Turning off engine with an automatic

[Doofus McFancypants]

i had a rental car this past week - was doing some work in Baton Rouge.
Was a Ford Fusion - V6 auto. was a nice car - had a built in average MPG ( did NOT have instantanious though).

There is a section of LA 1 that runs down along the mississippi river - very flat with some lights every few miles. I started EOC in N to those lights and the car behaved same as my Altima. No bad effects that i could tell.

So i got a little more bold. - Crossing the Mississippi river on Interstate 10, the bridge has a long down slope - probably > 1 mile. So i EOC in N down this section. By the time i got to the bottom of it - i smelled something and there were no other cars around. I assumed it was the transmission starting to heat up the fluid way to high - so i stopped doing the EOC there and let the Fuel Cut off "save" the fuel.

I know every car is different - but based on what i saw - EOC to stop lights is probably not going to kill the car.. But EOC for > 1 mile at > 60MPH is probably not a very good thing to do.

Steve

[bikin' Ed]

A few years ago, before I was quite as enlightened as I am today, I had a '95 Chrys. LHS--automatic of course. In the name of free miles, I EOC'd down about a 2 mile stretch at around 65 mph. When restarted, the trans wouldn't shift past second--on a 4 spd OD trans. I limped it to the repair shop the next day. About 1 week and $2500 later I was back on the road. So much for my "free miles".

[wagonman76]

Originally Posted by Cd

I tried this with my Civic once. The car has to be in park to restart the car, so I had to pull over by the side of the road.

Anyone know how to get around this ?

Maybe find a hack for the ECU.

Or find the switch on the gear selector, and find how the wiring works, and see if you can make it so it starts in Neutral as well.

My 92 Trans Sport van is like this as well. None of my other older vehices are.

[Ptero]

Testdrive is right. Your car must be described in the operator's manual as capable of being "flat-towed" or you severely mistreating your transmission. Even then, automatic transmissions are not designed or tested for being shifted in or out of gear at speed. There are other stress issues involved with these highly complex and delicate devices. I have seen Detroit cars with automatic transmissions lose their higher gears from being coasted several miles. I would never, never coast my automatic vehicles in neutral - even if they were described as being capable of flat towing. This is because flat towing does not involve putting the car in and out of gear at speed. My advice, don't do it. Ever. Period. If you want better mileage, get a manual or, better yet, an automatic manual transmission like the Smart is equipped with. That is the coolest high mpg transmission ever made.

[Hondamate]

I tried putting my Automatic be neutral when going up hills on the freeway. We'll, this gave me no gains the when I just drove at 17tps the whole way my previous night. I'm sorry this is probably not relevant but I thought I would share it.

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by Hondamate

I tried putting my Automatic be neutral when going up hills on the freeway. We'll, this gave me no gains the when I just drove at 17tps the whole way my previous night. I'm sorry this is probably not relevant but I thought I would share it.

kinda hard to go UP hills in neutral.......

probably need to explain 17tps also.....

[101Volts]

Originally Posted by mcrews

kinda hard to go UP hills in neutral.......

probably need to explain 17tps also.....

TPS = Throttle Position Sensor?

[Hondamate]

Originally Posted by 101Volts

TPS = Throttle Position Sensor?

Yes, tps. Tonight I will go to neutral on the down side of the hill, starting at the crest. I will not put the car back in gear until I drop 10mph from the start of neutral.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by Ptero

This is because flat towing does not involve putting the car in and out of gear at speed.

If you match revs correctly there's no additional stress. Same goes for a manual.

If you want better mileage, get a manual or, better yet, an automatic manual transmission like the Smart is equipped with. That is the coolest high mpg transmission ever made.

The transmission is the main reason NOT to buy a Smart. Slow shifting (which is bad for MPG according to EPA testing BTW), dim witted and short lived.

If it weren't for the transmission, I'd be driving a Smart Roadster, I'd still love to get one with a toasted engine/trans and swap in a motorcycle engine/ tranny.

[backpacker3]

Originally Posted by Cd

I tried this with my Civic once. The car has to be in park to restart the car, so I had to pull over by the side of the road.

Anyone know how to get around this ?

My car will start in neutral. I've never tried it while driving though or in any other car so I don't know if yours will do the same