AMT lovers read this

PB,Let's say that you come down a hill with a manual with a dead engine. 5 miles.What will that do to your gearbox,in your opinion?

 

I shifted gears for 15 years. Stopped shifting gears the last six. I have no desire to go back to shifting gears. But if you enjoy shifting gears then who am I to stop you from doing so. But then who are you to tell me I'm wrong?
Auto or manual, peanut butter or jelly, boobs or booty. Can't we all just get along?

 

Nothing going

Forward won't Everything is still turning. Even the in the engine oil pump etc. Why would you perceive damage.

Very extended load may cause wear on the gears due to finish and heat treatment on the non loaded side but I doubt it

 

Won't be any different than coming down the same hill without ever touching the throttle. Input shaft on the transmission is still spinning (because you're still in gear) so the transmission is still being lubricated. If you knock it out of gear (such as the case where the AMT decided to go into neutral), then I'd be concerned with the bearings and such in the transmission, because they are typically lubed by the rotation of the input shaft (which is why you have to remove the drive shaft while towing to prevent damage).

Leave it in gear and you're fine. Only possible "bad outcome" would be if the engine shut down due to low (or non-existent) oil pressure after an oil pump failure...but you'd know that if you'd been watching your gauges. In that case, the engine is going to have to be worked on anyway, but you should still stop ASAP to prevent excess internal damage to components lubed by the engine oil.

Bottom line, in an "oh $#!+" situation, you're ALWAYS going to be better and better equipped to manage the situation if you have total control over as much of the vehicle as possible...which means a manual transmission at the very least.

 

Here is where we differ in opinion.Just because you can do something ,it doesn't mean you should do it.The problem i have with all the supporters off manuals is that they give the impression it is ok to go down a hill with a dead engine.I do not agree.Stopping as soon as the engine dies is to me the ONLY correct action.

 

I had one electrical failure that killed my engine when I was driving a Manual transmission. Luckily I was going on level ground and left it in gear to 1 keep my air pressure up to stop with from 75 and second to help slow me down. However another driver at my last carrier had a failure of his electrical system and his AMT threw itself into neutral as a Safety function to prevent damage that is what Eaton Fuller told us. He was not so Lucky he was coming Down Cajon Pass when it happened and needed to hit the Runaway ramp to stop. He went 200 feet INTO the gravel before it stopped.

 

It all depends upon the situation, which is where the driver comes into play. If you're on a narrow & winding road with little or no shoulder, but you know at the bottom is a large pull-off, then the prudent thing to do would be to make your way to that pull-off if possible to do so safely because it would be EXTREMELY unsafe to stop immediately blocking a travel lane half way around a blind curve. If there is a nice, wide shoulder and you have plenty of room to get out of harms way immediately, then sure, stop immediately.

Personally, I won't ask anybody else to risk their life because of a decision I made if I have the choice. Blown tire? I continue on up the road and find a SAFE place to park and have the tire replaced. Even when my engine let go, I shut 'er down, knocked it out of gear, and coasted a mile and a half up the road to a rest area instead of stopping on the shoulder with traffic zipping by @ 70+ mph. There is no reason to place lives in danger if you have the ability to get out of harms way. Just because something happens doesn't mean it is an instant emergency, and even if it IS an emergency, the best solution isn't always to "stop immediately". A good driver will analyze the situation, weigh his options, and make a decision based upon the current conditions...so yeah, I want as many possible solutions as possible at my disposal in order to keep my options open. I prefer being able to select the BEST option for a given scenario, not be forced into a "lesser of 2 evils" because of the limitations of the equipment I'm working with.

 

PB,we not talking about being on flat ground.This thread is about going down a serious hill.The way some off you have posted on this subject ,any newbee reading this thread will think it is ok to continue decending a hill with a dead engine.Think about it.Is that really the message you want??

 

You're being an equally ignorant person yourself.