Can you push an automatic car in neutral? As a mechanic, I have been asked this question numerous times during my career. It is a common enough question since automatic transmissions began becoming a driver’s choice around the 1950s. The short answer is no.
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Can You Push An Automatic Car In Neutral?
You can push an automatic car in neutral. But with a limit. If my automatic transmission has a dead battery and I want to move it from one side of my driveway to the other, then yes, I can push it. I just have to ensure the transmission lever is in neutral. If you want to push your car to bump start due to a flat battery, the answer is no. A very definite no! Pushing your car that has an automatic transmission to start it due to a flat battery will not work and can cause damage.
Bump starting a car
The automatic transmission only works when the engine is running and the pump that pressurizes the fluid that operates the gear change is operating.
With a dead engine, there is no pressure build-up in the automatic transmission, therefore no engagement between the engine and wheels.
With an automatic transmission and without the engine running, there is no connection between the wheels and the engine.
You can’t push-start an automatic transmission-equipped car.
With a manual transmission, it is possible to bump start the car by pushing it in the following way.
Have someone in the driver’s seat with the ignition on, the car in gear, and the clutch pedal depressed.
Once the car picks up some momentum, the driver releases the clutch pedal, the gears engage the engine to the wheels and the engine will then turn over, hopefully starting.
If the battery is dead, it is always better to use a set of jumper cables and the battery in another vehicle to start the car.
Therefore, in answering the question; can you push an automatic car in neutral? There are two answers:
- If moving the car around is just moving it from one parking spot to another, then pushing it in neutral is OK.
- If pushing a car to start it due to a dead battery, the answer is no.
Towing an automatic transmission-equipped vehicle
If your automatic transmission-equipped vehicle dies and needs to be transported to a repair garage, better to load it onto a flat deck truck than towing.
If the only resort to getting your broken down vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission to a repair shop is to tow it then you should observe the following recommendation.
If the type of vehicle you have necessitates having the drive wheels on the ground, the towing speed should not be more than 25 miles per hour and travel should not exceed 25 miles.
The history of automatic transmissions
My research indicates in 1921, Alfred Munro, a Canadian engineer, invented what is regarded as the first automatic transmission. By 1923, he had developed and patented his invention.
It did not use transmission fluid. Instead, Munro, being a steam engineer, used air/steam pressure. His design had four forward gears but did not include a reverse gear.
General Motors was the first car builder to install an automatic transmission using hydraulic fluid. The company installed a semi-automatic vehicle transmission in a Chevrolet car in 1934.
This transmission was the first to utilize a hydraulically controlled planetary gear system that allowed gear shifting to depend on the vehicle’s rate of speed, utilizing a simplified feedback system.
The planetary gear system was one of the biggest breakthroughs in developing the modern automatic transmission.
How automatic transmissions work
This simple semi-automatic transmission was nowhere near as complex as today’s models and still required a clutch system for gear changing.
If you have ever wondered why your vehicle doesn’t move when you start the engine without a clutch, both a manual transmission-equipped vehicle and an automatically equipped vehicle have two distinct means of disconnecting the engine from the drive wheels.
- The manual transmission vehicle has a clutch that is operated by a pedal. When the clutch pedal is engaged, the engine is not connected to the drive train and wheels.
- The automatic transmission uses a device called a torque converter.
The torque converter is located between the transmission and the engine. It looks like a big metal doughnut. Its interior has a number of fins and is filled with transmission fluid.
When the vehicle engine is revved up, the fluid in the torque converter acts like a solid and couples the engine power to the vehicle drive wheels, permitting the vehicle to move.
This is the basis of Pascal’s law involving fluids in motion. The transmission fluid, once it is sped up, acts like a solid, coupling the engine output to the transmission and then to the vehicle drive wheels.
The torque converter does the following:
- Connects the power from the engine to the transmission
- It takes the place of the clutch, and transfers the engine speed, multiplying output and vehicle speed that is governed by the gas pedal
It performs the two functions by using hydraulic power provided by the transmission fluid inside the vehicle’s transmission.
The difference between automatic and manual transmissions
Both manual transmissions and automatic transmissions have a neutral position, but there the similarities end in my opinion.
A manual transmission uses a series of steel gears and the fluid or oil in the transmission is used as a lubricant.
An automatic transmission uses a series of plates or planetary gears for shifting, the plates being activated by fluid pressure. Therefore, the oil in a manual transmission is heavy and used to lubricate.
The fluid in an automatic transmission is light and though it is also a lubricant, its primary purpose is to be pressurized by an internal pump with the pressure being used to shift the transmission speeds. This is why it is important to ensure the fluid used in your automatic transmission is of the approved type.
Frequently Asked Questions About Can I push my automatic car in neutral
My four-wheel-drive vehicle is equipped with an automatic transmission. Does this advice apply to my vehicle?
Regardless of whether your vehicle is 4-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive or front-wheel drive and equipped with an automatic transmission, this advice applies.
Can I coast my car with an automatic transmission down a long hill to attain a rate of speed to bump start it?
Attempting to jump bump start an automatic transmission vehicle in this manner is not advised.
Conclusion On Can I push my automatic car in neutral
An automatic transmission equipped car cannot be pushed in Neutral or in Drive to start it if it has a dead battery. However, if you need to move it off the street to a driveway, for example, it can be pushed with the gear selector in Neutral.