User Guide
Leaving Your Vehicle With the Engine
Running (Automatic Transmission
Only)
I
A
CATJTION:
It can be dangerous to leave your vehicle with the
engine running. Your vehicle could move
suddenly if the shift lever
is
not fully in PARK
(P)
with the parking brake firmly set. If you have
four-wheel drive with
a
manual transfer case
shift lever and your transfer case is in
NEUTRAL
(N),
your vehicle will be free to roll,
even if your shift lever is in PARK
(P).
So
be sure
the transfer case is in
a
drive gear
--
not in
NEUTRAL
(N).
And, if
you
leave the vehicle with
the engine running, it could overheat and even
catch fire.
You
or others could be injured. Don’t
leave your vehicle with the engine running unless
you
have to.
If you have to leave your vehicle with the engine
running, be sure your vehicle
is
in PARK
(P)
and the
parking brake is firmly set before you leave it. After
you
move the shift lever into PARK
(P),
hold the regular
brake pedal down. Then, see if you can move the shift
lever away from PARK
(P)
without first pulling it
toward you. If you can, it means that
the
shift lever
wasn’t
fully
locked into PARK
(P).
Torque Lock (Automatic Transmission)
If
you are parking on a hill and you don’t shift
your
transmission into PARK
(P)
properly, the weight of the
vehicle may put
too
much force
on
the parking pawl in
the transmission.
You
may find it difficult to pull the
shift lever out of PARK
(P).
This is called “torque lock.”
To
prevent torque lock, set the parking brake and then
shift
into
PARK
(P)
properly before
you
leave the
driver’s seat. To find out how, see “Shifting Into
PARK
(P)”
in the Index.
When
you
are ready to drive, move the shift lever out of
PARK (P)
before
you release the parking brake.
If torque lock does occur, you may need to have another
vehicle push yours a little uphill to take some
of
the
pressure from the parking pawl in the transmission,
so
you can pull
the
shift lever
out
of
PARK (P).
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