No Electrics and an Auto box
Discussion
Leaving home this evening, dark and raining, I approach a 4 exit roundabout i am familiar with, and look to go straight on. Good views all round, and light traffic approaching, so I proceed....
Then I see it, a hand waving out of a car window, with the car stopped at the give way lines of the roundabout, no lights on. The car, a dark coloured ford that blended in to the darkness.
So, I stop, switch hazards on and wind the window down to see 2 older occupants in the car. The door opens, and the passenger informs me that they have lost all electrics and the recovery services are on the way.
Nothing odd you may say, so I offer to help push the car to the verge. The response was "we cant, its an auto and stuck in drive".
Recovery arrives and I go on my way.
Got me thinking though, isn't this a safety issue with auto boxes? I mean if you can lose all electrics, and get stuck in drive and abandoned in a dangerous position I wouldn't want one.
Thoughts?
Then I see it, a hand waving out of a car window, with the car stopped at the give way lines of the roundabout, no lights on. The car, a dark coloured ford that blended in to the darkness.
So, I stop, switch hazards on and wind the window down to see 2 older occupants in the car. The door opens, and the passenger informs me that they have lost all electrics and the recovery services are on the way.
Nothing odd you may say, so I offer to help push the car to the verge. The response was "we cant, its an auto and stuck in drive".
Recovery arrives and I go on my way.
Got me thinking though, isn't this a safety issue with auto boxes? I mean if you can lose all electrics, and get stuck in drive and abandoned in a dangerous position I wouldn't want one.
Thoughts?
Modern autotrannies have a manual parking pawl release lever, usually buried under the centre console somwhere (occasionally, you do have to remove trim to get to them)
ye-olde ones where the lever was actually connected to something mechanical in the tranny, you should be able to manually shift to neutral with the lever
This is, of course, absolutely no help whatsoever if your EBP (electronic park brake) was also engaged before your electrics went on the wonk.....
ye-olde ones where the lever was actually connected to something mechanical in the tranny, you should be able to manually shift to neutral with the lever
This is, of course, absolutely no help whatsoever if your EBP (electronic park brake) was also engaged before your electrics went on the wonk.....
Stepping outside carries a risk. So does getting in or out of the bath, switching on electric appliances, or lighting the living-room fire.
The odds on anything bad happening from these activities are probably similar to those of something bad happening after losing all electrics in an automatic car.
Doesn't mean it CAN'T happen, just that I wouldn't worry too much about it.
The odds on anything bad happening from these activities are probably similar to those of something bad happening after losing all electrics in an automatic car.
Doesn't mean it CAN'T happen, just that I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff