Chrysler gear shifters confuse drivers causing crashes

JimS

Member
Seems people are getting out of their new Chryslers leaving them in gear.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/news/industry-news/chrysler-gear-shifters-confuse-drivers-causing-crashes-injuries/article28657913/

They have had push button transmission before. I forgot who made them in the 50s and 60s but they had similar problems. I had a friend who had one. It was easy to leave it in gear.

Maybe they need to do something like they do with tractor seats where if they are unweighted it shuts off the engine. Maybe they could have one where if it is unweighted or not in park it shuts off?
 
Chrysler and Edsel both used push button automatic transmissions in the late 50s - early 60s.

Dean
 
I had a '57 Mercury with push button shift. Push buttons for the usual ranges on the trans, plus a bar to push for "Park".

It wasn't any more difficult than shifting into Park with a lever. Mercury discontinued the system in '59 'cause the buttons were complex and prone to problems. I had to replace the entire unit on mine once. I still rate that as the best car I ever owned, however.
 
“I am not a complainer, however this is a major safety issue. It terrifies me to drive this vehicle.”

Seriously? I agree the shifter is a little goofy compared to a conventional shift lever. I have driven a charger and grand cherokee with them and it is not a big deal at all. the biggest problem is people not paying attention to what they are doing, they should not be driving if they can't put it in park or shut the engine off.
 
Maybe they should get rid of the gear shift entirely and just have backward and forward pedals like some of the newer tractors I have seen?
 
Henry had the forward and reverse pedals in the T 108 years ago. He also had a tailgate latch that didn't break!
 
Chrysler had push button shifting years ago. I still remember a Dodge Dart my dad had back when I was in JR High that had that and if I remember right it was a 1962. To put it in park you lifted a lever next to the button
 
Had a 59 Merc don't remember what was in it. Also had a 60 Rambler Classic and it had the push button. Never gave me any problems. Body rust on both ate them up.
 
My 15 Lincoln MKZ has push button shift on the dash, If you open a door while stopped,and in gear, it shifts to Park.
 
"history repeats, LOL. My 15 Lincoln MKZ has push button shift in the dash. If your stopped and in gear, then open a door, it shifts itself to park.
 
That's to bad, but I'm glad, pushing a button dosent make people think, mindless idiots out there.
 
I had push-button transmission in my '62 Chrysler. Really liked it and it worked well for me.
 
Needing to move the shifter 3 times to get into park is just plain stupid! When everyone is accustomed to moving shifter all the way up /forward in single movement is park. And what the h311 does this have to do with push buttons anyway!!?? Some people just can't resist going off on a tangent or whatever pops into their mind!
 
OK, for all those naysayers, next why not move accelerator pedal to left of right foot brake.....lets try that? :roll:
 
My sister has a Chrysler with this style shifter. It is not the easiest thing to get into park. You have to move the shift lever forward and hold it for a few seconds to get it into park. The shifter returns to the same place it is for drive/reverse/park. The lever is always in the same place when you let go of it. You have to really watch the lights on the dash to know what gear your in. It is a really stupid design. It does have door chime to tell you it is in gear but it sounds just like the chime for leaving the lights on. So if your lights are on and the engine running it is easy to leave it in gear. Here is a video of a 2015 Jeep Cherokee shifter working.

As for the older push button shifters they usually had a separate lever or pull knob for park. Which made the park actually easier than this "new" design.

I think if they would make the "Not in Park" warning LOUDER and a completely different sound than the other warnings would help. Truthfully making the shifter go to park if the door was opened would work too.
2015 Jeep Cherokee shifter video
 
We've had a Grand Cherokee since October and I'm still getting used to the shifter. If you push past the first click to the second position it goes to park. What bugs me it the climate control. To change the heat from floor to vents: Push Climate button. Touch Mode. Touch the selection you want. Touch Done. Finally touch Radio. My 99 F250 has a knob that I don't even have to look at.
 
the car folx are showing their total lack of common sense,, they have too many stupid yuppi confuserputer designers they are paying and listening to ,,. ,,. you know the same guys that invented the internet and causes your computer too constantly ask you to update becauas they have released a virus ,,./ also they like to constantly change the format without being asked ,,. I would not trade my 95 cummins or my crown vic for any of that modern b/s if they give it to me ,,. the only way I mite consider it is if they proved to me that the guy that built the ding ding seatbelt chime that never fails the entire life of the vehicle no matter what brand ,. if they could Prove that Fella built the entire vehicle , then you would have a car that would last that was bullet proof and fool proof for idiots
 
My dad bought a 57 Turnpike Cruiser when I was a little kid. I barely remember it, it was pink and white, had a rear window that power rolled down, and a push button shifter. He only kept it a couple years, it was a real lemon, major problems!

Speaking of shifters, the next car he bought was a 62 Pontiac Bonneville. We kept that one until I was driving. It had a TurboHydro 4 speed. The shift pattern was reverse all the way down. My car, a 63 Biscayne, had a 3 on the tree standard. More than once when I drove the Pontiac, out of habit I would grab the shifter and pull it down to reverse thinking I was going to low gear! LOL Had some close calls but never backed into anyone!
 
We have one of these and so far no problem. Everything is electrically actuated. Hold the break and push the button and move the lever in the direction you want to go. If in drive or reverse headed for park hold the break and push the button and move the lever forward and hold it. It will go all the way into park. In sport mode it works allot like the old Chrysler slap sifters. Just bump it in one direction or the other and that is the gear it is in. Works like a manual valve body.

Greg
 
edsel had the buttons on the steering wheel I think Lincoln and mercury did too in 57-but it was automatic problematic,, Desoto, and Chrysler products had them near the driver door,,. with NO PARK PALL ,these cars had a e brake that worked on the driveshaft .
 
Most (all?) automatic transmissions used a PNDLR shift pattern in early years. I cannot remember when the pattern was changed to PRNDL but it was sometime in the late 1950s - early 60s.

Dean
 
How about the headlight switch and the dimmer switch?

For how many years was the headlight switch in every American car a pull knob to the left of the steering column, and the dimmer switch by your left toe 'til it was re-located to the turn signal switch?

After that, all bets are off.

If (for some reason) you need to drive a "strange" car after dark, you have to determine where those controls are, in that specific vehicle.

And, then there's the damned automatic DRL's and automatic headlights that sap battery power as soon as the key is turned on, BEFORE a cold start.

NOT to mention figuring out how to turn off automatic headlights when they are not needed, or are a nuisance, shining into someone's windows while the car warms up or you wait to pick up a passenger.

Or the DAMNED automatic windows that ASSUME you want to lower the window ALL the way, every time you just want to lower it an inch or two?
 
(quoted from post at 22:00:22 02/08/16) I don't understand why companies need to reinvent the gear shift lever?

For the same dumb reason that they moved the dimmer switch from the floor and the the light and wiper/washer switches from the dash to 'stalks' on the steering column. :twisted:
 
Just wait, they're going to reinvent the wheel, and pretty soon we'll all be driving on SQUARE wheels.

LOL
 
(quoted from post at 20:48:58 02/08/16) Needing to move the shifter 3 times to get into park is just plain stupid! When everyone is accustomed to moving shifter all the way up /forward in single movement is park. And what the h311 does this have to do with push buttons anyway!!?? Some people just can't resist going off on a tangent or whatever pops into their mind!

I have no idea what push button transmissions from the 50's have to do with the story either.

Sounds like a stupid shifter design to have to be tapped repeatedly to get "park" , but really it is only a symptom of stupid people not confirming what they do BEFORE they get out.

I have yet to have my manual transmission car and truck drive away on me .
 
My belief, all this cr#p is designed by stylists, not engineers. My favorite thing, every object we now purchase, we have to re-learn a language. No more English words. I have a camera, there are symbols everywhere.... I have long forgotten what one-pine-tree vs. three-pine-trees means. Rant finished, sorry.
 
always something new thats really something old to confuse drivers, hybrids , actually they made those in the teens, as well as electric cars, push button starters, up until the early 50's all cars were push button starters, or hand crank, push button tranny, Chrysler had them in the late 50's same problem they have now, since i wont own new stuff. [ if i cant fix 'em i wont own 'em] i guess they do still put an emergency brake on them? that will hold the thing weather its in gear or not, maybe they need to go back to making a simple, nice, good looking and reliable car, where drivers just drive
 
To those few that still think the dimmer switch was in a good spot when on the left side of the floor board. I still have and occasionally drive a 1981 F350. This has the dimmer switch on the floor and it sure would be better up on the turn signal switch like more modern cars are. I like driving with my bright lights on so as to help spot for deer before I hit them. Well now you come up to a stop with your brights on sitting there left foot on clutch and right foot on the brake. How in the heck are you going to operate the dimmer switch ? Same thing if downshifting or upshifting and there is oncoming traffic and you need to get them dimmed. Too bad my foot is on the clutch your just going to have to be blind until I get my gears shifted !
 
I bought a 14 Durango last year, first time I have had something "different" since my 61 Plymouth with the push button setup. No issues here, every make is different somehow, and this just took about two days to get used to driving. I have a pickup that I drive all week and drive the Durango one or two days a week. I occasionally reach for the shift but now have it down to a science how to move the hand down to the knob so nobody notices (except my wife...).

So, I don't think it's an issue myself. Not remembering to put something in park has nothing to do with how it's configured in my opinion. Looks like it's probably easier to do it that way and costs less to make. But who am I to know about that?

The only thing I had to watch is not moving it on over into park while moving, I had a little episode early on but not since.

Now, the next thing is to find all the stuff that busy stalk on the left side does, you know, the one that the wipers and turn signals and dimmer switch and whatever else......
 
(quoted from post at 22:50:43 02/08/16) OK, for all those naysayers, next why not move accelerator pedal to left of right foot brake.....lets try that? :roll:

Then put that in a manual shift, talk about traffic nightmare.
 

Simple solution is to always use the parking/emergency brake, or did they do away with that too?

KEH
 
Yep it's gonna be a learning curve when my new 16' Ram truck gets here. The way I specced it out I had to go with the 8spd auto and rotary knob shifter.
 
That dimmer switch was very welcome. If you like it in the floor you must have THREE legs, would love to see a picture with those 3 legs.
 
sounds like a shifter is just to difficult for many here,,, wow don't like that brand DON"T BUY IT<< easy I would not own a newer chevy or ford if you paid me to lol see I can bash other brands to LMAO
 
Well lets see. Wasn't it Ford that had cars when you shut the door with it running they went into park and took off on their own.
And don't forget GM with all those law suits over ignition switch related deaths.
Aren't any of them immune from problems. Just saying.
 
I drove a new 2015 200 with the KNOB and i told my buddy of 47 years and still being a WEASEL car salesman that mark my work that this KNOB will be problems down the road . One it will fail. ans two people will have problems with it same as the push to start . some people can not chew bubble gum and walk across the street . Mopar back in my early days of driving had the typewriter drive push button , Sorta nice on the drag strip if you liked slush boxes , Then Mercury and Edsel tryed it and it was located in the center of the steering wheel. Now we have the KNOB . Like big trucks way back before the spring parking brakes , they had a small brake drum on the drive shaft that did not hold nothing and leaving a diesel truck parked in gear with the OLD shut down cable engine stop that did not work to well as the stop cable would art times move off the shut down more to the RUN side and if everything was wright one tiny little bump or the engine turn just enough as the compression leaked off the one piston holding the truck in place you had a run away truck.
 
(quoted from post at 08:24:56 02/09/16) sounds like a shifter is just to difficult for many here,,, wow don't like that brand DON"T BUY IT&lt;&lt; easy I would not own a newer chevy or ford if you paid me to lol see I can bash other brands to LMAO

LOL I will never buy a on road vehicle made by FIAT. Most likely will never own a new enough tractor to have one made by FIAT either!! My decision is based from working on FIAT's in Europe and the former Chrysler vehicles as a mechanic here in the states. You couldn't give me enough tractors to pull a Chrysler/Fiat vehicle down the road!

Sorry, just had to!

Rick
 
JD, Just a comment on the shifter. It is the Jeep Grand Cherokee that has that particular shift knob. My wife has a 2015 Cherokee Limited, not the Grand Cherokee Limited. It has a regular shift knob(no button). P R N D. You can pull the shifter towards the driver and shift each gear seperate if you want. It is a 9 speed transmission. The transmission has trouble determining when to shift or what gear it should be in. Fiat is working on a fix.

Her Jeep also has that stop/start feature. When you come to a stop sign or red light the engine shuts off and when you let your foot off the brake pedal it restarts the engine.

One has to wonder how the engineers come up with stuff.
 
I have not had accident due to shifters, but find the ones that slide sideways for "jump" shifting confusing.
 
My Dad has this trans in his 2014 charger sometimes you pull shifter back it goes to neutral sometimes it goes into drive. just the opp when going into park sometimes it gets to reverse and stops and you have to move it again to go to park. If it just had buttons like my eaton fuller did it would be great.
 

My daughter has always owned Jeeps. Complained from day 1 how goofy the "paddle" shifter worked on her new 2014 Grand Cherokee. Even wrote a letter to Sergio. I didn't understand how bad it was until I drove it for a few weeks shortly after she got it. At first, I figured I'd get used to it. But even after a couple of weeks, I still had trouble getting it where I wanted: park or Drive or reverse, kept going past the gear or not getting it there. VERY non-intuitive. When I was looking at new SUVs, I specifically avoided the Grand Cherokee and bought a Honda because of that shifter (I previously had owned several Grand Cherokees). I talked to several other owners who swore it was their last Jeep as well.
 
(quoted from post at 06:59:45 02/09/16) To those few that still think the dimmer switch was in a good spot when on the left side of the floor board. I still have and occasionally drive a 1981 F350. This has the dimmer switch on the floor and it sure would be better up on the turn signal switch like more modern cars are. I like driving with my bright lights on so as to help spot for deer before I hit them. Well now you come up to a stop with your brights on sitting there left foot on clutch and right foot on the brake. How in the heck are you going to operate the dimmer switch ? Same thing if downshifting or upshifting and there is oncoming traffic and you need to get them dimmed. Too bad my foot is on the clutch your just going to have to be blind until I get my gears shifted !

I've got 3 of them around here that I still drive with the floor-mounted dimmer and the best solution to your problem is to dim the lights just as you stop - don't need brights at a stop sign or light anyway! As for clutching and dimming - you should be able to tell when traffic is approaching by the glow of the headlights coming ....... dim yours first. 8)
 

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