Spinning tires in the snow - how bad is it?

[raildogg]

Hey guys, today we received some snow and I had to drive in it quite a bit.

I was going uphill and stopped at a red light. After the light turned green, my car got stuck and would not go forward. My brother got out of the car and he and the guy from the car behind me tried to push my car to no avail. I had to reverse it in order to go forward.

While the wheels were spinning, I saw the transmission shift into second and third gears. I am not sure if this is bad or not.

Appreciate any responses. Thank you.

 

[jagec]

Not really a problem unless you suddenly hit a patch of good traction while your tires are going 70 MPH.

 

[Jimzz]

It puts stress on the trans and can heat the fluid up quickly.

Trucks have larger coolers for the transmission fluid that most cars do not. As such cars can burn their fluid much faster and tear the trans up.

 

[raildogg]

Not really a problem unless you suddenly hit a patch of good traction while your tires are going 70 MPH.

Ok, I went forward after reversing and not from while the wheels were spinning.

Appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[raildogg]

It puts stress on the trans and can heat the fluid up quickly.

Trucks have larger coolers for the transmission fluid that most cars do not. As such cars can burn their fluid much faster and tear the trans up.

Maybe I should take my car in a bit earlier for maintenance?

 

[JulesMaximus]

You are converting gasoline into engine and transmission heat. How well your car copes with the heat depends on the car I guess but most cars will not like sitting and revving for long periods of time. A few minutes shouldn't do any damage though.

 

[Doppel]

No, it's perfectly fine. Seriously, you weren't out there for a few hours just grinding away. Don't worry about it; it did absolutely nothing to your transmission at all.

 

[raildogg]

Jules and Dopple,

It was maybe for about 30 seconds or so. After I saw it shift into 3rd gear, I let go of the accelerator and reversed to go forward.

Anyway, very, very fortunate here.

There were so many cars and trucks all over all the roads. Just abandoned. (In NC)

I should be very thankful

 

[jlee]

Nothing to worry about, just some minor accelerated tire wear. It'll be fine.

 

[Zenmervolt]

You are converting gasoline into engine and transmission heat. How well your car copes with the heat depends on the car I guess but most cars will not like sitting and revving for long periods of time. A few minutes shouldn't do any damage though.

True to a degree, but the real heat worry with an automatic is revving the engine while the transmission is in gear without the wheels spinning. That puts a lot of strain on the torque converter and builds heat from the slippage in the torque converter. If the wheels are spinning, there's not really much heat at all being built up in the transmission.

In the OP's situation he'd need to be flooring the throttle with the tires spinning and sitting still for 15-20 minutes before it became even a small problem.

To the OP: If the transmission was all the way into third, you were giving the car way too much gas for the situation. That's why the wheels were spinning.

ZV

 

[LTC8K6]

Jules and Dopple,

It was maybe for about 30 seconds or so. After I saw it shift into 3rd gear, I let go of the accelerator and reversed to go forward.

Anyway, very, very fortunate here.

There were so many cars and trucks all over all the roads. Just abandoned. (In NC)

I should be very thankful

Just wanted to say that I am in central NC, and it was astonishing how quickly the situation went to hell. It was a nice fine clear winter day, with clear dry roads. In less than 30 minutes, the roads were treacherous.

The roads had cold soaked overnight, and the snow hit hard and fast.

This is not long after the snow began:

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/15c8/hs5rmhp2a0pjsuffg.jpg

And not much later:

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/85c2/p83lb2vem9b29mpfg.jpg

 

[JulesMaximus]

True to a degree, but the real heat worry with an automatic is revving the engine while the transmission is in gear without the wheels spinning. That puts a lot of strain on the torque converter and builds heat from the slippage in the torque converter. If the wheels are spinning, there's not really much heat at all being built up in the transmission.

In the OP's situation he'd need to be flooring the throttle with the tires spinning and sitting still for 15-20 minutes before it became even a small problem.

To the OP: If the transmission was all the way into third, you were giving the car way too much gas for the situation. That's why the wheels were spinning.

ZV

Yeah... I kind of figured he wasn't spinning the tires for 15-20 minutes. I assumed worst case was a couple minutes. Only a complete idiot would sit there and let the engine rev for 15-20 minutes.