I heard that when you're stopped, you should shift to neutral from drive to increase the life of the engine and keep it cool. Is this true?
by 
Singh7
ANSWERS: 5
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This doesn't work. While it MIGHT run a little cooler (VERY little), but the shock of going from neutral to drive is worse than the wear of just leaving it in drive.
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You don't say whether you're in an automatic or stick shift. If the latter, yes, don't sit there with the clutch pedal depressed, shift to neutral and let the pedal up. It won't make any difference to the engine, but it will save the throwout bearings in the clutch. In an automatic, if it's well tuned, it doesn't seem likely there'd be any significant cooling increase by shifting into neutral, but perhaps a little. And a slight drop in fuel consumption, since you'll no longer be holding the brake against the car's tendency (on level ground) to creep forward). But as pointed out nearby, shifting itself isn't quite free: you stress the transmission and engine very slightly at any shift.
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Depends how powerful your vehicle is (pertaining to automatics). A 400hp car will be putting a lot of pressure on the braking system, the trani, etc to get going. For this, shifting to neutral is good if you're stopped for a long time. On the other hand, a 200hp car will have less push on the drivetrain and brakes to get going, and it is better to leave it in drive. The car I usually drive has 220hp and I put it into neutral if i'll be stopped for more than 20 seconds. With gas prices as they are, I like to keep the load off the engine.
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I think the transmission(automatic), would suffer more from staying in the drive position, than the engine. auto engines have cooling systems that keep the engine within a safe temperature range. automatic transmission are subjected to extreme heat from the exhaust system and engine. if you are stopped for a long period of time and must run your cars engine, raise the hood to let the heat escape. heat also kills your battery.end
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A vehicle's idle speed is higher in neutral or park than it is in gear...if it does anything it burns more gas.
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