Automatic Transmission Question

nrowles · Oct 4, 2018

I have a question regarding automatic transmissions in vehicles. Every day we have to park on an incline. When taking it back out of park there is a lot of pressure on the transmission and it really clunks when it comes out. Is there anything to worry about here? Basically I always put the vehicle in neutral and put the e-brake on and then shift into park. That way there's no pressure when coming out of park. My wife doesn't listen to me and she doesn't use the e-brake. So bottom line..........is it hard on a tranny shifting out of park on a hill with all that pressure?

880DB · Oct 4, 2018

Using the E-brake is your best bet.

Janicholson · Oct 4, 2018

Convenience is no excuse for best practices. Let her know that her method is like hanging from the bottom of a Helicopter by one finger. Jim

Geo-TH,In · Oct 4, 2018

Guess what, not all cars come with E brakes, a spare tires, a jack or a key..

Ronnie Budd · Oct 4, 2018

Yes, it is. My wife messed up the transmission on a pickup truck just that way. It broke the shifter pawl due to trying to pull it out of park under all that pressure.

Part Time Pete · Oct 4, 2018

And in the northeast, an e-brake cable lasts about a year before it freezes up. I've found you have to use it every time or not at all
Pete

DoubleO7 · Oct 4, 2018

(quoted from post at 18:15:37 10/04/18) Guess what, not all cars come with E brakes, a spare tires, a jack or a key..

They still have a "Parking Brake" which is the subject of this thread.

cjunrau · Oct 4, 2018

To help your wife if she doesn?t or will not use the ebrake. Make a wheel choke or dig a hole
where the front tires sit. That way she has to drive into the deprecion and it will take most of all
the pressure off. If your like me the vehicle gets parked same place ALL the time anyway and she
will soon learn where her tires are and must be

Steve@Advance · Oct 4, 2018

It will eventually take it's toll on the linkage, get sloppy, start leaking where the shaft goes into the transmission.

Problem is when it does get sloppy, it may not fully engage the parking pawl, it could jump out of park at the worst possible time!

Something you might try, put a "speed hump" across the drive that can be driven over or parked against that would hold the car from rolling. Maybe a piece of angle iron with the point up, anchored to the ground/concrete.

ss55 · Oct 4, 2018

If you are parking on your own property and not on a public street or a rented space, it might be worth the cost to build a more level spot to park your wife's vehicle. That would both save wear on your vehicle and save stress in your marriage.

wilson ind · Oct 4, 2018

What exactly are you referring to as e brake? Do you mean parking brake?

jimg.allentown · Oct 4, 2018

You are putting a lot of stress on the parts that make up the park mechanism. Not good for the transmission, but more likely to break a part (or the case) before you wear out anything. In many cases, you will simply not be able to shift out of park without a great effort. Damage can occur to any part of the linkage leading to the park mechanism if it is over stressed.
Consider: you have the majority of the weight of an automobile (around 1-1/2 to 2 tons) against a small part that is around 2 inches long. Wear and leakage are the least of it. Breakage can happen.

nrowles · Oct 4, 2018

you guys confirm my thinking and why I am using the parking brake. I will convince my wife this is very important. One place is the end of our driveway waiting for the school bus and the other is the daycare driveway. I think the easiest thing to do is the parking brake.

JMS/.MN · Oct 4, 2018

Used to be called an "emergency" brake.

rustred · Oct 4, 2018

hard on the parking pawl, almost the same as sticking it in park while the vehicle is still rolling.

Bob · Oct 4, 2018

While it's certainly NOT an ideal situation, or "good" for the transmission, I'm gonna venture to bet there's MILLIONS of vehicles worldwide that get "tortured" like that every day.

And survive.

Davidj · Oct 5, 2018

(quoted from post at 13:57:15 10/04/18) My wife doesn't listen to me and she doesn't use the e-brake. So bottom line..........is it hard on a tranny shifting out of park on a hill with all that pressure?

I have a wife like that...like pushing chain. Then again, I drive her nuts by times so it balances out. I crank the wheels for safety's sake, I think she does too... Wear on the pawl and shifter part would be all I'd worry about...

ASEguy · Oct 5, 2018

Using the parking brake on newer vehicles with drum brakes keeps the base brakes adjusted. Emergency brakes were for single port master cylinders; parking brakes for dual or four port master cylinders.

Mike M · Oct 5, 2018

Well after reading below about how she parks on hills waiting on the kids try a different angle to this.
Tell her if she DOES NOT use the parking brake,e-brake or whatever you want to call it and the park pawl brakes off or pops out like the many ( IIRC ) Ford and Chrysler recalls warn of, and kids get hurt your not going to come bail her out of jail !

Grandpa's Fords · Oct 5, 2018

I cracked the case of a THM-400 in an 89 2500hd chevy. Would back up a slight incline with a loaded trailer about and park with pressure on park pawl. did this about once a week for 3 years. When it finally gave out tried to replace the case and found most used cases from that era had the same issue. Finally found a good replacement and usually had someone with me to wheel chock before I put in park as well used the parking brake before putting in park. That transmission outlasted the truck. Since then I avoid putting myself in that situation.
I had also learned that the THM transmissions were never designed to backup with load or inclines. Never saw one apart that the reverse bands weren't bad in. Great transmissions for forward pull.

nrowles · Oct 5, 2018

I gave her a talkin to this morning at the bus stop. She going to start using the parking brake when on hills.

Russ from MN · Oct 5, 2018

We use park all the time on boat ramps, but I always make sure it's stopped with the brake first and then put it in park. We
never use the parking brake, had too many cables rust and cause the brake to drag and wear out. I don't even know how to
activate the one on the new Subaru!

jacksun65 · Oct 5, 2018

Also when you use the park in the transmission it only holds the drive shaft, Thus if one wheel loses
traction it will slide. Had a truck at slowes that if you used park on a slippery slope one wheel would
roll backwards and off a hill you would fly. So always used Parking Brake, that way both wheels would be
locked. P.S. if you use the parking brake often and keep cables lubed they won't rust up.

DoubleO7 · Oct 5, 2018

(quoted from post at 09:33:40 10/05/18)
I had also learned that the THM transmissions were never designed to backup with load or inclines. Never saw one apart that the reverse bands weren't bad in. Great transmissions for forward pull.

Neither are the next generation of GM automatics (4L60E,4L80).

Automatic Transmission Question

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