Leaving Your Vehicle With the Engine
Running
{CAUTION:
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 and your transfer
case is in NEUTRAL, 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.
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.
Torque Lock
If you are parking on a hill and you don’t shift your
automatic 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) on page 2-25
.
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).
2-26