subaru87 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I drive a 1998 Outback. It's having electrical problems and won't start so I called AAA for a tow. The flatbed driver did not seem very experienced. He tried to put the car in neutral, but was unable to do so because the car was off. I told him to jump it then put it in neutral, but the tow truck didn't have a handheld battery jumper so he decided to place the car on skids and wench it onto the flatbed. The skids (basically plastic wedges that he hammered under each tire) fell off as soon as he started to wench the car. After a couple tries he just pulled the car onto the flatbed without the skids. The car was in park (without the ebrake on) and the wheels were forced to turn. The car wasn't pulled that far but I'm worried that he did some damage. Does anyone know if pulling a 4 wheel drive car in park a short distance would hurt the transmission? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bstone Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Yes it would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru87 Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 Yes it would. Is that definite? I told the driver that the wheels were turning but he didn't seem to care. I ended up having them bring my car to my hometown mechanic 70 miles away. My mechanic is going to take a look at it tomorrow, but I'm hoping that there isn't damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bstone Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Turning the rear wheels when in AWD is bad. Likely destroyed the trans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 All you have to do to get the car out of neutral is turn the key to ON, press brake pedal, shift. The engine does not have to be running. Or if the battery is dead, you can press the shift release button in the center console. The wheels will turn. One side will go the way it is being pulled, the other side (generally the side with the least traction) will turn the opposite direction because of the action of the differential. With an automatic the rear wheels will spin regardless if the transmission is in park. They are not mechanically linked to the output shaft of the transmission if the engine is not running. All in all though, I doubt it did any damage. I've seen many a vehicle dragged onto and off of tow trucks in park and none ever had any trouble afterwards. That's not to say it's good for the park mechanism, but one time is really probably not going to hurt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 (edited) Turning the rear wheels slowly like that wouldn't hurt anything - just causes the transfer clutch to spin (it's like a wet motorcycle clutch). Not a big deal as they are designed to do that to some extent. If the front wheels were on the ground also.... it's not good for the parking system. This could have been avoided with a screwdriver - pop out the surround and disengage the parking interlock via the hole provided for this purpose..... the guy was an idiot. GD Edited February 24, 2011 by GeneralDisorder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bstone Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 GD knows 10k more than I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 99% chance there is no damage. Don't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Turning the rear wheels when in AWD is bad. Likely destroyed the trans. Not for the 20 feet to move the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I drive a 1998 Outback. It's having electrical problems and won't start so I called AAA for a tow. The flatbed driver did not seem very experienced. He tried to put the car in neutral, but was unable to do so because the car was off. I told him to jump it then put it in neutral, but the tow truck didn't have a handheld battery jumper so he decided to place the car on skids and wench it onto the flatbed. The skids (basically plastic wedges that he hammered under each tire) fell off as soon as he started to wench the car. After a couple tries he just pulled the car onto the flatbed without the skids. The car was in park (without the ebrake on) and the wheels were forced to turn. The car wasn't pulled that far but I'm worried that he did some damage. Does anyone know if pulling a 4 wheel drive car in park a short distance would hurt the transmission? He may have put some stress on the parking pawl, but I doubt any damage was done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 when in park, if both wheels turn you probably hear a loud clack as the the parking pawl snaps out of one slot and into the next. it is a very noticeable sound when traveling at slow speeds. i've done it. if the pawl did not slip then there was probably more damage done to the tire rubber than the trans. the rear wheels are not engaged when the engine is off, there is no fluid pressure to engage the transfer clutch. so they will spin freely. no damage there from a 20 foot drag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 tow operator fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salve7 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 You have to be careful with the tow truck folks. Some of them don't have a clue. I had my land rover on a flat bed once and the driver was trying to tie down the frame. Every time he pulled, my air suspension would trigger on and he almost popped my bags before I saw what he was doing. On any given game day in Knoxville you can watch the vultures dragging cars all directions for a tow bill. We sit on the porch and yell mean things to them, it makes us feel better. More than likely your car will be "fine" but I would still call AAA and tell them you didn't appreciate it and that you need another "incident" or whatever they call it added to your card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru87 Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 Thanks for the replies everyone. Just picked up my car from the mechanic. No damage from the tow! They couldn't find a leak in the tires but I was missing lugnuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Am i missing something with awd vehicles. Why couldnt you shift it into neutral with the key in the on position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Am i missing something with awd vehicles. Why couldnt you shift it into neutral with the key in the on position. The newer ones, if the car has something going wrong on certain electrical, the trans cannot be shifted if its an auto and no electricity. I have had connectors come loose from harness to trans casing this. I have seen dead batteries cause this. I have seen failed alternators or something loose cause this. Even with a key, without elctrical working eqauls no shifty in a auto equipped car. There is a "shiftlock" button accessed from near the shift lever that allows defeat of necessary electricity to shift. Also, if the car doesnt have the shift lock, can crawl under car, disconnect the shift cable from the passenger side of trans. Remove cotter key lock, removed cable, shift car selecter. Sometimes you don't have a key. I have had to do this on EVERY engine removal in a junkyard car (only auto cars) when the junkyard car has no keys, or no battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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