Osage Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 So, I had the terrible misfortune of discovering that the new Explorer will roll backwards if you turn the vehicle off and forget to shift into park. Long story short: There was an impending hailstorm near my area, and I was in a hurry to pick up dinner from a local restaurant for the family. I turned it off via the push button start after parking in a space at said restaurant. However, I forgot to shift into park after the engine was off. I went into the restaurant quickly, grabbed my order, and on my way back to the new Explorer, discovered the horror that the car had rolled backwards into another vehicle, ruining the lift gate and rear bumper. Bizarrely, the Explorer had somehow turned itself back on after rolling back and hitting the other vehicle. Makes me wish it had a "safety" feature that wouldn't allow it to be shut off unless in park, but it is what it is I suppose. It wasn't a steep incline, either, so be aware that the car will roll on you if you forget to shift into park after shutting her down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Bizarrely, the Explorer had somehow turned itself back on after rolling back and hitting the other vehicle. Nothing bizarre about it - you left it in gear with no parking brake and it rolled. It would be bizarre if it didn't move. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 So, I had the terrible misfortune of discovering that the new Explorer will roll backwards if you turn the vehicle off and forget to shift into park. Long story short: There was an impending hailstorm near my area, and I was in a hurry to pick up dinner from a local restaurant for the family. I turned it off via the push button start after parking in a space at said restaurant. However, I forgot to shift into park after the engine was off. I went into the restaurant quickly, grabbed my order, and on my way back to the new Explorer, discovered the horror that the car had rolled backwards into another vehicle, ruining the lift gate and rear bumper. Bizarrely, the Explorer had somehow turned itself back on after rolling back and hitting the other vehicle. Makes me wish it had a "safety" feature that wouldn't allow it to be shut off unless in park, but it is what it is I suppose. It wasn't a steep incline, either, so be aware that the car will roll on you if you forget to shift into park after shutting her down. Did any of your other cars do the same? I know of no cars that prevents you from turning off the engine when in gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Seems our Flex, my F250, and every vehicle I've ever had before does the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8-X Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 (edited) Sounds like driver error to me. Did any of your other cars do the same? I know of no cars that prevents you from turning off the engine when in gear. My '06 F150 will allow you to turn it off while in gear, but will not let you remove the key from the ignition. So in a way, I guess you could consider that sort of a safety feature, if you want to take the keys with you that is. Edited October 26, 2011 by V8-X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinceL Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Just about any automatic transmission equipped automobile will allow you to turn off the engine with the vehicle still in gear. Since an automatic transmission has a viscous coupling, it allows the driveline side of the transmission to move without the engine turning over. On a manual transmission, the link is physical, by way of the clutch plate, so that in order for the wheels to move while the engine is off, enough force will have to be applied to actually turn over the engine, not an easy thing to do. It is always a good idea to set the parking break to avoid these types of problems. I hope they were able to get your Ex back into shape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 ...Makes me wish it had a "safety" feature that wouldn't allow it to be shut off unless in park.... ...and if your floor mat was stuck under the accelerator and you could not seem to stop the vehicle as it was accelerating, you would not be able to perform an 'emergency shut down" of the engine to regain control of the vehicle...not a real good idea to attempt to shift the vehicle into park while the vehicle was moving....if you did and then did a 'shut down' your steering wheel would also lock in place and you would likely grenade the transmission in the process as well. Might want to just chalk this up to experience and next time, take the two seconds to put the vehicle in park and engage the parking brake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usdcoach Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 OUCH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashford Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Thanks for the heads up. It sounds like more of a habit forming behavior. I would expect the vehicle to roll BUT I would have expected a warning of some sort once you turned the car off (while not in park). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rscalzo Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 (edited) I would have expected a warning of some sort once you turned the car off (while not in park). How many more warning lights should be included? A warning for leaving the car running in a garage? One for getting out of the car while it's still moving? there has to be some point where the driver must assume some sort of responsibility to operate the car. Systems that park it for you is beyond what I will accept. As most every vehicle on the lot has that system I won't be buying one of those. Not wanting to wait by ordering these systems are pushing me to an alternate brand. But it could have been much worse as no one was injuried. Live and learn. Edited March 19, 2013 by rscalzo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlcardinal9 Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Sounds like something my wife would do, I bet you insurance company was impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stefsimmons Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 oh my Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerdown69 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Parking Break everytime... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 (edited) Parking Break everytime... Parking BRAKE would work much better.... Edited February 27, 2014 by akirby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I would have expected a warning of some sort once you turned the car off (while not in park). FWIW, my Edge displays a large warning on the left MFT dash screen if you turn off the engine while it's still in gear. "Shift vehicle to PARK" I believe it says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-150 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I think the issue here might be keyless start. Traditionally, most will shift into park after shutting off the engine because the key wont release from the ignition until then. Yes this is driver error, but I think it might also be a small learning curve on remembering to shift into park for those new to keyless systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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