QuestionHi I have an automatic 1995 vitara 16v, I just wanted to know if it is ok/safe to put the tranny in neutral while the car is running(free wheeling, I had tried to have the car run at speeds of 80kph and move the shift lever to neutral and let it run until the speed goes down to 75, is it the same as towing the car, will it damage the tranny? I had read in one of your answers that it is not safe to tow an automatic vehicle even when it is on neutral.
Hoping that you can shed some light,
Thanks in advance,
Mike
AnswerBack in the dinosaur days, Automatic transmissions had a pump both on the input and output shafts.
That disappeared by about 1955, more or less. Back then, on some vehicles a dead car with an auto trans COULD be towed to a start, unlike today. Now the only pump is at the input, and only pumps fluid when the engine is running.
Now, it's necessary to disconnect the driveshaft to tow, because if the engine is not running, there is no fluid being circulated, and various things would run dry and be destroyed by friction and heat.
As far as being in neutral, It won't hurt it to put it in neutral at speed. The potential kicker is for how long. What you describe would be fine. If the engine were idling. I wouldn't tow very far or fast, but it would at least be better than with the engine off. I would just decellerate, rather than slipping it into neutral. It would keep more fluid going more places.
Hope that made sense. If not ask more questions and we'll go until it makes sense.
