Totally Bonehead Move

[RLader]

Sorry old boy, you are mixing fact with fiction and ages old recollections.

A) turning the key off has never ever locked the steering wheel. Try it. You'll prove me right. It must be in park to lock the steering.

B) turning the car off in drive created "engine braking" say if you lost brakes on a hill; as taught in thousands of schools.

How soon knowledge is lost....

B) Not on automatic transmission.

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[JimParker256]

B) Not on automatic transmission.

Sorry, but I believe you're incorrect on that point... The Maverick uses engine braking (both hybrid and EB) to maintain the set speed when using cruise control. Ditto for 99% of the "full-size" trucks with auto transmissions. My '15 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Diesel explicitly called this out in the manual (for both the Diesel and Gas engines) as "recommended" when going downhill with a load.

 

[Ranch]

Sorry, but I believe you're incorrect on that point... The Maverick uses engine braking (both hybrid and EB) to maintain the set speed when using cruise control. Ditto for 99% of the "full-size" trucks with auto transmissions. My '15 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Diesel explicitly called this out in the manual (for both the Diesel and Gas engines) as "recommended" when going downhill with a load.

What about with the engine off? That's what the claim is.

 

[GPSMan]

What about with the engine off? That's what the claim is.

More so with the engine off.
Engine on, it is possible to be getting an idle amount of fuel, generating small, but greater than zero horsepower. It is also possible to generate zero horsepower in some makes and models and hybrids probably do have this capability but not all pure gas engines do.

 

[GPSMan]

Engine braking works by restricting airflow. In a vehicle with a gas engine, if the cylinders stop receiving air and fuel, but the engine’s spinning parts continue to rotate, the pistons keep trying to suck air into the cylinders but end up working against a vacuum because the throttle valve is closed, allowing very little air into the system. As the pistons pull against this vacuum, they slow down; this has a braking effect from the crankshaft through the transmission and on to the wheels.

 

[LSchicago]

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.

Well if you turn the key to the off position on an old vehicle while driving it will cause to lose brakes and steering. No reason to do that really. Stop, then key off. Common sense is no longer common.

 

[GPSMan]

Well if you turn the key to the off position on an old vehicle while driving it will cause to lose brakes and steering. No reason to do that really. Stop, then key off. Common sense is no longer common.

I think you missed the point.

Gotta read the whole thread for context.

 

[LSchicago]

I think you missed the point.

Gotta read the whole thread for context.

I did. And still have no idea why you'd turn off the key while still driving. It has been posted here that removing the key sets the shifter to park. Ruin the transmission to avoid 3 seconds of the engine running? Sure why not. Then blame Ford for the IDIOTIC behavior.

 

[Dslaughterbeck]

It stops idiot kids from ghost riding your Ford.

 

[Jman79]

Many questions and statements here revolve around:
- How it used to be
- How it should be

Sadly, new cars systems are more intertwined than ever and that's not changing. There are also too many possibilities outside "normal use" for engineers to account for all of them.

So as drivers we're going to have to adapt and realize we may have to change some behaviors. Think of some of these old methods as happy work around vs "the right way", then find new work arounds.

Most of what's being suggested is solved with a simple "don't do that" because they are weird exceptions to how most use vehicles.

Some like "in case of engine fire while doing 70mph on highway" well turning the engine off wasn't guaranteed to help.

Hate to say it... But it's all about #s and odds are this feature will prevent a lot of loss and a lot of injuries. If you're an outlier who needs it different you'll be deemed not worth it by the bean counters and lawyers.

OP: for the "why not 0 mph"? I work in software and usually it comes down to...
- No Time/money to fix something that isn't even really a bug, more of an oversight.
- There is an argument against that supporting doing it at 3mph that they've seen and we don't.

Both mean it likely isn't changing

 

[catshreds]

Why in the world would someone remove their seat belt and open the door of a moving vehicle?

Maybe the Po Po is chasing them and they are getting ready to bail?

 

[GPSMan]

Right before the truck goes over a cliff.

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