Did you ever practice restarting a stalled car?

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
04/03/2014 at 15:33 • Filed to: What's your condition, ignition?

I've been thinking about this whole GM ignition switch debacle. Am I the only one who had to practice restarting a stalled car in driver's ed? The instructor would periodically reach over and turn the car off (while moving), and we had to throw it in neutral, restart the engine, and put it back in drive. Several years later I had a car that would randomly shut off (2000 Deville that needed new cam sensors), and I found it helpful to have practiced that, even though it was so long ago.

I'm not trying to let GM off the hook, what they did is clearly wrong, and they should pay dearly for it. I'm just wondering how common of an experience that was.

DISCUSSION (10)

bob and john > shop-teacher
04/03/2014 at 15:36

didnt happen to me.

505Turbeaux > shop-teacher
04/03/2014 at 15:36

lol my drivers ed instructor used to do that too on the HIGHWAY. Man that tranny in the sundance must have been junk. In an empty parking lot he used to turn it off , pull the keys and lock the wheel at like 25 mph to see if you could get it straightened out and started by the time the car stopped rolling

Jonathon Klein > shop-teacher
04/03/2014 at 15:37

My driving instructor turned the car off on me on the highway doing about 60mph, and I had to turn it back on without freaking out and crashing. He did it to me about 6 or 7 times.

Merkin Muffley > shop-teacher
04/03/2014 at 15:38

The issue isn't the bad part, the issue is GM's reaction to it.

With that said, yes, I had to do that in drivers ed.

Party-vi > shop-teacher
04/03/2014 at 15:40

Since power steering and power brakes have become standard on cars in the US, drivers don't understand the extra force and increased braking distances required to control the direction and speed of the vehicle if the engine shuts off on them. I would also assume the force needed to turn the ignition switch to accessory mode or off (with column lock) would need higher speeds or rougher roads, and reaction time probably suffers in these situations.

hethoughtofcars > shop-teacher
04/03/2014 at 15:46

I was going to say that learning on a manual transmission, yes of course, I have had to "practice" re-starting a stalled car. Pretty constantly. At speed, though? No, but engaging the clutch and allowing the car to cruise so I could get to the shoulder has happened to me before. I couldn't re-start the car in that instance, though.

Big Bubba Ray > shop-teacher
04/03/2014 at 15:46

I tried it once when I first got my license in my dad's 99 Suburban just to see what would happen. Traveling about 40ish mph and turned the car off. Needless to say, it scared the ever loving shit out of me, but I got it turned back on quickly so there were no problems.

I obviously didn't realize how much power steering and brakes help in a massive car like that. Now that I have my Baja which is manual steering and brakes, I quite often turn the car off and coast on big hills. Used to be scary, now it's fun!

shop-teacher > Party-vi
04/03/2014 at 20:30

It is quite a bit harder to steer and stop a car with failed power assist, than it is on a car that was designed to have manual steering or brakes. Manual steering boxes have a lower gear ratio (it takes more turns to go lock-to-lock), so that the wheels can turn with a reasonable amount of force. Cars with manual brakes have different pedal ratios for more leverage, and smaller diameter pistons in the master cylinder for more pressure output. So when you loose power assist on a car that's supposed to have it, its like wrestling a bear.

In the shut down restart exercises we did, the focus was not so much on continuing to drive the car while shut down, but rather restarting the car as quickly as possible.

shop-teacher > Merkin Muffley
04/03/2014 at 20:30

I agree 100%

shop-teacher > 505Turbeaux
04/03/2014 at 20:31

Wow! We didn't do anything like that.