Stuck at a stop light, guy behind me blaring his horn - CRAP

I post this just in case someone else does the same stupid thing I did at a red light.

I found myself unable to select drive and the guy behind starts blaring his horn. Each time I selected drive it would beep twice and refuse to shift gears. Would not go into reverse, neutral NOTHING! CRAP!!

I put the hazard warning lights on to indicate to the driver behind I was have difficulties.

I turned the vehicle off and on again. Nothing.

Double CRAP!!!!

The guy had now gone around me, so I calmed down and thought a bit. Turned it off again and restarted and bingo it went into gear at last.....just in time for the light to turn red again

What had I done that was so stupid?

The light has a long cycle, so rather than hold my foot on the brake I put it in park (there was a slight slope and it would run off in neutral). You have to press the brake to get out of park. Just like any other car, BUT it's easy to overlook that with the new style LEAF shifter. In a regular car you have to depress a switch on the shifter to get out of park as well as the brake. You'd never put a regular car in park on a red light, its too much hassle, the LEAF does so with simple push of a button.

If you find yourself unable to select a gear and it double beeps. Just press the brake

JPWhite said:

If you find yourself unable to select a gear and it double beeps. Just press the brake

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I think this exact thing, sans blaring horns, happened to me in the second week of ownership. :roll:

I don't think I would use the park function to hold the LEAF on an incline. Use the parking brake and keep it in D or Eco. Parking brake will automatically release when you press the throttle. The parking pall is not really designed to hold a vehicle on the incline.

Glad to hear you go it rolling

Did this in a car wash. Forgot I had the parking brake set. For about 2 crazed seconds I thought "something must have gotten wet".

smkettner said:

I don't think I would use the park function to hold the LEAF on an incline. Use the parking brake and keep it in D or Eco. Parking brake will automatically release when you press the throttle. The parking pall is not really designed to hold a vehicle on the incline.

Glad to hear you go it rolling

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The incline was moderate, on a steep incline I do use the parking brake. I typically use the park mode the same way I would with a conventional auto transmission.

Thanks for the post. It may avoid a panic at some point....

ah, all of us who have been driving "Priu" for years know this, pretty much you have to press the brake to do any shifting at all, its a saftey feature, and is second nature to me after 10 years of driving Priu... I even tend to do it on my old 94 Suburban used for plowing, lol.

This or something similar happened to me just trying to get out of the driveway. When I tried to put it in gear it kept going into neutral. I finally shut down and restarted and then probably had my foot on the brake so it all worked. Pardon me for not reading the manual yet but how do you intentionally get it to go into neutral? Also what would be the point of putting it into neutral?

badamsfx said:

This or something similar happened to me just trying to get out of the driveway. When I tried to put it in gear it kept going into neutral. I finally shut down and restarted and then probably had my foot on the brake so it all worked. Pardon me for not reading the manual yet but how do you intentionally get it to go into neutral? Also what would be the point of putting it into neutral?

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1) Hold the shifter to the side for a couple of seconds. 2) Coasting or a Car wash.

91040 said:

badamsfx said:

This or something similar happened to me just trying to get out of the driveway. When I tried to put it in gear it kept going into neutral. I finally shut down and restarted and then probably had my foot on the brake so it all worked. Pardon me for not reading the manual yet but how do you intentionally get it to go into neutral? Also what would be the point of putting it into neutral?

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1) Hold the shifter to the side for a couple of seconds. 2) Coasting or a Car wash.

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3) sitting at a red light, saves having to keep you foot on the brake. Needs to be level ground

It's very disturbing to me to hear so many of you practicing unsafe driving methods. To put the car in park or apply the parking brake while stopped at a light frankly strikes me as a very bad idea. Because it's harder to get going again. Why are you doing this? Are you trying to save energy? Reduce wear on the clutch? Remember that this is an electric car, not an automatic transmission ICE. It uses no energy when stopped. Please, people, for the sake of safety just keep your foot on the brake pedal when stopped at a light! Again, it's electric so it uses no energy to keep your foot on the brake when stopped. :!:

johnr said:

Please, people, for the sake of safety just keep your foot on the brake pedal when stopped at a light! Again, it's electric so it uses no energy to keep your foot on the brake when stopped. :!:

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What about the energy the brake lights use? :lol:

JPWhite said:

I typically use the park mode the same way I would with a conventional auto transmission.

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Actually, you really don't need to use the 'P' mode the same way as an ICE when you park because as soon as you push your 'Power' button, it automatically goes into park. The manual says to put it in 'P', etc., then push the power button to turn it off, but that extra step isn't necessary.

91040 said:

johnr said:

Please, people, for the sake of safety just keep your foot on the brake pedal when stopped at a light! Again, it's electric so it uses no energy to keep your foot on the brake when stopped. :!:

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What about the energy the brake lights use? :lol:

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If you're stopped in drive with the brake on at a light, I notice a 'clunk' after about 30 seconds or so, as if the vehicle is reducing forward traction force or something. The car does try to creep forward when in drive, so it must use energy to achieve that.

It somewhat surprises me that the vehicle tries so hard to act like a regular auto transmission, creeping forward while in drive is an example of an unnecessary simulation of a regular auto transmission. I wish the behavior was configurable by the driver such that I could disable this creep.

I drove a vehicle in the UK many moons ago called a DAF. It had an early version of a CVT and employed a centrifugal clutch to engage traction. With that vehicle you simply stopped at a light, the clutch would automatically disengage, so you could take your foot off the brake, as soon as the light turned green you pressed the accelerator and it would start to move forward. I wish the LEAF had this type behavior.

I've put the LEAF in Neutral at lights to eliminate the need to keep the brake pedal pressed, but having to hold the shifter for several seconds to select neutral is a deterrent, and is a pain if there's a slope.

JPWhite said:

The car does try to creep forward when in drive, so it must use energy to achieve that.

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In the prius if you press the brake enough (a normal pressure to keep the car still), the electric motor doesn't try to creep, hense you're not wasting any energy. The creeping resumes as soon as the brake pedal pressure drops below a certain level, typically, when you're lifting you foot of the brake pedal at the green light.

Doesn't the Leaf do the same ?

JPWhite said:

It somewhat surprises me that the vehicle tries so hard to act like a regular auto transmission, creeping forward while in drive is an example of an unnecessary simulation of a regular auto transmission.

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If you need to park in a tight parking spot, creeping is a must. You basically keep your foot on the brake pedal and go back and forth while parking, only using creeping. In this situation it would be cumbersome (and almost dangerous) if you had to press the accelerator...

Same thing happened to me a while back. Worst thing was, it was at a left turn light that is **VERY** short with quite a long wait between. I'm frequently annoyed when I'm the 3rd or so car at that light and some guy dawdles, as 3 cars is about the MAX that are going to get through it if everyone gets moving reasonably quickly... so one guy waiting pretty much guarantees the 3rd car won't make it, and could make it really tight for the second car.

So there I am, first car at this light where I *KNOW* how much of a pain it is, fiddling with the shifter for a a **VERY** long few seconds. It was already yellow when I finally figured it out...

Second car red-lighted it, flew around me on the four-lane we were turning onto and flipped me off... had to think, "Yeah, that's fair, sorry..."


Only happened once

suresnoi said:

JPWhite said:

The car does try to creep forward when in drive, so it must use energy to achieve that.

Click to expand...

In the prius if you press the brake enough (a normal pressure to keep the car still), the electric motor doesn't try to creep, hense you're not wasting any energy. The creeping resumes as soon as the brake pedal pressure drops below a certain level, typically, when you're lifting you foot of the brake pedal at the green light.

Doesn't the Leaf do the same ?

JPWhite said:

It somewhat surprises me that the vehicle tries so hard to act like a regular auto transmission, creeping forward while in drive is an example of an unnecessary simulation of a regular auto transmission.

Click to expand...

If you need to park in a tight parking spot, creeping is a must. You basically keep your foot on the brake pedal and go back and forth while parking, only using creeping. In this situation it would be cumbersome (and almost dangerous) if you had to press the accelerator...

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The LEAF's behavior is exactly as you describe. However we can only speculate on the energy draw when it is stationary, in drive, with the brake firmly depressed. Lifting up on the brake just ever so slightly slightly allows for a gentle creep, as with a conventional auto transmission. How do we 'know with certainty' that the car isn't still trying to overcome the force of the brake when it's stationary? The clunk I hear after 30 seconds or so makes me think the LEAF 'stands down' when it realizes you've been stopped for a while in order to reduce wasted energy draw.

As for the safety factor in tight maneuvering. Let's think about that a minute. With a manual transmission there is no creep, you have to press the accelerator to make it move. No safety issues with using the accelerator and feathering the clutch. I don't buy the 'safety' argument.

The behavior I would prefer is more like a golf cart. Anyone who's driven a golf cart knows you stop, it disengages the drive and then when its time to go again one presses the accelerator. I suspect Nissan want the driving experience to be as identical as possible to a regular gas automobile, and to shake the idea in the public that electric cars are just big golf carts.

johnr said:

Please, people, for the sake of safety just keep your foot on the brake pedal when stopped at a light!

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I don't buy the safety argument.

There are millions of manual transmission vehicles every day that select neutral at a stop light, often before it comes to a complete stop. We don't read in the news about how unsafe manual transmission cars are compared to auto, or how they should be outlawed. Do they take more skill to drive? Hell yeah, but that doesn't make them unsafe.

defiancecp said:

Same thing happened to me a while back. Worst thing was, it was at a left turn light that is **VERY** short with quite a long wait between. I'm frequently annoyed when I'm the 3rd or so car at that light and some guy dawdles, as 3 cars is about the MAX that are going to get through it if everyone gets moving reasonably quickly... so one guy waiting pretty much guarantees the 3rd car won't make it, and could make it really tight for the second car.

So there I am, first car at this light where I *KNOW* how much of a pain it is, fiddling with the shifter for a a **VERY** long few seconds. It was already yellow when I finally figured it out...

Second car red-lighted it, flew around me on the four-lane we were turning onto and flipped me off... had to think, "Yeah, that's fair, sorry..."


Only happened once

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I just HATE when that happens! And I AM in the wrong! :lol:

Just a few good reasons to not lean on your horn when the car in front of you is not proceeding:

1) It's rude
2) Whatever problem the car ahead of you is experiencing will not be solved by the addition of decibels
3) You never know if this incident is the last straw in some guy's life and he decides to get out of his car, walk back and unload an entire clip into your skull

A friendly beep to alert the driver who is busy composing an email and didn't notice the light changed is one thing, but leaning? That needs to be reserved for those "holy cow look out" situations.