Accidentally drove in 2nd gear on highway with automatic. Did I cause any damage to my car?
I didn't get much sleep so this morning I was little out of it. On my 15 minute commute to work I accidentally put my automatic car in 2nd gear instead of drive. I drove on the highway for 5 minutes going 60. I didn't notice until I got to work and realized that's why my car felt a little different while driving. It's a 2002 Honda crv. Could I have caused any long term damage?
5 minutes? Unless your engine or transmission was already about to leave parts on the freeway I wouldn't worry. If anything it could cause some incremental wear that took a few immeasurable miles of life off the piston rings and bearings. If you do it over and over you would probably cause some significant damage, but once? No more damage than driving 90 mph for 5 miles.
Why was your automatic in 2 and not in drive? No, you didn't hurt anything.
Your CR-V has an electronic rev limiter. That rev limiter will prevent the engine from exceeding a set maximum RPM (probably set in the neighborhood of 6700rpm-7000rpm for your car, the limiter is usually set a little higher than the listed redline RPM on your tachometer). The rev limiter would have prevented the engine from exceeding that set maximum engine speed in 2nd gear even when you locked the transmission in 2nd gear by accident.
As long as the engine didn't overheat while you were driving 60mph in 2nd gear then you did no lasting damage by driving the car for ~5 minutes at 60mph in 2nd gear because the rev limiter would have actually prevented you from going 60mph in 2nd gear if the engine couldn't safely spin that fast at that road speed in 2nd gear. I certainly wouldn't make a habit of doing what you did, but I also wouldn't worry about what you did going forward.
That won't have done any long-term damage, though I wouldn't make a habit of it. In fact, it may have done some good by letting the engine get good and hot and blow out any cobwebs - aka an "Italian tune up".
You did no damage. I did the same thing in my 2013 Honda Accord and drove it 10 miles. Rest easy the only thing you did was use more fuel during that 5 minutes.
Did you not notice the noise as you drove? That depends on how far, how fast, and what type of trans it is. A big MAY BE!
- Does shifting in an automatic damage the car? My car (Honda pilot 2011) has a 1/2/3 setting on the car and if I use that while driving will I damage anything? I typically use it when I'm driving for fun and shift it at red line and then shift it back into drive at the end of 3rd gear. My old car was a stick and I miss it but will it hurt the car besides the normal wear and tear?
- What is the cause of 2nd gear popping back into neutral? I own a 1997 Honda Civic Ex (coupe) SOHC VTEC that has been having this issue with the manual transmission where 1st gear chugs and 2nd gear pops out back into neutral causing the gear to grind pretty hard. I've come across many forums all giving different reasons to why this happens. I'd like to get a more definitive answer (if possible) from anyone who has had issues like/or similar to this, any mechanics out there willing to send some wisdom and tips my way is greatly appreciated.
- Honda civic 97 isn't staying on after 2nd gear and turns off? So I start my car holding the clutch I change out of first gear into 2nd gear and still keeps running, but right after the car shakes and turns off. My clutch isn't burnt out I ensured there was no pop or smoke so I don't know what may be causing this. Any suggestions? Please it would really help.
- Do you think driving with worn springs this will cause damage to the clutch/transmission? The rear springs are very worn. Or maybe the drive train. It makes shifting difficult as the car squats if accelerated hard. And it feels as the hard is lurking back and for.