Totally Bonehead Move

[Ranch]

I don't know how old you are.
It was taught in Driver's Ed classes way back, to turn the key off if you are having a fire, loss of brakes, steering, or other major malfunction, for example.

I'm 61 years old and turning the key off under some of the situations you mentioned was not taught to me because of the possibility of locking the steering wheel while still moving.

Sponsored

 

[PlantMan]

Perform tricks, collect unintended prizes.

 

[22RolloverClub]

3mph is walking speed, doubt if any damage was done

There's still a fair amount of kinetic energy stored up in a 3,600lb vehicle traveling at 3mph, close to 1,100 ft-lbs. Why anyone would risk unnecessary force onto their transmission internals just to save a cough syrup cups worth of gas is beyond me. Turning the ignition off in a moving vehicle is perplexing to me on it's own, auto park or not.

 

[volksnuts]

I am very confused at this conversation

I’ve never considered doing any of those things with an automatic transmission

Weird

 

[APD]

First off I admit this is kind of a bonehead move. Not only did I do it once, I did it twice. I forgot about the first time and "Ops, I did it again."

But I'm curious if you think this is also a bonehead move on Ford's part.

I'm making a thread of this so hopefully I remember not to do it a third time, and maybe You'll never do it.

First Time:
About 6 weeks ago I was getting close to my usual parking spot. I was in EV mode, I knew the battery was low, and the engine was about to come on. I didn't want the engine to spin up for all of 5 or 10 seconds. I wanted to "coast" via momentum into my parking space.

I turned the key off while rolling less than 10 mph, while still in Drive, foot hovering on the brake pedal and/or braking gently.
At 3 MPH WHAM! Truck goes into park locking up the wheels 3 mph to zero.

Second Time:
Tonight, at under 10 MPH I put it in "Neutral" and coasted, then turned the key off because I was testing new equipment. I had a long way to coast, in a wide open area, so did not use any brake pedal at all. Slowed by nature to 3 MPH and WHAM! Truck goes into park while in motion, locks up the wheels again.

Bonehead move on my part.
I won't be doing THAT again. But also bonehead "programming" by Ford?

P.S.

The reason(s) for turning the key off are unimportant here. Software freeze could be a reason.

I'm asking why. Why shift to park at 3 mph?
Seems very deliberate.
Why not 1 mph? Why not 0.5 mph?

We know it works at 0 mph, if you turn the key off at 0 mph. Why not always 0 mph is my question.

The answer is simple.

Park is engaged when powered off....at any speed.

 

[Scott Asheville]

Gee I think the OP should try it at 75 and let us all know how it goes.

 

[Maverickman74]

Fun fact on Ford AOD, C4, and C6 transmissions with carbureted engines. If you turn the key to off and quickly back to ignition on(to unlock the wheel if thusly equipped) and coast in neutral, and then turn the ignition on and put it back into drive it will. It will fire back up just like a manual transmission. I once coasted for probably 20 miles in West Virginia like that.

 

[GPSMan]

The answer is simple.

Park is engaged when powered off....at any speed.

Absolutely not true.

 

[GPSMan]

Gee I think the OP should try it at 75 and let us all know how it goes.

I have. Nothing bad happens.
You can put it in reverse while going forward at high speed too.

These trucks do not have a mechanical linkage.

The truck will simply state "conditions not ready for shift". Except for some odd reason conditions are ready for shift at 3 mph. Why not zero?

 

[GPSMan]

What is the argument for making it 3mph? Why not 5? Why not zero? By your own admission, some people do operate their vehicles in such a strange way, so that is one reason to make it zero. Is there a reason to not make it zero?

^^^ This. ^^^

 

[GPSMan]

This thread is for discussing the engineering decisions.

Thank you.

 

[Maverick Life]

I am very confused at this conversation

cough syrup cups worth of gas

best I can tell there's a sick Maverick out there and these fine folks are nursing it back to health..??

 

[JimParker256]

Ya, the reason(s) for turning the key off unimportant here. Software freeze could be a reason.

I'm asking why. Why shift to park at 3 mph?
Seems very deliberate.
Why not 1 mph? Why not 0.5 mph?

We know it works at 0 mph, if you turn the key off at 0 mph. Why not always 0 mph is my question.

Perhaps it fully applied the brakes, and the parking brake came on when it actually came to a stop? That would make more sense from a programming standpoint. The "slightly grabby" nature of the transition from "no brakes" to "friction brakes" might explain the "sudden stop" lurch.

Why would you not pull over and stop if you had a software freeze? Why attempt to diagnose/troubleshoot with divided attention while on the road, in traffic? I know you're trying to maximize fuel mileage, but at the expense of potential safety? Not something I would do... I can't picture a situation where the potential benefit of doing so would outweigh the risk to myself and others.

 

[GPSMan]

Fun fact on Ford AOD, C4, and C6 transmissions with carbureted engines. If you turn the key to off and quickly back to ignition on(to unlock the wheel if thusly equipped) and coast in neutral, and then turn the ignition on and put it back into drive it will. It will fire back up just like a manual transmission. I once coasted for probably 20 miles in West Virginia like that.

Does the Hybrid Mav power the power brakes and power steering with key in accessory position? I have not tried but you know I will.

My guess is no.

Fun Fact about the First Generation Hybrid Escape:

You could start the engine, turn the key off, turn it back to Accessory within 2 seconds, and the power steering and power brakes would stay on, powered just like the Mav from the HV battery.
There are reasons to do this for diagnosis and testing and repairs, also can give you an extended EV mode or power steering and brakes if you had to be towed a small distance on the ground while inside the cab, but for whatever reason, didn't want the gas running.

 

[JimParker256]

I'm 61 years old and turning the key off under some of the situations you mentioned was not taught to me because of the possibility of locking the steering wheel while still moving.

Ditto, only I'm 66. Some of those old cars were almost impossible to steer without power steering. My grandfather's 60-something Oldsmobile 88 was a perfect example. My father's '68 Buick Special station wagon was another. Others would flat-out lock the steering column as soon as the key was turned to "off"... I cannot believe a driver's ed program taught that it was a "good idea" to turn off the ignition on a moving vehicle. Seems crazy to me!

Sponsored