According to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_pawl
Quote:
Most vehicle manufacturers and auto mechanics do not recommend using the transmission's parking pawl as the sole means of securing a parked vehicle, instead recommending it should only be engaged after first applying the vehicle's parking brake. Constant use of only the parking pawl, especially when parking on a steep incline, means that driveline components, and transmission internals, are kept constantly under stress, and can cause wear and eventual failure of the parking pawl or transmission linkage. The pawl might also fail or break if the vehicle is pushed with sufficient force, if the parking brake is not firmly engaged. Replacement can be an expensive operation since it generally requires removing the transmission from the car.
It is highly inadvisable to use the parking pawl to stop a vehicle in motion. Modern parking pawls are connected to a safety mechanism that prevents the pawl from engaging unless the vehicle is stopped first. The pawl mechanism is generally not strong enough to stop a vehicle in motion, if it engages at all. Under that much stress, the pawl may simply break off in the transmission, leading to costly repairs.
So, if the parking pawl breaks, does that mean that wheels are now going to spin freely? That is to say, you *ONLY* lose the functionality of the parking pawl, but the transmission is still good and will engage in all the other gears and will function as it normally does, just no parking. That is the question.
This is really just a curiosity for me. I always engage the parking brake before letting my foot of the brake-pedal and then shifting the car to Park.
However, when I advised my sister to do the same for her 2009 Honda Odyssey, she told me I was a 'car nut' and to bugger off. She does so many terrible things to that poor Honda that I have resigned myself to its soon-failure otherwise I'd lose all my hair.
Quote:
Most vehicle manufacturers and auto mechanics do not recommend using the transmission's parking pawl as the sole means of securing a parked vehicle, instead recommending it should only be engaged after first applying the vehicle's parking brake. Constant use of only the parking pawl, especially when parking on a steep incline, means that driveline components, and transmission internals, are kept constantly under stress, and can cause wear and eventual failure of the parking pawl or transmission linkage. The pawl might also fail or break if the vehicle is pushed with sufficient force, if the parking brake is not firmly engaged. Replacement can be an expensive operation since it generally requires removing the transmission from the car.
It is highly inadvisable to use the parking pawl to stop a vehicle in motion. Modern parking pawls are connected to a safety mechanism that prevents the pawl from engaging unless the vehicle is stopped first. The pawl mechanism is generally not strong enough to stop a vehicle in motion, if it engages at all. Under that much stress, the pawl may simply break off in the transmission, leading to costly repairs.
So, if the parking pawl breaks, does that mean that wheels are now going to spin freely? That is to say, you *ONLY* lose the functionality of the parking pawl, but the transmission is still good and will engage in all the other gears and will function as it normally does, just no parking. That is the question.
This is really just a curiosity for me. I always engage the parking brake before letting my foot of the brake-pedal and then shifting the car to Park.
However, when I advised my sister to do the same for her 2009 Honda Odyssey, she told me I was a 'car nut' and to bugger off. She does so many terrible things to that poor Honda that I have resigned myself to its soon-failure otherwise I'd lose all my hair.