mm wrote:
On Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:55:27 -0800 (PST), hibb
wrote:

I Haven't had a problem yet but if I do I figure I would try to get it
out of gear and turn the engine off as soon as possible. If I'm
already going at a good clip I am not sure how it would handle if I
just turn off the ignition. Are newer cars set up to handle like older
cars that had no power steering if the engine is dead and you lose
your power steering?

It would have to work with no engine because there are still power
steering belts that break, and because there are engines that stall.

I drove my 88 LeBaron without power steering for what must have been 4
to 8 thousand miles. It was only a problem parallel parking or getting
out of a tight spot.

But the power brakes are only required to have 3 or maybe 4 full
pushes in them if the engine is not running, and I doubt any car has
more than that.

Until I get more information, I'm saying take it out of gear and don't
turn the engine off until you have slowed down quite a bit.

Sounds right.

David

I don't remember- CAN you take it out of gear, at speed, in a
fly-by-wire car? Sure, you can move the lever, but will it actually do
anything?

Nobody knows for sure how they will react till they are in a situation
like that. Sitting here right now, I can say I would calmly run through
all the steps (including pumping the brakes), and if none of them
worked, look for a guardrail to ease into to scrub off speed. Yeah, I'll
trash the car to avoid a head-on, or t-boning somebody at an
intersection. But the only time I had a runaway, it turned out to be
just a sticking aftermarket cruise control, and turning it off solved
the problem. (noticed the sound was funny when I passed a car, looked
down, and saw I was doing 85...) But if it happens again, in a strange
car, and not on a mostly-empty interstate late at night like the time
before, who knows? My brain might blue-screen too.

--
aem, who doesn't drive much or very far any more, sends....