My dad has this habbit of putting his car in neutral (its an automatic transmission) when at a stop light, or if stopped anywhere for more than a few seconds. He says its easier on the transmission...I was wondering if anyone knew if this is true, and why?

 

they're engineered to run in drive

 

 

thats what convertors are for

 

I would put it into neutral if it overheated sitting still in drive, that's the only time. (Old muscle cars with fat cams and stock radiators sometimes DID overheat like that, so maybe he does it instinctively.)

 

it will prolly be worse because of the gear selection back and forth, back and forth, clunk... clunk.. CLUnk, ....


clunk..

rather that just leaving it in drive.

 

well that clunk clunk is just a roller moving on the gearselector plate (its notched)

 

The owners manual says not to leave the tranny in "D" when parked for extended periods. The manual said 5 min. I would do it if I have been running it hard and come to a stop where I know I will be for a while.

 

What about if you're cruising up to a redlight from like 30-40 mph, and drop it into neutral and stop? Maybe it has something to do with the tranny not having to downshift? I have no idea, it sounds to me like its better to leave it in drive.

 

When you take the transmission out of drive you are dis-engaging the front pump, when you dis-engage the pump you are stopping lubrication to the trasmission, when you do this while moving all the parts in the transmission are in motion without active lubrication (usually a BAD thing)....this is why they tell you not to tow the vehicle on the rear wheels with the driveshaft installed