[FieldingMellish]

Let the wife try the new car. Three minutes in, whilst driving at about 15 mph, she shifted it into neutral. A sudden stop resulted. Has she damaged the transmission?

[willhollin]

[toxicnerve]

Should be fine as long as she didn't bang it back into D while the revs were high/the car moving I think...

Did the sudden stop come from her braking?

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by toxicnerve

Should be fine as long as she didn't bang it back into D while the revs were high/the car moving I think...

Did the sudden stop come from her braking?

I thought so, but she said no. It was a VERY sudden stop. I thought sh'd hit the brake, but she had shifted into neutral. Maybe she hit the brake too? Hard to say because we're not excatly chatting merrily right now.

F*CK SAKE!

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

I thought so, but she said no. It was a VERY sudden stop. I thought sh'd hit the brake, but she had shifted into neutral. Maybe she hit the brake too? Hard to say because we're not excatly chatting merrily right now.

F*CK SAKE!

Did the rear wheels lock or was it all four and was there any mechanical noise when it happened?
As far as I can remember from my E92 days - doesn't the brake have to be applied before you can move the gear selector out of drive? In which case any brake pedal force she'd applied when the car was under power would have been significantly amplified when the engine load was suddenly removed, resulting in a far quicker stop than normal.
Try moving the selector at very low speed without touching the brake, if the selector won't move, it's as I suggested above and you should be ok if the sudden deceleration was only from 15mph.

[DavS1]

Odd!

IIRC i've slipped into neutral by accident at speed and it quite simple disengauged drive and therefore the engine just revved......(like it would at standstill if in neutral without locking the g.box)

It will slip out of drive without having foot on brake pedal for safety but not the opposite way around.

to my mind, it sounds like it went into park or reverse somehow and maybe ended up in neutral after the sudden stop.....again, somehow?

[atariboy]

Why did she shift it in to neutral? Did she think she was driving a manual

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by atariboy

Why did she shift it in to neutral? Did she think she was driving a manual

So it would seem.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by Jon D

Did the rear wheels lock or was it all four and was there any mechanical noise when it happened? .

Dunno!

Originally Posted by Jon D

As far as I can remember from my E92 days - doesn't the brake have to be applied before you can move the gear selector out of drive? In which case any brake pedal force she'd applied when the car was under power would have been significantly amplified when the engine load was suddenly removed, resulting in a far quicker stop than normal..

Brake has to be pressed to come out of 'Park', but not out of 'Drive'.

Originally Posted by Jon D

Try moving the selector at very low speed without touching the brake, if the selector won't move, it's as I suggested above and you should be ok if the sudden deceleration was only from 15mph.

Yes, just been out and tried that, thanks. Seems you can (at least at very low speed) shift from D into N without anything happening at all.

She must have hit the brake.

Unless she went all the way into reverse!

Major stress fest.

[rich1068]

I'm guessing that if she was suffering from a bit of manual/auto confusion she knocked it out of drive and fumbled for the clutch but found the brake with her left foot. I would imagine the force she used with her left foot on the brake was enough to pull the car up sharpish.

Forgive her Mr Mellish! Take her out again and keep hold of her left leg!

[Desmondo]

That's why I got a manual

Is she now living in the shed?

[kaishang]

Don't worry about it. Driving around in neutral isn't that bad. It was probably brake application which caused the sudden stop. Unless she shifted into Park that is.

Don't tell her it's not that bad; maybe you can make up some punishment for her.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by rich1068

I'm guessing that if she was suffering from a bit of manual/auto confusion she knocked it out of drive and fumbled for the clutch but found the brake with her left foot. I would imagine the force she used with her left foot on the brake was enough to pull the car up sharpish.

Forgive her Mr Mellish! Take her out again and keep hold of her left leg!

Aye, we're speaking cordially again now.

Deffo think she hit the brake, mistaking it for a clutch. Have to admit, I did that once, first time I drove an auto.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

I thought so, but she said no. It was a VERY sudden stop. I thought sh'd hit the brake, but she had shifted into neutral. Maybe she hit the brake too? Hard to say because we're not excatly chatting merrily right now.

F*CK SAKE!

Come on, we've all done it - I know I have........forget that its an auto, press what you think is the clutch (really the brake) and pull the stick back to N, going for what you think is second gear.

In autos I have to stuff my left foot under the seat to stop me reaching for the clutch.

Fooking weirdo auto's....

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Come on, we've all done it - I know I have.

Forget that its an auto, press what you think is the clutch (really the brake) and pull the stick back to N, going for what you think is second gear.

Aye, I have done it myself. What freaked me out was that she initially said she hadn't hit the brake, that she had just slammed it into N. And since I hadn't tried that wee trick myself I didn't know that doing so would have no effect.

[rich1068]

You should have let her go out on her own. She'd have done the above, looked round to see if anyone saw, put it back into drive and driven home. You'd have been none the wiser

I do actually have a 'I don't want to know' attitude about my wife driving my car. So long as it comes back in one piece I try not to think about how she got from A to B and back again. That said, on the very few occasions that she drives me I make her so nervous she does daft things anyway. Most of the time she drives her own car which is pretty much spotless and she has a completely clean license. So she must be doing something right.

[dxb335d]

Car should be fine. I've had someone turn my fucking engine off at 100mph in gear. serjames you monkey!!!

The reason it stopped is because she braked.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by rich1068

You should have let her go out on her own. She'd have done the above, looked round to see if anyone saw, put it back into drive and driven home. You'd have been none the wiser

I do actually have a 'I don't want to know' attitude about my wife driving my car. So long as it comes back in one piece I try not to think about how she got from A to B and back again. That said, on the very few occasions that she drives me I make her so nervous she does daft things anyway. Most of the time she drives her own car which is pretty much spotless and she has a completely clean license. So she must be doing something right.

Agreed. And yes, she is claiming that my nerves put her off!

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Car should be fine. I've had someone turn my fucking engine off at 100mph in gear. serjames you monkey!!!

The reason it stopped is because she braked.

Hi Carlos. Yep, she braked. At least I now know the seat-belts work!

[I6Touring]

Think I've done this myself once, assuming it was in M mode and going for a downshift, but knocking it into N instead. It didn't stop the car, just coasted in neutral with the engine revs floating.

If it was going to wreck the 'box then there would surely be a lock between D and N at over a certain speed. She must have pressed the brake pedal.

[wayne71]

Originally Posted by Desmondo

That's why I got a manual

Is she now living in the shed?

Living in the Shed???

If it was my missus she'd be buried under the patio!!

In all seriousness I did it a few times in my e46 without any problems.

[Sportplus]

Originally Posted by rich1068

You should have let her go out on her own. She'd have done the above, looked round to see if anyone saw, put it back into drive and driven home. You'd have been none the wiser

I do actually have a 'I don't want to know' attitude about my wife driving my car. So long as it comes back in one piece I try not to think about how she got from A to B and back again. That said, on the very few occasions that she drives me I make her so nervous she does daft things anyway. Most of the time she drives her own car which is pretty much spotless and she has a completely clean license. So she must be doing something right.

I'm the same, Not a very good passenger in my car

I go nut's when she hit's potholes lol

Ment to say I've tried left foot braking, First time almost went through the windsceen

[FieldingMellish]

Well, my good lady wife just dropped me off at the office. Hope she's gentle with my baby today. Happily, we're having a "pre-Easter" drinks do this afternoon so I'll be able to soothe my nerves a bit...........