Automatic Tranny Guys - Do You Shift Into 'N' while Stopped?

[M.D. Holloway]

I have driven with a few people in the past that will shift into Neutral at a stop - and they are driving an automatic transmission car/truck. Here is their rationale:

1) Puts less strain on the brakes
2) Extends out the clutch pads
3) Produces less wear on the gears while stopped

I can't say I am an expert in automatic transmissions but I don't agree with this logic. I am of the belief that anytime you shift/engage an automatic transmission from P or N to D or R you are wearing out the gears and clutch plates ever so slightly due to the mere action. Am I wrong here?

I think they secretly want to be driving a manual but won't admit it!

[kaisen]

At idle, the torque converter stops any real pressure/tension/wear on the system
I think you'd cause more wear engaging and disengaging from neutral to drive each stop

[hardflex]

I've acquired the habit in my Daily Driver now. Stopped at a light at idle it is still pulling against the brakes slightly and it causes the car to shudder and shake a bit. I slip it into nuetral and it goes away. I think it wears the tranny less by removing that load.

Also useful for keeping the A/C compressor turning higher RPM's during the summer. It will turn 100rpms faster in nuetral

But in a well setup car with a properly setup stall speed should be completely unnecessary. I never do it in my wifes Toyota.

[The Gaijin]

It depends on the car. I am never one to clamp down on the brakes while stopped, and for some cars, you can use a lighter touch on the brake while in "N".

[slakjaw]

dont most automatic trans oil pumps stop working when its in neutral

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by slakjaw

dont most automatic trans oil pumps stop working when its in neutral

No, the front pump is still spinning via the torque convertor / input shaft

....and why didn't you answer my PM, Kyle?

[M.D. Holloway]

If the car/truck wants to move when idling and the brakes are preventing that movement, then there is a certain amount of strain on the brakes. The slippage in the torque converter and the attendant heat generated is the result of the engine side of the torque converter moving and the transmission side not moving.

When you move the shift lever from here to there, all that you move is a plate with a mountain of grooves and passageways machine in to it to direct fluid flow where desired. You do not move any gears or synchronizers at all.

You achieve the higher RPM’s in neutral because there is less drag on the engine. That drag is generated by the torque converter sitting there and transmitting no torque.

[stomachmonkey]

I see it occasionally when stopped behind people at a light. Makes me nervous when I see the back up lights come on momentarily as the shifter passes thru to park.

Have had more than one idiot try to back into me when the light changes.

Just one of the may reasons I leave extra space at lights.

[red-beard]

In my Jeep I did. In the BMW I do. The lever on the F250 it isn't as easy to just pop it into N.

[Jeff Higgins]

I see guys doing this on bikes, too. Worried about breaking the clutch cable or something, I guess. I'm more worried about getting run over by someone coming up behind who is asleep at the wheel, so I keep it in gear with one eye on the rear view mirror. This habit has saved me more than once over 30-some years of riding. I won't put a manual car into neutral, either, until there are a few cars worth of "buffer" behind me, and it looks like it might be awhile waiting for the light.

Automatics? Why bother? There is no wear that results from any slight "strain" on the brakes. Most wear in an automatic occurs when it's shifting, so why add two more shifts?

[A930Rocket]

No.

[jtfreels]

My son had a 95 Maxima, it tended to die on him at stop lights. So put it in neutral and keep the rev's at about 5K solved that problem, though he did tend to launch, once it turned green .

Jay

[UconnTim97]

Nope.

[Green 912]

Strain on the brakes? What strain? Keeping the 2 ton car the brakes just stopped still? As said the shifting the trans around via the shifter likely causes more problems that siting at idle in D. the clutches or bands are not in play with the car not moving or shifting up or down. The torque converter is spinning but the fluid is only generating a slight amount of torque with the fluid bypassing. In N other stuff is spinning internally just not meshed.

Funny side. Before we met my wife dumped a guy in part because he had an annoying habit of "shifting" his automatic equipped car. His loss...

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by kaisen

No, the front pump is still spinning via the torque convertor / input shaft

....and why didn't you answer my PM, Kyle?

I thought I did???

I could swear that on some older GM trannys the pump stopped when its in neutral.

[ODDJOB UNO]

i got a mega buck hughs 400 tranny built specifically for off road racing attached to a hurst shifter. yeah yeah its old skool and so am i. its a frigging SCORE LEGAL CLASS 8 chevy(chebbie), thats still competitive in its class.

no stone left unturned on it. built ground up by hughs here,with extended pan for more quart capacity and a mega electric fan tranny cooler.


i beat that damn tranny senseless, anywhere,anytime,any condition all the way to redline behind a built to the hilt 383 STROKER!



total obnoxious ABUSE off road. downshift into 1st from drive to slow it down and then red lined thru 2nd into drive. back and forth all damn day.

NEUTRAL? what the hell is that? "N" = GOING NOWHERE "R" is for RACE REVERSE!


"P" is for parked, we are drinking BEER! or fixing a FLAT!


i have owned that damn thing 12 years now. run TYPE "F" FORD(furd) fluid in it because it has a HIGHER BOILING POINT than dexron.



it has been to baja countless times now(literally) and has never failed. no matter what the trail condition or load or 124 degree ambient outside temps in june at the 500 down in laguna salida baja norte. aka below sea level.

[RANDY P]

I kick the ever loving $hit out of the T350 hooked behind my 462" Pontiac. I easily got 400+ FT LBS going thru it.

Guy in my neighborhood builds 'em for $50.00 +$25.00 cleaning fee and u supply parts LOL. He is a jeep guy and teaches at the local vo tech.

I love livin in a redneck 4x4 kind of neighborhood.

[Hendog]

Not usually, but will do sometimes if the wait is long.

[aigel]

The shifting in and out of neutral is hard on the motor mounts. It will twist them around every time instead of having them just strained in one direction continuously when remaining in drive. Also, the shifting of the transmission in and out of drive will wear the clutches, they are only being engaged / disengaged during shifting.

Either get a stick shift and be involved or get an auto and keep your hands off it.

G

[sammyg2]

No I don't. unless I was planning to be idling for a half hour, I would consider it a total waste of time and then I'd just to it to keep the tranny fluid from getting too warm.

Stress on brakes? Less wear on gears when stopped? As in not turning? really?