Im not sure if this is a problem or not. When in my garage on straight pavement, and i shift from P to R to reverse, it does it smoothly, no "clunk" or hard sounds. No problem noticeable at all.

But when on a slope or slanted road like my driveway backing out into the street, when im on P on the driveway, then shift into R to reverse, its noticeably a bit rougher to move the shift lever into R and in the process of doing that, when i move it to R, i hear a clunk sound or "thump".

It only happens when im on slope road. I dont know if this is normal or not, and if anyone else is experiencing the same problem?

Thanks.

 

i have the 2000 TL-P and i experience that problem to it feels like the whose engine jumps im guessing its because its on a slope....i noticed it too its really annoying does anybody know if that can mess up the engine in any way??

 

Ok, do you pull up your hand-brake when parking in slope?

If not, your P gear is fully engaged with the load of your car and you're just relying your P gear to stop your car. When trying to get out of "P" gear, you will hear "clank" more metal-like noise, it's normal.


If you park on the slop then move your gear into P, release your brake and let P gear stops your car, then FINALLY pull up your hand brake. This will still cause the "clank" sound next time you try to shift out of your "P" gear.


Try this,

1. Stop on the slope
2. Step on your brake and shift to "N"
3. Don't release brake until pulling up your parking brake
4. Release your foot and make sure your ca isn't moving to anywhree
5. Shift to P

Next time,

1. Start the car
2. Step on your brake and hold it
3. Then either
   • Release your hand-brake, then shift out of P
   • OR shift into R, then put parking brake down
4. You should hear nothing from your "P" gear.

Thanks J RIDE 81.


Don't confuse this noise with your "R" gear's noise.

 

The reason it occurs is because you are putting a lot of pressure on the transmission when on a slope. The way to fix this is to always put up your parking brake. When parking on a slope, pull parking brake, then shift into P. When leaving, shift into R, then put parking brake down. Trust me this works. You will notice a big difference. Not a lot of people know this so I consider it a secret. Leave Positive Reputation!!!!!!

 

Rets You Bet Me To It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I do however notice our order to be different. I know your the expert but im pretty sure you want to shift before putting the parking brake down. I tried both ways on different cars and my ways seems a lot more effective and good on the trans.

 

wow i never thought there was a way to avoid it and im guilty on this one because i dont pull the E brake when i park the car i will start doing that from now on thanks

 

Gotcha rets, ill try this later this afternoon, it happens just like you described it, a metal-like noise. Thanks for letting me know its normal, i was worrying about it all week.

 

J RIDE 81,

As long as

• the parking brake could hold (stop) the car before engaging with "P" gear
• the car could be held by the parking brake instead of "P" gear

it's the good way to eliminate that noise and future possible damage and wear to P gear.





DaT1PiNoYduDe & Da_iLLeZt_TL973, could you try not to post your replies at the same time? Without vivid avatar, I was easy to be fooled by you guys.

 

I sure wish my wife would get it right. My driveway is about a 5% grade or more. I've been telling her how to properly set the brake and put it park since day 1. Sometimes she only pulls the brake up one click, which does nothing at all. Other times she puts the car in P, lets off the brake and then sets the e-brake. Every time I get in the car after her - BAM!! into R. She insists there's something wrong with the car. I say there's something wrong with... Ah, nevermind.

What I usually do (when I remember) is to shift quickly past R to N, wait a second, then go to R. This usually keeps it to a minimum. I doesn't matter whether you shift out of P before or after releasing the e-brake, as long as your foot is on the brake enough to hold the load before doing anything else.

I feel motivated after reading this. Maybe I'll try another lesson later on tonight.

 

^-- thats funny, Good luck.

 

Gonna have to try this... have same problem. Thanks

 

 

^at least they (new member) are searching.

I always shift to neutral, set parking brake, release brakes, then put in Park. Less stress on the tranny when shifting the next time I take it out.

 

 

Yeah, glad they're searching. This thing is normal. The parking pawl in the transmission locks everything together. The more you preload everything such as having the car on a slant, the more you're going to hear/feel it when this preload is released. I would guess most of it is in the engine and transmission mounts and it's more noticeable in one direction than the other. Also, sometimes the actual parking pawl is a slightly different shape on one side or engages slightly different when it's being torqued in reverse which could also be part of the difference people are noticing.

 

How is this not common practice??
I've never met anyone else in my life who does this, and I get constant shit from people for using my "handbrake on an automatic."
"Bitch I'm not gonna lock 3500lbs of metal weight against my transmission."

 

^ Yep- I don't have any clunks using the procedure above. I use to give my wife crap about using the parking brake on my old Maxima, but that was because she would forget to release it sometimes. I have a new found appreciation for parking brakes now with the TL.

 

The transmission is asked to accelerate 3500lbs everyday which is much more stressful. A locking ratchet mechanism in the transmission to hold the car steady is no big deal. I use the ebrake when I'm on a hill as a backup but the drum style ebrake is self energizing in forward but will have a hell of a time holding it steady in reverse.

 

What about a MT?
My friend always turns off the car and leaves it in first gear. I've noticed it keeps the car from rolling around. But surely this can't be good for the tranny, can it?

 

Why not? There's much more torque going through the transmission when you're driving normally. Think about when you're driving and you floor it and spin the tires. That's as much stress as you're capable of putting on the transmission. Holding the car still on a slight inclind is nothing. The eqivalent would be having another car push the TL while it's in gear with the wheels locked. More than likely the engine will turn over before the car is pushed with the wheels locked.

When you let off the gas and coast and you're engine braking that's torque in the same direction as when it's being used to hold the car steady in a forward motion. Acceleration is in the same direction as the transmission holding the car on a reverse incline. Think about push starting the car. Same thing, the car is moving, you have it in gear and pop the clutch and the transmission spins the engine over.

Holding it on an incline is cake for the transmission. The ebrake is a good backup in case the incline is enough to make the engine spin over and the car will move. The engine is what's actually stopping the car from moving. The transmission just links the wheels to the engine.