Car engine off going downhill on D
10

Asked by cromero101 Apr 24, 2015 at 10:51 AM about the 1996 Honda Civic EX

Question type: General

My car was overheating while on the
freeway.  I was going downhill so I shut
the engine off. I left the car on D4 and
sis not put it on N. I went downhill with
engine off in traffic for about 30 secs
to 1 minute.  Now the check engine
light is on.  Did I mess up my car?

7 Answers
95

Htwhlsmug93 answered 9 years ago

With it being an automatic I'm not sure if that damaged anything or not. To me the car is still in gear so the engine is still turning over, I normally leave my vehicle in N when going down hill anyway and use my brakes to slow. However I drive a manual, so I'm not sure if it's the same in an automatic.

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FordNut answered 9 years ago

Never never shut your engine off while at speed. The steering wheel could lock even if you put it back to run without starting, there is a moment that the wheel IS locked. Also, if engine is still turning you are damaging your catalytic convertor.

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FordNut answered 9 years ago

I'm curious Htwhlsmug93 why you do that. Leaving it in gear consumes less gas downhill than idling in neutral, and puts excessive wear on your brakes. While going downhill gravity is pushing your engine to turn and used NO fuel, and idling uses fuel

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10

cromero101 answered 9 years ago

Thanks everybody for your opinions. And that will be the last time I shut the online off while moving!

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