Park to Drive or Reverse

I have searched for this w/no luck.
I am not sure what words I should use to describe this, so please be patient.
This is my first vehicle w/ an automatic transmission.
When my X has been sitting for a few hours and I shift from Park to Drive or Reverse to leave a parking spot the transmission does something odd.
It seems to shift hard (or not want to) shift into gear.
When the truck is parked for a short time I do not experience this quirk.
Someone had mentioned it is a result of fluids draining from point A to point B.

Ideas, anyone?
TIA
Mic

I find that sometimes it's tough to shift from Park to Reverse. I'm usually on a hill/incline though. So that may be something to think about too.

microsugrmag : take it to the dealer
Nick : thats normal

Are you always setting the parking break, before you take your foot off the pedal? I have this issue occasionally even on a flat parking lot if I forget to set the brake. This may not be the same problem you are seeing, but try the brake this and see if it works.

Yeah, what JBONE said...

I make it a habit to stop, shift to neutral, pull parking brake, take foot off brake pedal, then shift to park.

WHY ?????

It aint going anywhere when its in P
thats what P is designed to do

I only set Parking break on when i am on a steep hill , so i dont have to hear that loud clunk when trany goes from P to R

microsugrmag said his truck seems to shift hard coming out of park. I've found that setting the parking brake first takes the stress off the tranny, makes it easier to shift from park to drive, and eliminates that clunk, whatever the degree of incline.

Probably not related, but the Nissan Pathy/Xterra tranny has long been noted to be slow to shift from R to D. If you get on the gas before it catches up, it'll jolt...

Brent

Yeah, I've noticed that too...

Some call it "Torque Lock", some say "Transmission Lock". In other words, the amount of play in the transmission will allow the vehicle to roll forward or backward depending on the slope. Therefore its hard to shift out of park. I'm just in the habbit of using the parking brake in order to prevent unecessary wear and tear.

I have not been parking on hills. This is happening in flat/level parking lots. My truck is going into the shop next week for oil change/tire rotate and I will have them look at it then. It seems as though the longer the truck sits the harder it is to shift out of Park into gear. Reverse to Drive or any other combo is a smooth shift. I will start to use the parking brake and see if that makes a difference.

I hate going into dealership service departments clueless. I am a petite blonde female and the service advisors assume that means dumb. One even told me that I would have to pay for an alignment on my truck at 8000 miles!

Thanks for your help!

When the truck sits for a while the engine cools. Upon startup it will run at higher RPMs at first which may result in a hard shift into gear that you've noticed. A warm engine does not do this. An easy check is to note the RPMs when you first start and put it in gear.

I will pay attention to the tach! My previous vehicles all had manual transmissions but no tachometers. I get a vehicle w/an automatic tranny and I finally have a tach. I know to pay attention to it for mileage (under 3K rpm) but am still learning about its purpose. Thanks!

I don't know exactly how it works because I hate automatics and don't really give a rip about how they work, but...

...all automatics should have the parking brake set BEFORE putting the transmission into park. Every automotive manual I have ever read even states this. "Park" locks the transmission by engaging some sort of fork or such into gear teeth. If the vehicle moves the fork or whatever it is will lock tightly against the teeth and that's why it is difficult to disengage. If it locks tight enough you have a good chance of removing a gear tooth while disengaging, which is BAD!

I've heard of many people having to get tow trucks because they locked their park so tight they couldn't even get it disengaged. All you automatic folks do yourself a favor and always put the parking brake on FIRST. Once you get intot he habit you won't even notice you're doing it. Strangely, despite never owning an automatic, this is stuck in my head and so I do it when I drive other people's cars.

Originally posted by microsugrmag:
One even told me that I would have to pay for an alignment on my truck at 8000 miles!
Why wouldn't you have to pay for an alignment at any mileage?

It falls under "initial adjustments" until the first 11,000 miles. Thus there shouldn't be any charge until then.

I always apply the brake after putting the truck in park, but before removing my foot off the brake pedal. This provides the same results w/o stopping in neutral. My truck does not rock back onto the tranny, therefore no stress on the tranny.

microsugrmag,

all your problems will disappear once you start using the parking brake. The parking pawl inside the auto trans was not intended to be disengaged under load - it's a safety device only, intended to complement the brake.

That's good too and I sometimes do that. As long as the truck isn't allowed to move while in park it's all good!

ChuckH is absolutely right.
Relying on Park on an incline puts alot of BAD stress on the Auto Transmission. Switching from Reverse to Drive while still rolling causes similar damage to the tranny.

That loud clunk is NOT healthy!

It wont actually ruin your tranny immediately but after time the gears will begin to slip in an out of what they're supposed to be in.

When parking on an incline engage the parking brake before you shift to Park, then release the foot brakes.

When backing up come to a complete stop, shift to drive, wait about 1 full second, then press the gas to procede.

The only time I can think of throwing the gears from drive to reverse is when you're stuck and need to rock the Xterra front to back to get out. And the only reason it's OK then is because its a rare occurrence and shouldn't be done often.

I have been using the parking brake all weekend, PROBLEM SOLVED!! So it seems.
A round of applause to all who have assisted me!

Alignment = My warranty states that it is covered for the first 12,000miles, not 11,000.
Check the owners manual packet.

And again, THANK YOU!!