Had A pretty scary thing happen yesterday.

My 2002 F-150 tranny had some problems at about 180,000 miles. Took it to a good independent transmission shop and had it rebuilt. Works like new, no slippage or any other problems.

My wife has a new Hyundai Santa Fe. It has a "Hold" feature. When it is on and you stop the car it will hold in place until you step on the gas again. I do not trust it and keep my foot on the brakes.

I used to have a Lincoln with the "HOLD" button. It was wonderful at drive throughs. I miss it - the button, not the Lincoln. It was (prpbably still is) a nice little SUV, though.
 
Well It'll sound foreign to some of y'all...In winter especially many people go into stores and leave their engine running. Either keeping the dog(s) warm or the child seat when it's below zero midday. . In fact I did that with my diesel P/U. At 10 or more below engines and interiors get cold quickly...Now you have to understand...not much vehicle theft here...esp in winter...You see the same in Alaska...sometimes they even lock their vehicle
 
A week ago I intentionally broke a 4 foot fluorescent tube in the waste basket. The resultant flying glass bit me on the right arm, leaving a fairly deep 3" gash. My wife saw me do it and, thankfully, didn't say a word as she put butterfly bandages on my arm. In retrospect, I realize that, without exception, every injury or accident I've ever experienced has been the result of doing something stupid. And it's only taken me 81 years to learn that.
Yeah, my daughter can relate to this. She decided to jump on the back of her 27 year old horse two weeks ago without a bridle, saddle or helmet. She lasted about 2 seconds before being bucked off. She landed on her shoulder and back. We spent 2 days in ER and the hospital before she was released. She has a fractured scapula, collarbone, top rib, punctured lung and 5 fractured lumbar disc wings. She is 44 and knows better. She even admitted she wouldn't have done it if I had been around but it was just her and her mother. She is now paying the price for her stupidity. She is in a lot of pain and they have said it will take her around 6 months to completely heal from all her injuries. I was gonna say she wouldn't do that again but knowing her I won't because she might.
 
My policy is...if the motor is running....if I ever have to open the door...park brake applied FIRST.

Anytime the motor is running.


,
My wife and I got out of the habit after we both went back driving auto trannies, I hope we both get back into the habit.
Why do you leave vehicle running when you get out to do business?? Usually a good idea to turn it off.:unsure:
Only happens if one of us forgets something in the house, usually something like a phone or water jug.
 
A Little Long
Went down to the irrigation office yesterday.. Put the truck in park and went to the door. When I came back...opened the door grabbed the handhold on the door post got one foot on the trucks running board and before I could step up the truck which was running dropped out of park into reverse. Knocked me over...drug me down the road about 50-75 ft before I could get the door open enough to let go and roll away from the truck without getting legs or arms run over...still ran over my right hand...Don't know why it dropped into reverse. Truck ended up backing into a large electric pole. 100 feet or so away. ..the hitch hit dead center. The only damage other than to me was the pole got a gouge in it. BTW the truck is a 2007 Ford F-250 in exc condition. Many moons ago I had a close friend get out of her car at her roadside mailbox. The car went into reverse ran over and killed her...never thought something like that could happen to me...I must admit I am a sore puppy today. Just a word to the wise...try not to do stupid stuff...my wife's words to me!!
Thank you! As the owner of a 2017 F350, I'll certainly be a little extra careful.
 
Yeah, my daughter can relate to this. She decided to jump on the back of her 27 year old horse two weeks ago without a bridle, saddle or helmet. She lasted about 2 seconds before being bucked off. She landed on her shoulder and back. We spent 2 days in ER and the hospital before she was released. She has a fractured scapula, collarbone, top rib, punctured lung and 5 fractured lumbar disc wings. She is 44 and knows better. She even admitted she wouldn't have done it if I had been around but it was just her and her mother. She is now paying the price for her stupidity. She is in a lot of pain and they have said it will take her around 6 months to completely heal from all her injuries. I was gonna say she wouldn't do that again but knowing her I won't because she might.
Had several horses, including my Appy stud (had him for 34yrs) that I could & did ride without any tack at all. My horses were all leg, body cued & voice trained.
 
Glad you're ok, could have been very bad... 👍

My truck gets turned off every time I exit, no reason to let it run anyway.
 
A Little Long
Went down to the irrigation office yesterday.. Put the truck in park and went to the door. When I came back...opened the door grabbed the handhold on the door post got one foot on the trucks running board and before I could step up the truck which was running dropped out of park into reverse. Knocked me over...drug me down the road about 50-75 ft before I could get the door open enough to let go and roll away from the truck without getting legs or arms run over...still ran over my right hand...Don't know why it dropped into reverse. Truck ended up backing into a large electric pole. 100 feet or so away. ..the hitch hit dead center. The only damage other than to me was the pole got a gouge in it. BTW the truck is a 2007 Ford F-250 in exc condition. Many moons ago I had a close friend get out of her car at her roadside mailbox. The car went into reverse ran over and killed her...never thought something like that could happen to me...I must admit I am a sore puppy today. Just a word to the wise...try not to do stupid stuff...my wife's words to me!!
I was driving my small motorcycle down a main street about when 10 feet in front of me a car (with no driver in it) backed up across the street and T boned another car. I felt lucky I was not going fast.
 
My new car will not shut off without the automatic parking brake being applied. If you don't buckle up it will annoy you until you do. It won't let me fall asleep at the wheel either. I used to think automation was stupid but now realize that It's me and just go with the flow.
 
Never get out of the car and leave it running. Takes so little effort to restart it.
Back in the day, emergency equipment (lights, radio, etc) drew a lot of power that would run your battery down if left on too long (85 amp alternator). My first patrol radio had tubes in it and it would run the battery down by itself if I left it on too long (while not idling). Now everything is transistorized, light bars have LED’s, and alternators are a lot more powerful. Turning the patrol car off wasn’t an option.

However now that I’m retired I don’t leave my vehicles idling.
 
I spent the first 27 years of my life in California. There are lots of hills there , and I was taught to always use the the parking brake, since parking on a hill was more common than not. When parking on a hill you had to put the car in park if it was an automatic transmission or leave it in gear if it was a stick (reverse for downhill, low for uphill), apply the parking brake, and curb your right front tire. The "Park" function of an automatic transmission was not considered a reliable substitute for the parking brake, because it consisted of a small rod that kept a transmission gear from rotating. If it slipped or broke, the car would roll away, so applying the brake was the thing to do.

Last week, I got to drive a new Lexus RX 350 loaner while my vehicles were being serviced. It had neither a parking brake nor a park position on the gear selector. When you were through driving, you simply pushed a very small square button marked "P" next to the thumb sized shift stub, and turned off the engine. The P button apparently combines the the "Park" and parking brake functions. That's useful for people that can't be bothered to use both:rolleyes:, but I wonder how effective it is on a steep hill. So keep on curbing your tires, folks!
 
Turn it off..................................!!!!

I don't care how your vehicle works; if you're getting out of it, turn it off.
It took a long time to break my wife of turning the car off if we're changing drivers on a road trip. I saw a semi hauling a full load of cattle stuck after a rebuild. The driver had checked his truck, drove 120 miles where we loaded the cows and he had shut the truck off. It turned out that a valve keeper had come off and dropped a valve onto the piston jamming the engine. He was already next to the corral so we had an easy spot to unload the cattle. 60 mile drive for a tow rig big enough to handle truck and trailer and arranging for another truck to haul the cows wasn't on anyone's agenda.

So 1 /4th of the cows didn't make the sale, got hit with a 2 week feed bill and $0.03 less price per lb. Gramps was not happy. I have also had starters die and need repairs. I do not need to turn off an engine on an off ramp 45 miles from a town of 200 people.

Skeet, Glad your OK. I subscribed to the theory for many years that rust and ice can keep a parking brake from releasing so never put it on below freezing. I may revise that.
 
Being old, I remember when the park position was quite positive (parking pawl was a tooth that went into a notch in the tranny?). It wasn't unusual to see folks have to get their car slightly "bumped" to take the pressure off if they parked on a grade and didn't set the parking brake firmly (or at all) before putting it into park. Don't know how the park position works now, but "the bump" isn't necessary anymore. I learned to ALWAYS firmly set the parking brake, let it take the load and then use the park position.

Once in awhile the wife has to come in and ask me to release the parking brake if I've used her car. Have to admit if I've had to drive in slush and the temps are low enough, I won't use the parking brake. I have had the cable freeze. Still turn my wheels into curbs if they're available and I'm on a hill. Visiting town, I wonder if they even teach that anymore or if most folks just don't bother. Back in the day, a picky LEO would stroke a ticket on that if the hill was steep.
 
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