Shift D To N When Stopping For Traffic Lights ?

[eyepea]

Is it reccomended to shift an automatic gear from D to N when stopping for traffic lights (or any other short stop) ?

Could anyone please advice me what is the general guideline when

- to shift from D to N

or

- to keep holding on the break

during a short stop depending on the duration of the stop?

Of course when going on crawling traffic and stopping frequently I guess it is not necessary to shift from D to N.

Also one will not always know for how long a red traffic light is going to be on

But say you are stopping for 30 seconds, or 1 minute or 5 minutes, what would you advice as a general guideline ?

What are the effects on the engine, auto gearbox ware, breaks, petrol consumption etc on the above two options?

Thanks!.

[Kadaffi]

My personal preference if i'm waiting less than 30 secs is to leave the gearbox in drive and hold the brake. Anything longer than that, I use neutral with the handbrake or park.

With most modern auto boxes there aren't any adverse effects for keeping it in drive for a short period of time, Fuel consumption will be slightly more when left in D as the engine is under load. If you do alot of stop start journeys then its recommended to change your ATF more regularly than scheduled. Brakes on an auto naturally wear faster when compared to a manual, as there isn't much if any engine braking.

HTH

[virensti]

  eyepea said:

Is it reccomended to shift an automatic gear from D to N when stopping for traffic lights (or any other short stop) ?

Could anyone please advice me what is the general guideline when

- to shift from D to N

or

- to keep holding on the break

during a short stop depending on the duration of the stop?

Of course when going on crawling traffic and stopping frequently I guess it is not necessary to shift from D to N.

Also one will not always know for how long a red traffic light is going to be on

But say you are stopping for 30 seconds, or 1 minute or 5 minutes, what would you advice as a general guideline ?

What are the effects on the engine, auto gearbox ware, breaks, petrol consumption etc on the above two options?

Thanks!.

Well for my knowledge its because Auto transmissions have things called brake bands.(I'm not exactly sure what they do)These brake bands wear out faster when you keep it on D for a long time with the brakes applied. And yes as Kadaffi says its a load on the engine. But at traffic lights and other places where you've stopped for a short time. Put it from D to N. thats fine. but DON'T put it to P cause by some mistake or carelessness if you drop the lever down just once its at R. and that'll slam you straight into the car behind. Its best to keep it at N when you've stopped in traffic etc.

Brakes always where out faster in A/T vehicles since your 100% dependent on the brakes to slow you down. at trafic jams when your on D and slowly moving I guess there is an amount of wear on the brakes as they have to supress the vehicle trying to move while its on D.

[Rebel]

Hi

Not sure if its the best, but I generally shift to N during stops for about 30 seconds. Anything longer than that i shut off the engine!

I think its better to shift to N during stops to save your engine and breaks a bit. However the downside is gearbox wear.

I also shift down to to slow the car rather than use the brakes.

BTW I'm not sure if this is the case but I think I read on one discussion that shifting to P rather than N increases gear box wear. Could someone please confirm?

Cheers all

[Duminda_CR]

  Rebel said:

Hi

Not sure if its the best, but I generally shift to N during stops for about 30 seconds. Anything longer than that i shut off the engine!

I think its better to shift to N during stops to save your engine and breaks a bit. However the downside is gearbox wear.

I also shift down to to slow the car rather than use the brakes.

BTW I'm not sure if this is the case but I think I read on one discussion that shifting to P rather than N increases gear box wear. Could someone please confirm?

Cheers all

Hay its not necessary to shut down the engine if u r in a block for few minutes. if you shut down the engine when you are in a block for 1min, its a huge disadvantage coz you waste your starter motor. its not a huge disadvantage if you hold D for few minutes as i think.

ok cheers

[abramoon]

I thought the whole idea of an automatic transmission is to eliminate the need to shift gears.If we should change the gear at every traffic lights ........?

[Kim]

  abramoon said:

I thought the whole idea of an automatic transmission is to eliminate the need to shift gears.If we should change the gear at every traffic lights ........?

ther's nothing like u should its only up to you..

[Kim]

  Duminda_CR said:

Hay its not necessary to shut down the engine if u r in a block for few minutes. if you shut down the engine when you are in a block for 1min, its a huge disadvantage coz you waste your starter motor. its not a huge disadvantage if you hold D for few minutes as i think.

ok cheers

u should not off d engine during traffic stops, just knw that to re-start d engine it consumes more fuel than ur aware of..