When I bought my car at the dealer I noticed that the car was kept in reverse gear when it was off. I keep it in neutral (with the parking brakes on of course). Does it matter what gear it's kept in?

Also, are there remote starters out there offered that work only when the car is in neutral? I am contemplating getting one, but I fear me or someone accidently leaving it in gear, I start it and kaboom! Instant crash or worse, I hit an innocent bystander while no one is even behind the wheel. Anything out there anyone can suggest?

 

Probably the car lot jockey just turned the key off after parking your car in reverse and jumped out in a hurry.

I always keep mine in second gear as a habit. There was a reason for it that was explained to me a long long time ago (70's) but I forgot. Something to do with the position of the actual second gear and it being the most secure, maybe.

Yes, there are remote starters out there that will only work when the gear is in neutral by design. The ones I've seen works by keeping the engine running when you switch it off, remove the key and shuts the engine off automatically when you open and close the driver's door. This way it can guarantee the gear is in neutral when you exited.

 

You should leave the car in gear when you park it as a safety measure.

Your primary safety measure is your emergency brake with the car left in gear as a secondary measure.

If your emergency brake ever fails for some reason (or you don't have it on hard enough) the car will not roll because you're in gear.

Keep in mind, you should NOT park you car with it in gear only - always use the e-brake. This is because using your tranny to keep the car from moving, puts un-needed strain on it.

Obviously though, if you want to use remote start, you won't be able to leave it in gear. All good remote start systems have a safety feature built in that will not allow the system to try to start with it in gear.

 

Well... I finished the install this weekend. I've had the remote start in the car for about 6 months or so, but without the gear safety switch.

Basically speaking, all remote starts have (or should have) a wire that attaches to the automatic transmission's wires and detects ground when the car is in park or neutral. Having a manual transmission means that you don't have this wire. But you do. For the 2002-2003, pin #44 of the ECU is the PNP (Park-Neutral Position) switch wire. You can connect this wire to the toggle switch of the remote start, then connect the other end of the toggle switch to the transmission gear detection wire of the remote start.

The PNP of the ECU should show +12v whenever the car is in any gear, including reverse. When the car is in neutral, the wire should show a ground. This ground is what the remote start unit is looking for in order to activate.

I fully tested the setup this weekend. If the car is in gear, the remote start will not activate. As a test, I sat in the car with the car in neutral. I remote started the car and let it run. Then I pushed the clutch down (to save the car from jumping anywhere) and moved the shifter into gear. Immediately the car died. This is because the remote start no longer saw ground on this wire.

If your remote start unit does not have a transmission sense wire, get a new remote start unit.

My unit is a DEI Valet 551T and also requires the DEI 555U transponder bypass module as well.

If your install is done properly, here's how the car should function:

When the remote start is NOT engaged, you must press the clutch down in order to start the car.

When the remote start IS NOT engaged, your 555U unit should NOT be sending the key chip signal to the car.

When the remote start IS engaged, you should not have to press the clutch in order to start the car.

When the remote start IS activated, the remote start should not ever activate if the car is in gear. It also should not activate if the hood is open. It should also not activate if the parking brake is not on.

When the remote start IS activated, the remote start should shut down if the hood is opened. The remote start should also shut down if the brake pedal is pressed. The remote start should also shut down if the parking brake is released.

I will eventually be giving a wiring diagram on the installation, but I'm still cleaning up all the projects in the car. Sometime soon, I will be shorting all the wires under the dash to their final lengths. When I do that, I will do the write-up then.

I can answer questions on the install as needed, but remember that some questions take me some time to respond to them, as I have to refer to my notes from the original install.

 

The manual indicates that you should place the car in reverse when parked unless the car is likely to roll back in which case you use 1st.

 

I usually park in first gear plus the e-brake. I do know that for certain manual tranny cars (some of the worlds safest) you cannot park in neutral, only in reverse.

 

Hey All,

I left my month old 2000 SE on a hill, in my driveway, with it in reverse, to come back and find it about 20 feet from where I left it, just missed the car it was replacing, my 2000 Mustang. Maximas will move in gear! So always set the emergency brake! I forgot another time to find it sitting in the street, this time the neighbors saw it moving and came and got me.

First and reverse are the only gears to park it in, takes less effort and car will drift easier in the higher gears, how fast can u go in 5th, at 1000 RPMS? Engine needs to rotate faster to move in the lower gears, and reverse is the lowest gear we have. Which means with the hood downhill, park in reverse and the engine needs to rotate backwards for the car to move, with the trunk facing downhill, park in 1st and the engine will need to rotate backwards for the car to drift.

Hope this is useful,

Don

 

But beware, your parking brake can stick in the winter... causing rear brake problems. (yeah I'm making a big stink about this everywhere )

Right now on fairly level surfaces I'm parking mine in 1st gear, it should be OK... on steep inclines I'd be worried. I'm keeping a set of wheel chocks in my car from now on just in case.

 

If what you are saying is true, then when we go in reverse our rpm gauge should turn counter clockwise, right?... That means your the engine will all of a sudden stop idling at 600-700 rpm and spin ccw when you throw it in reverse....
Cataclysmic mechanical failure would be the result.

FYI, it doesn't matter what direction your car is facing or moving, your motor/engine will only spin in one direction...the direction it was designed to crank in....in which case, for maximas it would be clockwise.... hint... hint.. you start the motor first before you change gear in tranny to go in the direction you want to go and you idle in one direction only. It is the transmission that controls the direction rotation of your drivetrain.

 

driveway is a very steep hill...learned the first day i got my max that not setting the parking brake AND putting it in gear would be hazardous to my insurance premiums...luckily i was only a few feet from the car as it began to roll back...from then on it's been in gear the brake applied every single time it's parked....waiting for this cold weather to f me up with always having to have the brake pulled too...

 

Yep, I can't park mine in our driveway with only the tranny in gear... it WILL roll. (saw it first-hand... it kinda rolls in "thumps"). Gotta use the parking brake, even though it will result in severely stuck rear brakes tomorrow morning...

 

Nope -- When u r in reverse, you are in a reverse gear from being in 1st - 5th, meaning the engine must run in the same direction as when u r in 1st - 5th, and yes, your engine will only run in one direction. Run is the operative word here, if the engine is not running, it is certainly possible to turn it over backward. It certainly will not run this way, since the valves would be venting gas and sucking exhaust, which would be air, since the engine is not running.

But I have had a strongarm wrench on the end of the crank before, of course the engine was on a stand, but it will turn backwards. And I should note, the heads were off, with the heads on, a strongarm wrench would need superman to turn it.

With the engine in the car, on a hill, hood facing downhill, in reverse, not running, the engine will have no other choice than to spin backwards, or the clutch will have to slip to prevent it, wheels r connected to the tranny, tranny is connected to the clutch, which is connected to the crankshaft. Pistons will not have a compression stroke, since the exhaust valves will be open.

So if you hood is facing downhill, you should park in 1st, so u have the advantage of the compression stroke to hold the car.

Can anyone else verify this?

Don

 

Geez, doesn't driver's ed teach anything anymore?

Don't forget to turn your wheels when parked on a hill.

Turn them towards the curb. This way, if you start to roll, you don't go out into the street.

Doesn't help much on a driveway, I'll admit.

 

I always park in N and use hand brake....

 

Then how is it possible to start the motor/engine in its intended crank rotation when you pop the clutch either in 1st gear or reverse? Yes I can do it all the time in my dad's 280zx in reverse down a short but inclined driveway....the motor still cranks in proper direction.

 

Whan trying to start a car through popping the clutch like that, you have the gear selected corresponding to the direction the car is moving.

 

Are you actually claiming to bump start in reverse while rolling forward? start in first while rolling backward?

BS. Total BS.

Now, if you're trying to say that you can start the car in reverse while rolling backwards, that's because the transmission will turn the engine in the correct direction.

Do you have ANY concept of how a transmission works?

Here's one tiny clue: www.refdesk.com look up transmission in a dictionary.

Also, go to www.howthingswork.com, and look at all the pretty pictures after you look up 'transmission'.

Geez.

 

Easy SkyDaver, Alot of folks don't understand how it all works, or why. It just does... And that is ok! the magic of a automatic tranny has made it a little more difficult to understand.

I have always wondered why the manufacterer of cars have not put in a safeguard to prevent the engine from turning in reverse, or why the wheels do not free wheel, meaning tires turn independent of the transmission. Like only hooking up when there is tension on the wheel. Say if you could drift without the engine increasing speed, like being in neutral, say in overdrive, when going downhill or coasting, having the wheels turn freely, no longer hooked to the tranny, I bet it would really increase mileage. Would have to be a way to turn it on and off, since you need it for braking.

Don

 

Then all the theives have to do is cut the e-brake line and roll on!

 

The main reason behind leaving the car in gear is to make sure it won't be moved (or will be very hard to move). The higher the gear ratio -correct me if I'm wrong, the harder it is to move the car. That way, the "stronger" gear is the reverse, then the 1st, and so on.
I always leave my car in 1st or reverse, and that is more effective than e-brake. The likelyhood of e-brake cable to break is higher than someone take thye spark plugs off your car. Using the e-brake in cold weather is bad because the pad may stick to a rotor.

 

I'm pretty sure my manual states to always park in 1st gear, and not 2nd.
I made it a habit to always pull up the e-brake and leave it in 1st. Sometimes in reverse, but never not in gear. The e-brake can pop, it happened to me, and the car will just start rolling. And the more you use it, the less chance it will freeze on you. Always use the e-brake, and gear, 1st or reverse.
Be safe

 

I suspect that the small gain of having a freewheel mechanism is far outweighed by the additional mechanical complexity of both the freewheel, and a freewheel engage/disengage system.

 

I believe autos will behave close to what you describe when the torque converter is unlocked.

 

You missed the whole context of my point...

I guess i do have to explain detail for detail....

When popping the clutch, with the car in the forward direction (say someone is pushing your car forward or your car is facing downhill already), you put in 1st gear.

When popping the clutch, with the car in the reverse direction (say someone pusing your car backwards or your car is facing uphill already), you would put it in reverse.

Either way the engine will only crank or rotate in one direction: The direction from the factory. The tranny's gearing setup will (along with your clutch if it's in decent shape) crank your motor and cause the electrical to chemical/physical combustion reaction that will eventually start the motor in its designed rotation.

To my knowledge most internal combustion engines are designed to run and operate in a certain direction only.

 

Here's a response I made on an earlier post....

FYI, it doesn't matter what direction your car is facing or moving, your motor/engine will only spin in one direction...the direction it was designed to crank in....in which case, for maximas it would be clockwise.... hint... hint.. you start the motor first before you change gear in tranny to go in the direction you want to go and you idle in one direction only. It is the transmission that controls the direction rotation of your drivetrain.

My advice is to read all the threads thouroughly before repeating comments already made.

 

Same here, the whole thing about leaving it in gear is "old school". Our cars have a strong emergency brake, there is really no need to park it in gear. I park my car on the hills of the Jersey City Heights quite often, and those hills are quite steep and my car never rolls back. The only modern car I know that rolls with just the e-brake up is the Corvettes, they always have to park the damn cars in gear, I had to chase my gf's once down the street, I didn't know..lol

 

I'm not sure if anyone has corrected or pointed this out yet, but actually reverse is not the lowest gear ratio. On both the manual and automatic 1st is lower geared than reverse.

This is fairly common in most cars as you only have one gear for going backwards and although there is really no reason to go terribly fast, it needs to be more versatile(cover a greater range of speed) than 1st gear (one of many to move forward).

1st gear is the best gear to use to hold the vehicle in place.