Shift to neutral on stops (long lights etc) ?

Magnum · **Posted:** Fri Apr 18, 2008 6:10 pm

Scott Langohr wrote:

[
What is the difference in sliding the shifter between drive and neutral on ours and stepping on the clutch of a stick and shifting to neutral between gears? The transmission on a stick is never engaged when the clutch is depressed. Ignorant government intervention at work again. Some nucklehead politition is probably pretty proud of getting this one passed for "the greater good; comrades" We are just bitter hayseed hicks that are driven to cling to our bibles and guns while waiting for the government to take over our lives for us. After all, these eleteist are way smarter than we are.

I have no problem with you, Magnum, as you were just reporting the facts. It's the facts I have a problem with.

Sorry but that struck a raw nerve and I wouldn't blame the moderators for deleting this and putting me on probation

no offense taken. this law is also why big rigs go through intersections so slowly they are not supposed to shift in the intersection

also tried the neutral at some intersection rpm went up a little so more fuel burned

railguy · **Posted:** Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:20 pm

I put my CRD in neutral whenever I'm sitting at a stop light for more than a few seconds--unless, as someone else pointed out, I'm trying to get the vehicle warmed up from a cold start. I've done this on every automatic-transmission-equipped vehicle that I've driven for nearly the last 40 years. In hundreds of thousands of miles of driving in numerous vehicles, I have had only one automatic transmission failure, and it was caused by a manufacturing defect in the transmission. Shifting into neutral takes a load off of both the engine and transmission, and helps prevent heat buildup in the transmission. It also lessens the load on the cooling system, which otherwise must work harder to dissipate the additional heat. Lessening those loads also reduces fuel consumption. The only "downer" is that the driver must remember to shift the tranny back into drive before the light turns green--a minor inconvenience for the benefits. By the way, I learned this trick from my Mechanical Engineer dad when he taught me to drive--one of his specialties was--guess what?--fluid hydraulics.

chrispitude · **Posted:** Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:04 pm

Magnum wrote:

also tried the neutral at some intersection rpm went up a little so more fuel burned

More fuel is burned at a stop in D than in N. This is because the transmission is attempting to drive the vehicle forward against a load. The RPMs drop because the transmission is under load, but more fuel is burned in the process. This has been confirmed by several people who have monitored the GPH (gallons per hour) fuel consumption rate both ways with the Scangauge. See earlier in this thread.

- Chris

Uffe · **Posted:** Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:03 am

If I change from N to D while coasting at more than 20MPH I get a shudder when it engages the gear. I have therefore decided not to coast in N unless I know I will have to come to a complete stop before changing back to D.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:25 am

Coasting in D does not load the engine and does not wast fuel, in fact it can help reduce brake wear. When the engine starts to load at the stop is when it starts to waste fuel.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:48 pm

007husky wrote:

Jeepjeepster wrote:

Its much easier to replace the brake pads than it is to replace worn out solenoids in the tranny. Seems to me like this puts alot of un-needed wear and tear on the tranny.

Only time I would worry about the tranny over heating is in heavy traffic(alot of stop and go) or when pulling big loads. Its actually recommended in the OM to shift in N when stopped if your in traffic or towing but I do not believe you need to do it at every light.

Bunchs pansys complaining about it being to hard to push a brake pedal.

nono, having an AT is for pansys

has a lot of drawbacks like:
worst fuel economy than a properly operated manual.
bad driving habits (like taping on brakes constantly therefor creating trafic by starting a chain of braking) or going 0 to 35 in 1 second then slow down.
lasts less than most manuals and are more expensive to maintain when they break
easy to drive, so all the bad drivers get access to a cars sooner

keeps your hands un-bussy, so you can drink, eat or talk on the phone (promoting any activity that distracts you from the road)
wears your brake pads n rotors unesesarely
loads the engine unesesarely
no control of shiftpoints (so your car manufacturer can neuter your car by messing with the programing *coughs*

and i can make up a few more

yet, i haven't seen a crd with manual trans in the US, AND i love my crd. so i drive AT.

Now, seriously. it just bugs me to have to put considerably pressure on the pedal when i brake at a stop light or to stop my truck . It seems i m fighting the trany all the time.
May be something is out of wack in my setup.

I can agree and understand alot of those things.

Though you will not be finding any factory US 05-06 KJ CRDs with a manual trans, only the 545 was offered in this country, and ONLY with 4wd, and only the NP242.

Which is fine by me. Having a 2wd Jeep to me is like having a (rooster) without a pair of (golf balls). And the 242 is my favorite transfer case.

Now if you wanted to convert it would only be a matter of money........

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:46 pm

A couple of observations on the above.

1) When mnitoring the load and gallons per hour with my ScanGauge there is significant less load when parked in N. There seems to be slightly better saving in N than in P.

2) When monitoring downhill performance there is a greater savings in D then there is in N if the hill is steep enough to carry you coasting with it in D. I used to coast some on long downhill's but when I got the ScanGuage I noticed that it wasn't helping and actually hurting sometimes.

Shift to neutral on stops (long lights etc) ?

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