Put Transmission in Neutral at Red Lights?

nathannookie

nathannookie

New member
I was just wondering if it's advantagous to put the transmission in Neutral when you're sitting at a long red light?

Is it harder on the engine to be turning the torque converter, or harder on the tranny to go from N to Drive?
 
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I do that nearly evertime at a long light. Not sure if it's advantageous or not but it would seem like a good thing to do as you are releasing the strain from the engine and not making it work so hard...especially if you have the A/C running.

I'm curious as to what others think about this too.

Drivie
 
Putting automatic transmission on neutral is a bad idea. i spoke to one of the toyota mechanics and he said " when you put it in neutral, oil sets down, and that's bad for your transmission". One of my friends used to do that to a camry for 3 years, on 4th year his transmission broke down. :eek: i guess mechanic is right !

:awais: don't do it !!!
 
eh, i just keep my foot on the brake.

what about putting it in park? i assume its the same as neutral? because sometimes i put it in park when waiting in a long drivethru or something like that..
 
I just leave my foot on the brake. When the foot is hurting, I shift into park. Wouldn't putting in neutral save the brake since you foot doesn't have to be on the brake?
 
when you put it in neutral, oil sets down, and that's bad for your transmission
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Huh? That doesn't even make sense. The worse that would happen is when you go into neutral your torque converter is disconnected and stopping spinning. That's like saying "don't turn off your car. Its bad on the transmission."

There are tons of things that can cause a tranny to fail, not just "shifting into neutral." If you look at everything that happens over a transmission's life, that's the least of your worries.
 
CMiYC said:
Huh? That doesn't even make sense. The worse that would happen is when you go into neutral your torque converter is disconnected and stopping spinning. That's like saying "don't turn off your car. Its bad on the transmission."

There are tons of things that can cause a tranny to fail, not just "shifting into neutral." If you look at everything that happens over a transmission's life, that's the least of your worries.
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How about doing neutral drop!:D
 
You guys can do whatever you want to your car. I just posted my opinion. Its your car so do whatever you want to it...

in the manual it says, " do not let engine run in idle for a long time", just turn off your engine if u're waiting for a long time...
 
From what I learned in Tech School and working for several Dealers, autos work best just being left alone, the 4Runner idles the same in park or neutral, hence why you can actual start in either gear, I don't know the actual way the trans works but when you slow down and your at a light the trans has probably unlocked the torque converter, so you might just be wearingout the shifter cable and links, I would avoid trying to over tax the trans but an occassional shift from drive to neutral won't hurt but for safety reason I like the truck in gear, takes no effort to drop the pedal to the floor and move out of the way.

Lets also remember that the life of the trans is vital to how the fluid is so if you change as recommended or within good mileage intervals the trans should last as long as the truck

Mark86
putting the truck in neutral does nothin for the brakes, breaks wear from the wheels turning not from sitting, sitting for a long time with the brake depressed does over tax the fluid, all that force to compress the pistons so the caliper can hold the wheel, that fluid is getting pretty hot.

TRD04RUNNER
neutral drops are for rentals and loaner cars:D but I accidentally did a neutral drop on my 4Runner:awais: got on the highway after getting gas and at 40 I dropped my Gaterade and went to grab it the truck shifted into neutral, rpms flew from 3 to 6 and I knocked it back to drive not even realizing and the truck just forced me back into the seat and felt like a plane about to take off :awais: I would not recommend doing that as I was trying to save my interior from the orange fluid but the truck was solid and took it like it was normal, I've done that in some other cars and holy**** you would have thought the trans just blew out the underneath of the car:)
 
I would suggest that you pull over to the side of the road, put it in park and turn your engine off. Now get out of the 4runner checking carefully for any traffic and run around the 4runner in a clockwise fashion. This should help create additional air flow to the engine and transmission coolers. I would suggest you do this at any intersection where the light lasts more then 27 seconds. You may need to purchase a stop watch and check all of the lights based on your normal traffic patterns. Good luck and let us know how it is working out.
 
Sometimes I pretend my auto is a stick shift and throw it into neutral when coming up to lights and such, you should see the looks I get when my brake lights shut off like in a manual car instead of an automatic... Plus it gives me something to do. There's also a light that's just outside of my neighborhood which I usually have to turn left at to get anywhere in town, and its a small light so it takes forever. I usually put it in neutral and sit there so I don't have to hold the brake. I highly doubt its causing any extra wear on it, and even if it is - that's what the warranty is for.

That being said leaving it in drive won't cause any more wear than neutral. The torque converter is made to do exactly what its doing, and the extra wear for sitting at a light is not going to really hurt anything. I don't put the transmission into park, mostly because then its even harder to get going again - more shifter movement instead of just a little flick into drive. Plus I don't like the reverse lights flashing real quick when I'm about to move again. If I roll at all I just hold the brake anyway or put the parking brake on a little bit. That worked better in my Rover with the handbrake, but the floor brake works too.
 
ok we all have mixed opinions about putting our cars into neutral and i personally don't do it, but my question is...do you guys manually shift gears for fun sometimes? i do it occasionally on the highway, and it feels cool especially when you do it to pass someone. i love to feel the power even tho it's only a V6, but if someone on here is going to tell me that's bad for my car i'd stop :p
 
TranceKrayz said:
but my question is...do you guys manually shift gears for fun sometimes? i do it occasionally on the highway, and it feels cool especially when you do it to pass someone. i love to feel the power even tho it's only a V6, but if someone on here is going to tell me that's bad for my car i'd stop :p
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I don't do that, but I 'do' flick the shifter out of OD when I'm going up long hills or I'm racing around.

All the trany comments are interesting.
Re; the Torque Converter, I kind of figured it's always spinning, (locked up or not) even if in N, but the gears/bands connected to it's output are not engaged. Guess we need a trany expert.

I also kind of figured, like Drivie had said, that in N, [with no load of the slipping torque converter], the engine would be under less load.

Which brings up another question. Maybe I'm imagining things, but when I take my foot off the brake, after standing still in D, it seems that the engine throttles up a wee bit, almost like it knows you're about to take off. Maybe to save gas when standing? Don't know....who knows what the computer does.
 
nathannookie said:

Which brings up another question. Maybe I'm imagining things, but when I take my foot off the brake, after standing still in D, it seems that the engine throttles up a wee bit, almost like it knows you're about to take off. Maybe to save gas when standing? Don't know....who knows what the computer does.
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Or maybe you've taken a load off of the alternator with the brake lights going off upon release of the brakes. A possibility???

Use your handbrake instead and see if that makes the same difference in the rpm when you release it.
 
CMiYC said:
Huh? That doesn't even make sense. The worse that would happen is when you go into neutral your torque converter is disconnected and stopping spinning. That's like saying "don't turn off your car. Its bad on the transmission."

There are tons of things that can cause a tranny to fail, not just "shifting into neutral." If you look at everything that happens over a transmission's life, that's the least of your worries.
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Who ever that 'mechanic' was, I wouldn't let him/her get anywhere near my trans. Oil pressure in the trans is generated by the torque converter hub turning a pump in the front of the transmission. As long as the engine is running, the torque converter is turning (unless you have had a major flex-plate faliure), and therefore you have oil pressure. All that happens when you put the trans in neutral is the solenoids that apply pressure to the clutch packs disengage, and the trans is in neutral, and the torque load is removed from the converter. This means the converter will not be heating the fluid, and if you are going to be sitting for a while it can't hurt the trans. Putting the trans in park accomplishes the same thing with the addition of engaging the parking pawl so the vehicle won't roll. IMHO, if you are going to be standing for a while and you have vehicles stacked up behind you, park is probably the best idea, you can rest your brake foot. But, if there is nobody behind you, say at a long light, and you are in park and suddenly someone hits you in the rear, the impact could break the parking pawl in the trans, in this instance I would use neutral.
 
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