What Happens if You Shift to Park While Driving?

[Mach-Lee]

My guess is it does nothing until you slow down to 5-10 MPH, then it will throw the parking pawl and you'll get a nice jolt and possibly a sheared parking pawl as you slam to a halt. Parking pawl engaging at speed was a rare glitch in the early Mach-E software during certain error scenarios and caused some rear motors to need to get replaced after the metal chunks from the broken pawl got everywhere.

If you need to stop while moving, you should use the parking brake instead of selecting park. If you pull the parking brake while moving it will use the ABS system to stop the vehicle before engaging the parking brake at low speed. This shouldn't damage anything.

Sponsored

 

[Jimrpa]

My guess is it does nothing until you slow down to 5-10 MPH, then it will throw the parking pawl and you'll get a nice jolt and possibly a sheared parking pawl as you slam to a halt. Parking pawl engaging at speed was a glitch in the early Mach-E software and caused some rear motors to need to get replaced after the metal chunks from the broken pawl got everywhere.

If you need to stop while moving, you should use the parking brake instead of selecting park. If you pull the parking brake while moving it will use the ABS system to stop the vehicle before engaging the parking brake at low speed.

I don’t recall hearing about the parking pawl shearing and ruining rear motors. That’s a pretty serious software defect!

 

[dmitry]

I can confirm this stupid behavior. Honestly it was at low speed and I didn’t tried at high speed. Non of my cars had this and it was unexpectedly for me to find out that you can freely rotate the shift knob to park or reverse without break pedal pressing.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...pressed-transmission-remains-in-park-p.21849/

 

[Fremont Kid]

I can confirm this stupid behavior. Honestly it was at low speed and I didn’t tried at high speed. Non of my cars had this and it was unexpectedly for me to find out that you can freely rotate the shift knob to park or reverse without break pedal pressing.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...pressed-transmission-remains-in-park-p.21849/

During the early '70s when learning to drive my dad bought two old '49 or '50 - I think - Plymouth sedans with huge fins and push-button automatic transmissions. If the wrong button was pushed while driving, the car just slowed to a stop. Even back then such safety existed. Seems EVs should have similar type of safely. No reason to ruin a $50K-$70K EV due to the transmission dial being located where it can be inadvertently turned easily.

 

[Don_23805]

Quite a few times, I've spun the shifter into Park while still not quite stopped. The car "slams" to a rocking stop with no particular noise. As someone pointed out, pressing the brake stops the rocking.
I'm about to make a velcro-stuck shield to keep the dog from activating any of the console buttons with her foot, with a small finger-size hole so I can press the Flasher button.

 

[back_at_it_19]

I've heard that if you're in reverse and twist the little knob the wrong way the car will come to a bouncing, rocking stop immediately. No actual experience in this of course.

This is true.

 

[Paper Mach-E]

The shift dial on the center console is one of the few things I truly dislike about the MME. The whole concept of putting a rather easy to bump in to, no safety switch, free spinning dial in the center console is truly a dumb idea that just about all modern Fords have. It wastes space, something of a hazard, and looks ugly.

I couldn't agree more! Every few weeks I go searching to see if anyone has successfully replaced the dial with a more traditional shifter. Nothing yet
I find it really frustrating to make multi-point turns in the MME. It's so easy to go all the way to Park instead of Reverse.
But the other day I had a driver in front of me suddenly come reversing at me on a green light. No one behind me, so I quickly shift into... PARK.
He stopped, so no biggie. But yikes!

 

[Old_Norm]

I couldn't agree more! Every few weeks I go searching to see if anyone has successfully replaced the dial with a more traditional shifter. Nothing yet
I find it really frustrating to make multi-point turns in the MME. It's so easy to go all the way to Park instead of Reverse.
But the other day I had a driver in front of me suddenly come reversing at me on a green light. No one behind me, so I quickly shift into... PARK.
He stopped, so no biggie. But yikes!

Ditto. Not a fan of the inexact spinning wheel. Even after 6 months I find myself looking at the dial to see where it is positioned. There has to be a better solution.

 

[generaltso]

Ditto. Not a fan of the inexact spinning wheel. Even after 6 months I find myself looking at the dial to see where it is positioned. There has to be a better solution.

It also shows you the gear position in the instrument cluster.

 

[alexgorod]

Ditto. Not a fan of the inexact spinning wheel. Even after 6 months I find myself looking at the dial to see where it is positioned. There has to be a better solution.

I'd like it to be a "push down and turn" combo for going to reverse. Placing in the park while in motion should not be allowed by the software.

 

[Jimrpa]

I couldn't agree more! Every few weeks I go searching to see if anyone has successfully replaced the dial with a more traditional shifter. Nothing yet
I find it really frustrating to make multi-point turns in the MME. It's so easy to go all the way to Park instead of Reverse.
But the other day I had a driver in front of me suddenly come reversing at me on a green light. No one behind me, so I quickly shift into... PARK.
He stopped, so no biggie. But yikes!

That actually happened to me in Florida once. I was turning off a highway into a target parking lot behind someone who was probably old enough to have been an original resident of St. Augustine anyway, the moron stops. I’m barely onto the entry into the target parking lot. He then proceeds to put his car in reverse and slams back into me. When he gets out, he, of course, accused me of rear-ending him! Ever since then, when I see the backup lights come on in the car ahead of me, I’m on my horn and I don’t let up until those lights go OFF. (This is assuming there’s no way I can safely maneuver away from the moron.)

 

[Jimrpa]

I'd like it to be a "push down and turn" combo for going to reverse. Placing in the park while in motion should not be allowed by the software.

You know, maybe they should put a big lever in the center console, taking up a lot of space. And for safety, they could put a third pedal on the floor that you’d have to carefully depress and release with just the he right timing, in order for that lever to work

 

[Old_Norm]

I couldn't agree more! Every few weeks I go searching to see if anyone has successfully replaced the dial with a more traditional shifter. Nothing yet
I find it really frustrating to make multi-point turns in the MME. It's so easy to go all the way to Park instead of Reverse.
But the other day I had a driver in front of me suddenly come reversing at me on a green light. No one behind me, so I quickly shift into... PARK.
He stopped, so no biggie. But yikes!

First draft

 

[Jimrpa]

First draft

That’s almost what I was proposing, but you need a floor pedal to go with it, and some kind of mechanical engagement with the gear(s) in the proposition units such that, if you don’t move the lever and press the pedal in a coordinated manner, you’ll do severe damage to the mechanical bits in the propulsion unit(s).

 

[tmrqs]

That’s almost what I was proposing, but you need a floor pedal to go with it, and some kind of mechanical engagement with the gear(s) in the proposition units such that, if you don’t move the lever and press the pedal in a coordinated manner, you’ll do severe damage to the mechanical bits in the propulsion unit(s).

Soooo essentially going with manual shifting on the Mach-e?

Sponsored