Accidentally put tranny in reverse while going 40 mph forward

[zcruiser]

Here's a good one... Back in the day I was dirt-biking with a buddy in an abandoned strip mine in southern Iowa. I took off up a steep incline, but didn't have the torque/rpm's to make it all the way to the top. The engine stalled and I started to roll straight backwards. I forgot to pull the clutch, and couldn't figure out at the moment how to lay the bike down sideways. Because it was still in a low gear, the engine turned over a few times and fired up! I was still trying to comprehend this when I hit the bottom of the incline and flipped over backwards.

Later discovered I split a gear inside the case, replaced it and ran the crap out of that bike a few more years.

 

[jsmarine]

FYI I do sometimes put mine in Neutral to coast down a hill, I don't see anything wrong as long as you know the road and can see traffic a long ways ahead of you.

I'm still trying to figure out why you would anyone would put it in neutral to coast down a hill with an automatic transmission?? I don't mean to be a jackass, but I just don't see the purpose.

 

[zcruiser]

I'm still trying to figure out why you would anyone would put it in neutral to coast down a hill with an automatic transmission?? I don't mean to be a jackass, but I just don't see the purpose.

If your engine is idling, the idea is that you'll improve your gas mileage incrementally and incur less wear on your tranny. I shift into neutral while waiting at long lights for somewhat the same reason... Less "wear" on the tranny. Granted, this may be a holdover habit from manual trannies and not very applicable to A/T's, but it's just something people like to do to feel better about a somewhat nebulous concept of conserving energy / wear.

It's not always something that stands up to a lot of analysis...

 

[jsmarine]

If your engine is idling, the idea is that you'll improve your gas mileage incrementally and incur less wear on your tranny. I shift into neutral while waiting at long lights for somewhat the same reason... Less "wear" on the tranny. Granted, this may be a holdover habit from manual trannies and not very applicable to A/T's, but it's just something people like to do to feel better about a somewhat nebulous concept of conserving energy / wear.

It's not always something that stands up to a lot of analysis...

Again, don't mean to be a jackass, but that is just silly! I don't think you will be saving any gas, your engine idles the same whether its in drive or in neutral. Same with a hill, if you are coasting in neutral, or just have your foot off the gas in drive, the engine RPM's are the same.
For you, its probably more of a holdover from manual transmissions. I never put my transmission in neutral down a hill when I had a manual, I just down shifted to control the speed. But I did put it in neutral at long lights to give my calves a break!

EDIT: I don't mean to be critical, I did read your post about not being able to stand up to an analysis, so I don't mean to attack you. But for those thinking shifting to neutral saves gas, IMO it does not save any gas. But if it does, it is probably so very small that it is completely negligible and better to just stay keep your car in drive; if anything as not to shift into reverse when shifting back into drive.

 

[96743runner]

FWIW, I remember reading somewhere that the auto tranny doesn't get lubrication when you coast in neutral...idk if it's true or not but just thought I'd mention that...

 

[ryani]

I can't figure out how you get it to go into reverse anyways. If you just push the shifter forward without pressing the button it won' go into reverse! Just neutral. That means if you guys are getting it to go into reverse you must have pressed the button. Don't press the button and you'll be fine. haha

 

[Mr. Leary]

I'm still trying to figure out why you would anyone would put it in neutral to coast down a hill with an automatic transmission?? I don't mean to be a jackass, but I just don't see the purpose.

When towing, I frequently engine brake and shift my truck through the gears manually as needed. I have since stopped doing it unless in very hilly terrain. How my incident happened was after a few hundred miles of towing I got used to pushing the button on top of the shifter down to downshift, and was doing it to shift up the tree into N so that I could coast down the hill (I had the OD off, so D would not have been coasting). I ended up shifting into R. Glad it didn't cause any damage, but it sure gave me a scare.

 

[Pikeman]

JSMARINE- Even in an auto tranny you get a little engine breaking with your foot off the gas. I never said I did it to conserve fuel either. I take it that you never had the slightest curiosity when going down a hill how fast you could get going without the assist of engine power(only the power of Gravity). Hmm guess not many other people have either..oh wait then why do we have the Gravity games. So to answer your question why anyone would do it? At least for me it is curiosity to see if gravity is working, and or to figure out the rolling resistance of a 4800lb vehicle on 33x11.50 tires with a surface area of.... oh never mind you just wont understand...LOL

EDIT: Don't get upset, was all tongue in cheek.


Mr. Leary- I understand shifting like a manual to get additional engine breaking or to help control your tranny from hunting for gears on the up hill and fully buy your explanation on how you got used to pushing the button to downshift when you went to upshift. I hope your tranny did not get hurt at all and htat you have many more years of service out of it.

 

[Headly]

3rd gen may be too old but newer cars are designed to stall out or ignore being set in R

my cousin had a brand new 2007 vibe a couple yrs ago and one of her idiot b/f read in the owner manual that if it shifts into R while driving it is designed to not affect the transmission,so the guy would do it on purpose because it was fun :nerd:

 

[cordrayj1]

I'm still trying to figure out why you would anyone would put it in neutral to coast down a hill with an automatic transmission?? I don't mean to be a jackass, but I just don't see the purpose.

i rarely take mine out of gear goin down a hill even w a 5speed....this doesnt make sense...

 

[zcruiser]

EDIT: I don't mean to be critical, I did read your post about not being able to stand up to an analysis, so I don't mean to attack you. But for those thinking shifting to neutral saves gas, IMO it does not save any gas. But if it does, it is probably so very small that it is completely negligible and better to just stay keep your car in drive; if anything as not to shift into reverse when shifting back into drive.

Well, I'm not the OP, but I personally don't do that unless I have a manual tranny, I was just pontificating on some sort of logic behind the practice. It's not being critical, it's just a matter of personal analysis and what makes sense to the individual. Me, I don't give a rat's ass whether you put your tranny in neutral or not going down a hill as long as it doesn't create a safety hazard.

The OP just wanted to know what happens when you accidentally go into reverse. I got some benefit out of people's experiences and it sets my mind at ease that if it does happen to me (or my daughters) accidentally, I'm not going to shrapnel my transmission.

Beyond that, we're just beating a dead horse....

eace:

 

[zcruiser]

At least for me it is curiosity to see if gravity is working...

Now that's funny... :thumb3:

 

[brian2sun]

I remember learning in drivers ed way back when that it's illegal (at least in CA) to coast in N.

 

[drinknmolson]

In North Dakota it's illegal to drive barefoot.

 

[Headly]

In North Dakota it's illegal to drive barefoot.

NY also, I keep sandals near my feet when on long drives, I enjoy driving barefoot in the warm months olice:

 

[TheDurk]

NY also, I keep sandals near my feet when on long drives, I enjoy driving barefoot in the warm months olice:

Sandals are illegal in a lot of places (flip-flop type), too. I decided a long time ago to drive barefoot whenever I feel like it and just take the risk. I've only been stopped at night doing it and they never noticed. Living dangerously....

 

[jsmarine]

JSMARINE- Even in an auto tranny you get a little engine breaking with your foot off the gas. I never said I did it to conserve fuel either. I take it that you never had the slightest curiosity when going down a hill how fast you could get going without the assist of engine power(only the power of Gravity). Hmm guess not many other people have either..oh wait then why do we have the Gravity games. So to answer your question why anyone would do it? At least for me it is curiosity to see if gravity is working, and or to figure out the rolling resistance of a 4800lb vehicle on 33x11.50 tires with a surface area of.... oh never mind you just wont understand...LOL

EDIT: Don't get upset, was all tongue in cheek. QUOTE]

No, not upset, and youre right; I have no curiosty (Im pretty sure I know what will happen, no need to test gravity) When I had my old jeep (piece of s**t) it did pop out of gear unexpectedly one time coming down from the Eisenhower Tunnel (continental divide) when I lived in Colorado, so I did learn about gravity for about 5 scary seconds until I got it back in gear.

Im in Texas now, so no mountains or hills of any consequence, so none of this is really an issue for me anymore.

 

[sandmanfran]

speeding..

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS..

This is turning into other forums I so hate.

The dude was just coasting down a hill..

Nobody said what angle the hill was, and it may have been a small hill. 40MPH is not speeding. You dont know he was riding his brake. You dont know were the hell he was. So leave the unknown details out and stick to saying stupid stuff about the ONE thing you do know...

He shifted into reverse.

Here's the problem with coasting down a hill in neutral.. When coasting the engine is not turning the tranny. The rear wheels are doing the truning of the tail shaft. So this means that the front pump is not pumping fluid to the seal. The seals are running dry on the shaft which damages them causing severe leakage. Do it often enough and you got a sprinkler system. This is why you never tow a vehicle with the drive wheels on turning on the road. Most manuals will state. "Do not exceed 25 mph when towing your vehicle.

So just to clairify. All this goofy talk is important. Promotes a little food for thought!

 

[TFJ-4runner]

Did it once in my 94 like a week after I bought it. The tires just squealed for roughly three seconds before I caught it. It always shifted like butter with no worries.

 

[Jon]

Here's the problem with coasting down a hill in neutral.. When coasting the engine is not turning the tranny. The rear wheels are doing the truning of the tail shaft. So this means that the front pump is not pumping fluid to the seal. The seals are running dry on the shaft which damages them causing severe leakage. Do it often enough and you got a sprinkler system. This is why you never tow a vehicle with the drive wheels on turning on the road. Most manuals will state. "Do not exceed 25 mph when towing your vehicle.

So just to clairify. All this goofy talk is important. Promotes a little food for thought!

In an auto trans, as soon as you start the engine the transmission pump is pumping. End of story. It creates line pressure in Park and Neutral as well, or how else would the valve body transfer fluid to the servos to engage to forward/reverse and high/low clutch packs? Yeah, I've built a few. The pump is essentially attached directly to the crank via the torque converter, right through the middle. Clutches aren't turning but the pump is. Don't you think the trans would over heat and die if you sat in park for to long if it wasn't true.

Fun experiment- disconnect the pressure side from the radiator and start the truck. Bet it makes a big mess.

As for coasting down hills in Neutral, obviously a bad idea not worth the risk. I'd much rather burn a few more drops of gas than wear out the valve body with constant shifting. Wouldn't suggest it to anyone. Except this one kid at work. Funny story time.... 96 Saturn SCll 5spd+1 idiot=recipe for disaster! He swore there was no way to go from 5th gear to 1st at around 60mph. Another guy in the car swore that HE could do it, for some reason driver told him to go ahead and try. He pushed clutch it, passenger threw it in 1st and that's where it should have stopped, but no. Driver releases clutch, tires squeal and trans turns into a blender. The poor motor must have been screaming at 9K RPM! He got trans fixed and sold that car for $1. :shrug: