Hi guys… I accidently drove my suv in Drive 2 for 5 minutes reaching 60 mph.
It was dark and late at night, and I had my music really loud so I didnt notice anything until I merged on the highway and was crossing a bridge. I felt the car having trouble increasing speed, and when I turned on the inside lights, I realized my automatic was in D2. Once I caught my mistake, the car had a LOUD knocking noise, and It required delicate acceleration the entire way home.
WHAT DID I DO?!?!?!
Im freaking out I did major damage, please give me advice on what to expect when i restart and drive in the morning.
further details: Its a 2001 Lexus LS suv
Normally I would say a few minutes in D2 would not do any damage. We do that to the manual cars some times if not often.
But the part about the knocking noise and delicate driving makes me worried. What is the car doing now? Is there an extra light, check engine or other on or blinking?
Also, just try to start the car, put in drive and see if it is fine.
About 50k miles ago I was like I cannot get up to speed, locked into low by mistake, still rolling.
First, check the oil level…if low, bring to the full line on the dipstick. Then (as stated above) start it…if quiet, drive it.
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When I first got my 2012 Camry that both my wife and I drive, we were not getting anyway near the mileage I expected, All became clear when I had my eyes dilated and my wife had to drive home. We were on the interstate and I could hear the engine revving much higher than normal. The shift lever on the Camry is pulled straight back to drive. To shift the automatic manually you must shift into drive and then left to select lower gears. My wife knows and cares about nothing mechanical. To be fair to her , Toyota did put the D for drive on the left side of the lever. Gas mileage went up to very good. No harm done, that was 6 years ago. This should not have caused any knocking, Check your oil.
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+1
…which leads to the inevitable question:
When was the last time that the OP checked his/her oil?
I normally check my oil every 2-3 weeks, but if I was driving a 16 year old vehicle I would check the oil every week.
The Lexus LS is a full sized sedan. The LX and GX are truck-based SUVs, with the RX being a car-based crossover. The good news is that the ECU won’t allow to exceed a certain RPM. The LX is a rebadged Land Cruiser, it’s very well built. I’d check the oil before you start it, and, if it’s at the normal level, start the engine and see what it sounds like.
ive waited over night and left car alone for 8 hours, but the knocking is still loud at the start and continues in reverse and drive. Im too worried that i blew the transmission last night so im not going to drive it today. will check my oil, but truely dont think thats a “need oil” noise… my check engine light is malfunctioned and always stays on, so i can answer that part- but there isnt any new lights blinking or on in the dash.
Okay we checked the oil before starting the car and it was normal levels then we started the car and rechecked the oil and the oil was halfway up the stick
…so, as a result, you have no idea whether there is one long-term problem, or two, or twenty.
Please begin by checking both the engine oil and the transmission fluid, and then reporting your findings.
Incidentally, back in the '70s I accidentally drove my automatic transmission Dodge Charger in second gear–at high speed on I-75–most of the way from Cincinnati to Dayton, OH, and aside from my embarrassment, there was no damage to anything.
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Perhaps you’ll learn now that this is a really bad idea?
In addition to not hearing bad things happening to your vehicle, you also won’t be able to hear things like horns, other vehicles, first-responder sirens, and other things important to your health and welfare… and maybe that of the other drivers sharing the road with you.
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+1
Loud music, plus some… amorous attentions 
… caused me to be unaware that I was driving my Charger in 2nd gear for probably about 40 miles–at high speed. Luckily, my car suffered no damage from my negligence.
Can you please clarify that?
Where was the oil level in relation to the “full” mark on the dipstick?
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Your check engine light isn’t malfunctioning, it is letting you know there is an issue. and now, you have a new issue- which may or may not be related to the previous issues you had.
For some clarification: Does the vehicle make this new noise when sitting in the driveway running? or only when driving? Does the noise get louder or faster when driving?
As @FoDaddy said, the vehicles computer (ECU) shouldn’t let you over rev the engine, and thus you shouldn’t be able to hurt it or the transmission by driving in D2.
See if someone has a DTC scanner you can borrow and get the DTC codes read. I’m almost wondering if you haven’t had killed a catalytic converter and the noise you are hearing is the insides of it bouncing around.
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Concur w/advice above, ask your shop to figure out via the stored diagnostic codes what’s causing the CEL to come on. That may provide a clue to the knocking problem. No sense trying to debug the knocking problem until that’s done. The engine oil level seems ok, no next fluid check should be the transmission fluid level. Your shop tech should be able to offer some guidance what’s causing that sound after you take them for a test drive. Hard to say via the internet what it is. Don’t assume it is the transmission without having a proper diagnosis done, b/c it could be anything, even a coincidence having nothing to do with the D2 incident. I wouldn’t have guessed driving in D2 would damage anything in any event, the car’s systems have safety features which prevent over-reving to the point something expensive to fix gets damaged. It may be an drive belt accessory or pulley has been damaged by the high revs. Take your car to a good shop and ask them to diagnose the CEL problem, and listen to the noise and offer up an opinion what’s causing it.
I think the OP checked the oil with the engine off and then again with the engine running because they were not sure how it should be done.
They may have serious engine damage that is just coincidental to driving in the wron gear.