Are you supposed to be able to turn the car off while driving, because I did the other day. Had to pull over to start the car.

 

Ya i have hear people talk about this on nissanclub.com when i had my Altima. IDK y nissan did that cause it seems like a safety issue to me.

 

If you had a key ignition switch and turned it off while driving, your car would shut down too. What's the difference?

I don't see this as a safety hazard, as much as a normal function. I could see having to hit the button twice to turn the car off...maybe that's what you're looking for?

 

The issue I can see is being on the interstate and not being able to restart the car on the fly the way you would with a normal ignition key . Or are you able to put it in neutral and restart?

 

I believe with my 07 I have to be in park for the starter to turn. I'd have to try that again to be 100%. I've only had the car a short while. All my other cars I could start it in park or neutral. Not sure why you can't start the maxima in N.

That said, going down the highway, you really don't want to turn off your car, push button, keyturn, or what ever. It's typically going to force you to stop, but now without power steering or power breaks, unless you can restart it in neutral.

I remember as a youngster I once challenged a guy that it was infact possible to push start an AT, but obviously speed was important during the push. As we were driving highway speeds, I put the car in N, turned it off, put it on without starting it, then shifted into drive...engine would crank right up every time. That was a rear wheel chevy monza, not sure what results would be on an 09 with CVT...I'm also certain I'll never try it with my car, even just to prove something to someone. It's not worth the potential for damage since i have a choice to do it or not.

 

I dont understand why would you even hit the button while you are driving anyway???????? There is nothing over by the Start/Stop button that would even allow you to make a mistake and hit the button. Nissan did just fine with not putting anything there. Half of the time I dont even see the button until i turn the car on/off.

 

That isn't the point. Sh*t happens sometimes and maybe you accidentally hit the button or maybe the car shuts off by itself for whatever reason. My original question still stands. Can you restart the car in neutral at highway speeds?

 

Supposedly yo have to press it 3 times while the vehicle is in motion, did you have to hit it 3 times to turn it off?

 

My Service Advisor had me do this once while we were troubleshooting the climate controlled seat...never again. Scared the ****ens out of me!! Plus just hitting the button again will let the car start (albeit very jerkily!) IMO you did the right thing pulling over and starting in a "normal" fashion.

 

Mreim769 - I'm not yelling at you or anything but how do you accidently hit the start/stop button. I want to know so i dont do it by accident myself. I mean its not like your pushing in or out the wiper stalk and your head slips off and hits the button. Just PM me.

 

Good question. Bump for the answer.

 

Very interesting situation. I had been happy the engine would be easy to turn off, because I have tried to train myself that, when I see an accident is imminent and unavoidable (like sitting at an intersection and a skidding vehicle will hit me in two seconds or so), I will try to quickly reach the key and turn the ignition off to reduce the chance of fire. With the pushbutton, that task is easier.

I had not thought of accidentally turning the engine off while sailing along the freeway at 80 MPH. Not a pleasant thought. It may be that, if the car is moving, we should have to tap the button twice.

My 1980s and 1990s Maximas could be restarted in neutral while rolling, but I didn't try that with my 2000 or 2004 Maximas. I don't know about this '09. Maybe MaxLoverAZ knows something with his 'tap the button three times to start when the car is rolling' thingie.

 

Thanks for the feedback everybody, I love it.

PS I hit the button just out of curiosity.

 

Light... please, please, please do not do this. As a fireman and trained as a vehicle rescue technician for the past nine years of my life it is extremely rare that vehicles catch fire after an accident. Especially newer ones. (and I have been at accidents that you can't even tell that it even was a car) But more importantly this is a huge safety factor.

If you turn your car off:
1. you risk the chance of disabling the airbags, no power, no airbags. not good
2. you could lose control of the vehicle. If stopped at an intersection and rear-ended, you might get pushed into the intersection into oncoming traffic. If your vehicle is still running, you could make some evasive maneuvers to get out of the way of the dump truck you were just pushed infront of.
3. still under loss of control: engine not running, no brake assist. leg injuries are common in accidents as we brace ourselves for impact, we straighten our legs and on impact tend to break our tib/fibs (two bones in the lower leg), ankles, or feet, which makes braking on a hard pedal even harder.

just my experiences, but I would never do this under any condition.

 

All great advice Blulytes. I was going to post similar, but looks like you covered all the bases.

But...to slight some of what you said.

Some cars are designed to shutoff their fuel pump during an impact. I had a few Lincolns before, and they all had a reset switch in the trunk for this, so you could enable the car and drive home if you got hit. I've seen it work with a rear end collision. Had to turn it on to drive home.

All I'm saying is, if they design cars to disable fuel pumps for safety after a collision, perhaps Lightonthehill is on to something...

 

I take it then that nobody really knows if you can restart it on the highway doing 80mph because nobody has been in that situation? I have scowered the service manual and I couldn't see it. Maybe someone has answered and I couldn't see it?

 

Seeing as how you own one...you should be able to figure out if it can. I don't think you need to do 80. Just find a vacant street, get to about 50, put it in neutral, and let's see what happens!

 

Ok....the point of me asking is so I don't have to. I was hoping somehow else had the chance to do it. I am not being lazy it's just we don't have too many vacant streets here in calgary I can go 50mph to safely put myself in that situation.

 

But knowing it works, and being told it works are two different things. Don't you want that extra confidence?

You could probably do this at 30 mph in a parking lot, and still come to a stop without having to reengage the transmission. For me that's the only thing I'd be worried about, taking it out gear, then back in. Chances are there'd be minimal wear or damage, but you just never know. At least you could go to N, turn off the car, hit the button several times, see what happens, and coast to a stop as needed.

Just do it!

 

Better yet, I will just wait until I get an answer from someone else. Thanks anyways uppet:

 

I’m still trying to understand the logic of wanting to know if the car can restart after one INTENTIONALLY shuts it down. An intentional shut down to me would indicate there was an emergency and the car really has to be stopped for it to be checked out.

 

These INTENTIONAL 'offs' were simply addressing the original poster's situation where he ACCIDENTALLY turned off the engine while flying down the highway, and properly guided his car off the road, stopped, then restarted it. He could have been on a freeway with no convenient emergency lane, and wondered if he could have restarted without pulling over. In other words, restarted in neutral, because he can't put his car in 'park' at freeway speeds.

I am fortunate in that I have a 300' long paved level driveway, with level lawn on both sides, so I will run this test the next time I go anywhere in the Maxima.

 

I see. I was going to ask the OP how the car accidently shut down. It turns out he was playing around with the button. IMHO, it is virtually impossible for an accidental shut down because it takes multiple pushes within a time period.

If anyone ever experinces the car ever shutting itself down by itself, it is time for a warranty visit.

BTW ... let us know what you find out.

 

I ran some tests today, and received a few surprises:

I tried half a dozen runs across my level 40' apron (just outside garage) and level 300' driveway. From speeds ranging from10 MPH to 25 MPH, I tried pushing the STOP button; NOTHING HAPPENED! ENGINE NEVER MISSED A BEAT! That surprised me.

I then tried pushing the STOP button TWO times in quick succession. Still the engine kept running.

I then tried pushing the STOP button THREE times in quick succession. STILL the engine kept running.

I tried this several runs at several speeds, and was never able to get the engine to stop as long as the car was moving.

I am now mystified as to how Maxima2009 was able to kill his engine while driving down the highway. Did he just ASSUME he must have accidentally hit the STOP button when his engine died?

Second surprise? THIS CAR STARTS JUST FINE WITH THE GEARSHIFT IN EITHER PARK OR NEUTRAL. This opens up all kinds of possibilities, such as restarting the engine in neutral while moving, should the engine die in a place where we can't pull over.

More later.

 

There's probably some type of threshold that keeps the car from turning off at the push of a button. For example, from residental driving (0-25 MPH) you aren't going too fast so there will be enough braking power to get you to a complete stop. However, accidently pressing the Stop/Start button at expressway speeds(55-85), there wouldn't be ample braking power/power steering to steer the car to a complete stop.....you get the point?

 

I ran the tests from 10 to 25 MPH, and couldn't get the car to cut off while moving. Actually, the car had probably slowed to 5 MPH by the time I finished pushing STOP on some runs. If the car won't let us cut the engine off at speeds from 5 MPH to 25 MPH, it certainly isn't going to let us do it at 50 MPH or 70 MPH.

I am convinced we cannot cut this engine off if the car is moving at ANY speed.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking. It wouldn't make any sense for the car to be able to turn off at any speed higher than 25 MPH.

 

Yes. Or lower than 25 MPH either. Once the engine cuts off, almost nothing works right. We could be waiting to cross a dangerous intersection, see a small break in the traffic, and start across. Our speed may have just gotten up to 10 or 20 MPH, but if we accidentally bumped against the STOP button, and the engine stopped, we would be sitting ducks.

I think Nissan did the wise thing in preventing us from stopping the engine if the car is moving, no matter how fast or slow.

 

Well guys, I did do it once by putting into neutral and pushing the power button (I can't remember how many times I had to hit it for sure) doing about 60 and then back into gear to restart. It did restart without engaging the starter. I don't recommend it though.

 

Yes, if the car is IN NEUTRAL, it can be done. I found that out this morning. And it can be restarted without using the tranny to force the engine to turn over.

I went to the top of a deserted hill (in one of the many new subdivisions near me that the recession killed before the first home was built), put the car in neutral, and stopped the engine. Then, ignoring the loud alarm beeping and the flashing screen ordering me to put the thing in park, I let it roll down a long grade. I was able to restart the engine in neutral every time by simply pressing the START button (while lightly pressing on the brake pedal), with no problem.

Should your engine unexpectedly conk out at a spot where you can't pull over, I would recommend immediately easing the shift lever up one step to neutral, turning on the emergency flashers, pressing the brake pedal very lightly (START button requires a foot on the brake), and pushing the START button. After the engine starts, then, once the car has slowed down somewhat, slip the shift lever back into drive and turn off the flashers.

As LtLeary warned us, it probably is not a good idea to drop the tranny in gear while moving as a way to restart the engine.

 

I was driving about 30 to 40 mph when I purposely hit the start/stop button and I was not in neutral. My friend in the passenger seat asked me what would happened if I did it, and I was curious. I was not on a highway or freeway, just a main street. I might have hit the button several times I don't remember.

 

That was exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks for another great info post

 

Thanks, Mreim769.

For those others here who may not be into trying to remember all the 'completeness' of the procedure I outlined in the previous post, if your engine dies while driving along the highway, simply:

Shift to NEUTRAL, put foot lightly on BRAKE, push START, shift back to DRIVE.

 

OK, I was able to recreate at will...at speed (in my case 70mph and in D) hit the stop button three times in quick order...the car will shut down. As stated earlier...hitting the button once, whilst in gear, will restart the engine. Hitting the button too rapidly won't work nor will pushing it too slowly.
Lt

 

I understand the tests you guys are doing, but why would anynody in their right mind want to hit the On/Off button while on the highway?...

1. Your risking f*cking your engine up
2. Your risking your life & passengers

Why people why!!...Oh the humanity..!....lol

 

Oh god...not this again.

 

Your reaction is probably the same as I would have had if I stumbled on this thread cold-turkey. But if we read carefully between the lines, this thread began because a poster accidentally turned his engine off. It gradually evolved into an analysis of whether a rolling restart is possible if the engine is ACCIDENTALLY turned off (or, for whatever reason, dies), and you are not in a situation where it is SAFE to coast to a stop and pull over.

Believe me, I am not into skydiving, bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, or even changing lanes without signalling, and I would guess the other posters in this thread have never played Russian Roulette either. If there is a good shoulder available, I would feel the best approach would be to turn on the flashers, slow to a stop on the shoulder, and restart the engine normally.

 

Gotcha thanks!