leaving an automatic in gear while parked up, drains the battery.

Cobra said:
I tried to short cut it through the address and I'd say so to :D

WARNING!
THIS IS A FORD MOTOR COMPANY PRIVATE COMPUTER SYSTEM. USAGE MAY BE MONITORED. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR USE MAY RESULT IN CRIMINAL OR CIVIL PROSECUTION, DISCIPLINE UP TO AND INCLUDING TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT, TERMINATION OF ASSIGNMENT, OR LOSS OF ACCESS.
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Ouch. :eek: (hope you aren't called into see the management on Monday :LOL: )
 
Reversing lights left on?

On many automatics, you can turn engine off in gear, but you can't extract the key from the lock until in park.

On manuals, to prevent engine damage such as timing chain or belt jumping, its preferable to put the car into a gear which the car would naturally drive in if parked on a hill - so if parked nose up, it would want to roll back, so reverse. If parked nose down, it would want to roll forwards, so a forwards gear.
 
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the black fox said:
My Volvo S60 won't let me remove the key unless it's in P
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Ditto my seat Leon. (True of every automatic I've owned.) is this another case of a new system as keyless being touted as 'progress' while offering no advantages, but lots of drawbacks?
 
I work in the motor trade and never have been able to remove keys from an auto unless it was in park. As they tend to have an interlock system to prevent you doing so.

Also even if you left in gear it wouldn't hold the car like a manual does when you leave it turned off and left in gear. Auto gearboxes work on oil pressure so if the engine isn't running there isn't oil pressure in the gearbox so no gear would be selected. Park works by using a physical manual lock on the gearbox out put shaft to the gearbox case to stop it moving.
 
ian-83 said:
I work in the motor trade and never have been able to remove keys from an auto unless it was in park.
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Keyless. ;) (well at least not having to actually physically insert a key)
 
ian-83 said:
I'll try with a keyless car but I am sure it has to see park selected to switch off
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I have one & I can just press the stop/start button in P or N. I can then move the shift to any position if I press the start button again (without my foot on the brake, which would obviously start the engine)
 
ian-83 said:
I'll try with a keyless car but I am sure it has to see park selected to switch off
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Mine has a knob to change gear (well, so did all the manuals I've driven but that's a different type of knob!) and can be turned off (Start/Stop button) in any selector position. It automatically turns the knob to P from S,D or R and beeps at you in N. (Jaguar XF - all variants seem to do the same, at least the ones they've given me as courtesy cars have. Haven't tried a V8 one but suspect it's the same. F Types are.)
 
jonbeeza said:
Seems like leaving a modern automatic vehicle in gear, while parked up flattens the battery. I left our car parked up for a couple of days, and it failed to start, due to a flat battery.
When I got someone to look at it, they said it was because I had left the transmission in R, as opposed to P.

Was told it is because the computer was communicating with the transmission, and as such, the whole system did not power down fully. Even though the car was locked, and no lights etc were left on.

Just to make anyone with an automatic, make sure that the lever is in P, to properly power the vehicle down.

Never heard of this before, but it does sound plausible.
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Wonder if this thread has anything in common with your problem of battery drain ???

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/fiesta-battery-drain.639071/
 
im going to ask was it parked on the road side could it be that you did put it in p but not 100%locked in and some one gave your bumper a nudge hence it slipping in to r ?
 
hoochy1 said:
im going to ask was it parked on the road side could it be that you did put it in p but not 100%locked in and some one gave your bumper a nudge hence it slipping in to r ?
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You can't nudge an auto out of P. P has a locking pin in the gearbox and you normally have to press a large button on the side of the gear knob when you want to move it out of P. It also also often wants a foot on the footbrake too.
 
fabs said:
I'm surprised it let you switch off. I had a Focus with keyless start, pretty sure it wouldn't switch off unless it was in P.
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the black fox said:
My Volvo S60 won't let me remove the key unless it's in P
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Blue Moon 7 said:
Mine automatically changes to P when I turn the ignition off by pressing the button. Its a good job or I would always have a flat battery if that info is accurate.

Chris
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dejongj said:
It was most likely not the gearbox that was draining it but the fact that the car wasn't switched off yet the engine wasn't running.

I've never come across an automatic where you can switch it off whilst in gear, or if you do like in the jaguar our former Mercedes GL would put it automatically in park and enable the parking brakes.

I must admit that the keyless system in the Prius allowed me to get out whilst in gear due to bitter experience. However when you walk away from the vehicle it also starts protesting with audio and visual signals. And ultimately shuts down gracefully, not by depleating the battery.

I'm sure our resident Ford expert can explain what really happened @nilagin
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Just tried locking up the Galaxy while in R, and yes it will let me turn off engine and lock doors. I left it a little while, and I had a look inside. The instrument panel was still lit up, so obviously it will drain the power after a day or two. Just I did not notice the instrument panel was lit up last time, probably due to daylight.

I will deffo make sure of this, from now on.
 
jonbeeza said:
Just tried locking up the Galaxy while in R, and yes it will let me turn off engine and lock doors. I left it a little while, and I had a look inside. The instrument panel was still lit up, so obviously it will drain the power after a day or two. Just I did not notice the instrument panel was lit up last time, probably due to daylight.

I will deffo make sure of this, from now on.
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When you did that, did the car actually remain in R or did it switch itself to Park?

Out of interest, how on earth did you get out of the car to lock it whilst leaving it in R, didn't it drive away?
 
Yes so surely it would have moved the gear to neutral or park when the engine went off ;)

I just never seen an automatic that allowed to switch off when in gear (with doing it automatic for you).
 
The position of P is at the top, while S is at the bottom, next is D, then N, followed by R. From drive, gear is moved past both N and R, up to P. It seems it needs a good shove to get up to P, as there are times when R has been selected rather than P. It is the same when using a manual gearstick, you don't look to see what gear you have selected, you assume where the gears are by feel. You don't look to see if it is in neutral, you waggle it a bit :).
 
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