas.

 

[willix]

Selector linkage/cables wear out and are expensive & engine/transmission controls are smarter than humans as far as gear selection goes these days.

 

[racecougar]

Just leave it in gear. If it's really pushing all that hard through the brakes, then you have other issues present.

-Rod

 

[01rangerxl]

It seems to me that would add wear to the linkage without much benefit. I don't have to apply the brakes hard to keep my truck stopped.

You may have a gummed up idle air control valve or something if the RPM is high enough to really fight the brakes at a stop.

 

[jhMalibu]

I was playing around with the SGII on a commute home and the fuel consumption would drop a little bit if I shifted into N waiting at a stop light. From my fuzzy memory, it was something like 0.35GPH in D and 0.2something in N.

Don't know if it would offset the accelerated wear on the transmission.

1 hr of idle = maybe .10 gallon difference x $2.75/gal (for example) = $0.28 saved

 

[mechtech2]

For more than 10-15 seconds, put it in neutral.

 

[SteveSRT8]

depends on the platform. Newer cars it's a waste as they know what to do.

The only benefit I can think of is if you had just made a hard stop and didn't want to put pad deposits on your rotors.

 

[super20dan]

ammco says to shift to neutral if over a minute

 

[Gary Allan]

If you're in gridlock ..sure. It's a convenience thing otherwise. Neutral eliminates just about all heat generation from the trans. It might be something to do if there are major instances of traffic jams or whatever. If it only adds up to some small slice of your operational variable, who cares?

Best thing is to have enough system capacity to handle anything you throw at it and have it shrug it off with ease. That way it doesn't matter if good practices are used or not. It eliminates the debate.

 

[Schmoe]

....but, everytime you put it back into D, your engaging a lot of moving parts and literally jolting the AT system. That put stresses on the u-joints, AT and engine mounts as well. I'd leave it in gear.

 

[saaber1]

Originally Posted By: ledslinger
Good idea or not?

It is proven to hurt some auto tannys. the 01-03ish volvo v70 XC is notorious for this problem as it shifted to neutral when you come to a stop (made that way from the factory).

Transmissions died early (in as little as 50k miles in some cases) prompting the dealers to disable the neutral feature.

So if you are ever in the market for one of those cars one has to find out how early the neutral function was disabled because if it was done late the transmission may not have much life left. I would not shift to neutral if it were my car, but to each his own.

 

[Vizzy]

I remember hearing that it WAS beneficial to occasionally move a slushbox through the gears manually as this would help keep moving parts more throughly lubricated? True or false.

 

[Schmoe]

FALSE.

 

[Eddie]

I leave my AT in gear unless the stop is a minute or so. This I was told by a SAAB technical service rep years ago when I drove Saab's and just continued out of habit. Seems sensible to me though.

 

[hsd]

I usually shift into neutral when stopped in traffic, especially in the summer when the AC is running and ATF temps are maxed out. Never had any problems doing that.