I am hoping to all things holy that I didn’t jack the transmission but I was driving on the interstate during rush hour traffic when I had to brake hard when traffic came to a standstill. The laptop backpack sitting in the front passenger seat surged forward and the strap caught the gear shift and pushed it from Drive all the way to the top in Park. Realizing what had happened, I quickly unstrapped the bag, shifted back into drive, and went on my way. Nothing appeared to be wrong on the home but now I am very nervous. Should I be concerned?
I would find a steep hill, facing uphill put it into Park, does it roll backwards when you let off the brake?
Now face downhill, does it roll? If Park still holds it in place you should be ok.
Most automatic transmission shifters will not go into Reverse or Park unless the button in the top or side of the shifter is pushed. If you did not hear, a loud grating sound the parking mechanism probably did not get engaged. If you are moving, the parking pawl i.e. the locking arm, will not engage the parking gear and will bounce along the top of the teeth. If the pawl does manage to engage the gear a tire(s) will probably break free and you will skid to a stop. But do as Goldwing suggested. You are most likely okey.
It sounds like the button that’s supposed to be pressed to move past neutral into reverse or park isn’t working correctly, unless the strap somehow managed to push the button in, which seems unlikely. You should check this out and fix it if necessary (before you drive around with any loose articles, pets, or kids).
I don’t have a button on the gear shift of the 2004 Solara. This car has an automatic transmission. With that said, I just wanted to ask if anyone knows of potential problems that may occur down the road as a result of this type of action as there appears to be no immediate consequences. Thoughts?
If the car stays put on a hill as Goldwing suggested, you are good to go with no potential problems related to this in the future.
I thought all automatics had this for safety reasons. I guess I’m wrong.
Thanks to everyone for their great input. I will give the hill parking test a try and report back. This will be a great relief if it holds.
My '05 tC does not have a button either. Many new cars are going to that zig-zag shift pattern for automatic trannys that dispenses with the button. It allegedly allows the driver to shift the gears “manually” (or at least a simulation of such) rather than simply leave it in “D”. Without the button it feels more like really shitfing, feels sportier. The new Hyundae Tiburon even comes with “paddle shifters”, until recently only available on supercars and racecars.
Your experience is a lesson to us all to be careful what we set on the passenger’s seat. I know I’ll remember it. I’m sure that if you’d done any damage you’d have heard it happen.
Sincere best.
No, not all.
I would suspect that most/all that don’t (and many that do) are mechanically or electronically protected such that they won’t shift into reverse or park while moving more than one or two MPH.