you don't have to push the brake to take it out of park?!?!?!?

triplethreattt · 10-07-2007, 05:06 PM

What a stupid assumption on my part. I thought that you HAD to depress the brake to move the transmission from park, but this is NOT true on my 98 Voyager. I believe it's true on my 05 Caravan, but...

Unfortunately, I had to find this out when my 5YO son jumped in the front seat and put the van in gear. I was loading things in the back, when the van started pulling away. I was able to jump in and get it stopped before any damage was done, but what a scary situation.

One thing I noticed, though, that has me concerned. In my efforts to stop the van, I couldn't get to the brake, because I was approaching the driver's seat from the back, and we were moving towards another parked vehicle. I was able to grab the transmission lever, and slam it into park. The car did not SLAM to a stop as I expected (we were actually barely moving), but rather, it continued to roll for about 6 or 7 feet before stopping.

Any thoughts on this? Shouldn't it have slammed to an immediate stop when I put it in park? I had braced myself and everything, expecting to get thrown.

peterjon1 · 10-07-2007, 09:43 PM

No, it will probably not stop immediately because the park pawl has to go into a slot to lock, and when the car is moving, the slot is turning, it cannot engage. You should have heard a ratchetting noise as the pawl tried to engage.

Cntrysthbst · 10-08-2007, 04:31 AM

[quote=triplethreattt]I thought that you HAD to depress the brake to move the transmission from park, but this is NOT true on my 98 Voyager.

Are you sure about this? Could you have a bad solenoid which controls this?

webbch · 10-08-2007, 07:33 AM

My '97 Town & Cntry is the same way. I have a little 2 year old who likes to play in the drivers seat. I'm always there to make sure he doesn't shift gears while the van is on, but it is pretty sad if this is the way it was designed, given that it is a family vehicle through and through. I can't help but wonder if something is mis-adjusted or not working though.

Cntrysthbst · 10-08-2007, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webbch

My '97 Town & Cntry is the same way. I have a little 2 year old who likes to play in the drivers seat. I'm always there to make sure he doesn't shift gears while the van is on, but it is pretty sad if this is the way it was designed, given that it is a family vehicle through and through. I can't help but wonder if something is mis-adjusted or not working though.

I can't agree enough. My newer one has this feature but I am so surprised and shocked these third generation vans don't have this feature. These are supposed to be very safe minivans. I am going to go down to the dealer here tomorrow and find out for sure about this. Will post back.

triplethreattt · 10-09-2007, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cntrysthbst

I can't agree enough. My newer one has this feature but I am so surprised and shocked these third generation vans don't have this feature. These are supposed to be very safe minivans. I am going to go down to the dealer here tomorrow and find out for sure about this. Will post back.

i'm looking forward to your response.

I'm wondering if it's not a federal mandate for today's cars...and if so, when did it go into effect?

vipergg · 10-10-2007, 08:09 PM

No 3rd gens did not have park brake interlock , this came with the 2001 models .Had a 96 voyager and this did not have that feature either . on the other side if the car is running a 5 year should be in his car seat strapped in .

triplethreattt · 10-11-2007, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vipergg

No 3rd gens did not have park brake interlock , this came with the 2001 models .Had a 96 voyager and this did not have that feature either . on the other side if the car is running a 5 year should be in his car seat strapped in .

LOL...I totally agree with your last comment. You would think that with 3 other adults tending to the kids that with the car running, there should be no children in the front seat, but...especially with the fact that my son is autistic, and when he sees something he wants to do...he doesn't waste any time getting to it. He's probably been watching me pull that lever for months, and picked THAT time to give it a shot, since the adults were distracted.

Funny thing is...when I was 3YO, my mother had me sitting in the front seat of her Buick Electra 225, when she stopped at the top of the hill near our house to get the mail. I reached out, and put the car in drive, and started heading down the hill towards the lake. The lucky thing for me was that when she got out of the car, she left the door open, and that enabled her to jump back in when it started rolling.

Different times, though...today I'm SHOCKED when I see people with kids in the front seat...when I used to stand and play on the dashboard while my parent drove...LOL.

Thanks for the info on the years that this was put in on these vans, though!!! These forums are great!

vipergg · 10-11-2007, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by triplethreattt

LOL...I totally agree with your last comment. You would think that with 3 other adults tending to the kids that with the car running, there should be no children in the front seat, but...especially with the fact that my son is autistic, and when he sees something he wants to do...he doesn't waste any time getting to it. He's probably been watching me pull that lever for months, and picked THAT time to give it a shot, since the adults were distracted.

Funny thing is...when I was 3YO, my mother had me sitting in the front seat of her Buick Electra 225, when she stopped at the top of the hill near our house to get the mail. I reached out, and put the car in drive, and started heading down the hill towards the lake. The lucky thing for me was that when she got out of the car, she left the door open, and that enabled her to jump back in when it started rolling.

Different times, though...today I'm SHOCKED when I see people with kids in the front seat...when I used to stand and play on the dashboard while my parent drove...LOL.

Thanks for the info on the years that this was put in on these vans, though!!! These forums are great!

Yup different times from when we grew up , I remember when they only had lap belts and actual car seats were not even used , I used to sit on the floor in the back when I was small when we traveled .

wannablast · 10-15-2007, 07:04 PM

I'm just about sure that the vehicle would be "updated" by the factory if you took it to a dealer and complained. You can go to a Chrysler or Dodge dealer and have them check on mfgr recalls. My wife had a '94 Jeep Cherokee that she received a recall on to have the gear shift/brake thinggy updated. You may not have been in possession of the vehicle or you may have moved since the vehicle was new when a recall would have been mailed to you.

Good luck

webbch · 10-16-2007, 07:56 AM

Quote:

on the other side if the car is running a 5 year should be in his car seat strapped in .

That's a rather idealistic view, almost indicative of someone who doesn't have kids. Ever been to a drive in theatre with young kids before during the summertime in Arizona, where temperatures don't drop below the low to mid 90's during the night time, so you need the A/C on?? Ever had to take the kids along when a spouse had an eye exam in a kid-unfriendly clinic? There's plenty of cases where the vehicle needs to be parked with the engine running (to have the A/C on) for sufficiently long periods of time that it's not fair to keep the kids buckled in.

I watch my kids much closer than I was watched - When I was real young (less than 6 for sure), I managed to release the E-brake on my dad's dump truck (which was parked on a very steep incline) while nobody was in the cab but me, and nearly went down a very steep embankment, had my dad not come running and stopped it.

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