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Turning off engine at 60mph

JEDI

JEDI

Lifer
just curious:

what happens if you are going 60mph then turn the engine off?(ignition key to off position)
 
Don't do it on a busy highway unless you are familiar with how your car drives without power brakes and power steering. Actually you shouldn't do it on a busy highway at all.

At 60 mph, even with an automatic, all you need to do to start it again is turn the key to the ON/RUN position, no need to START. Engine will already be at sufficient RPM to restart fuel injection and ignition via the connection to the drive line.
 
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Nothing, with my car at least. It's easy to steer without power steering at 60mph, and my car has a built in vacuum reserve for the brakes(for auto-stop purposes).
 
Eli said:
Nothing, with my car at least. It's easy to steer without power steering at 60mph, and my car has a built in vacuum reserve for the brakes(for auto-stop purposes).
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Electric power steering, probably still powered 😉 Then again I'm thinking of a 3600 lb car with 275/40/17 front tires :awe:
 
i thought newer cars had a lockout that won't let you turn off the ignition if the car is not in P or N?
Though i've had cars die on me before driving down the road, usually you kinda coast except the tranny pulls you gradually slower....but those were old cars

i know in manuals, you can just take it out of gear and turn it off and you just coast. Put it in a high gear then drop the clutch to start the motor.
 
Do new cars disable the steering lock if the vehicle is still moving? On older cars, turning the ignition switch to 'off' will engage the steering lock once the wheel is turned to a certain point.
 
exdeath said:
Electric power steering, probably still powered 😉 Then again I'm thinking of a 3600 lb car with 275/40/17 front tires :awe:
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I almost ran my Lincoln Town Car out of gas once. It was low enough that when I was getting off the highway, the fuel pump starved and the engine died. Lost power steering and at the time I had a nasty vacuum leak. Really had to stand on the pedal to bring 4000 pounds of Lincoln to a stop from highway speeds. Also, all the warning lights came on. The engine is so quiet I didn't realize it had stopped at first, and thought something had gone horribly wrong with it to turn all those lights on.

Engine started right back up and I decided not to put the gas station off until tomorrow, after all.
 
I have turned my engine off at like 10mph, the transmission went into N and thats about it.

And Yea steering is a bitch and a half lol
 
When I took driver's education, in high school, the teacher actually had us do some "highway" driving (4 lane divided parkway, with little to no traffic, that was nearby), and one of the things he did to us while driving there was to cut off the engine (to simulate a stall), and have us restart it. Cut engine off, shift auto transmission to neutral, re-start engine, shift back to drive, accelerate back to highway speed.

Of course, that was over 30 years ago, so automotive engineering has advanced a bit since then! 🙄
 
jlee said:
Do new cars disable the steering lock if the vehicle is still moving? On older cars, turning the ignition switch to 'off' will engage the steering lock once the wheel is turned to a certain point.
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If you're in anything but park (which you have to be when going 60mph 😀) the ignition won't turn off far enough to lock the wheel (or pull the key for that matter).

And to restart the engine you have to put the transmission in neutral first. Or park, but I don't suggest you try jamming the transmission into park while rolling at 60mph 😛
 
SparkyJJO said:
If you're in anything but park (which you have to be when going 60mph 😀) the ignition won't turn off far enough to lock the wheel (or pull the key for that matter).

And to restart the engine you have to put the transmission in neutral first. Or park, but I don't suggest you try jamming the transmission into park while rolling at 60mph 😛
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OP stated off position, which you can do with a manual transmission 😛

But yeah you're right, it won't go to 'off' with an automatic.
 
jlee said:
OP stated off position, which you can do with a manual transmission 😛

But yeah you're right, it won't go to 'off' with an automatic.
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ahh thx. so w/an automatic, the wheel wont lock but i do loose power steering if i try to turn the ignition to off
 
It may be obvious but I've never tried, with a manual transmission, if you keep the transmission in gear, keep your foot off the clutch and switch the ignition to the ACC position, not off so the steering wheel doesn't lock. The fuel pump turns off, the injectors stop injecting, the spark plugs stop sparking but the engine is still being turned through the drive train by the inertia of the vehicle right? That means you still have vacuum for the breaks (assuming the throttle isn't wide open) and if the power steering pump is driven by the fan belt, you still have power steering. An auto would be a different story but with a manual transmission, I believe vital steering and braking should still work. I'm not sure what kind of damage might occur to the engine if it's turned for a significant amount of time without a spark, I can't think of anything obvious that would happen, but perhaps sucking in cold air and exhausting it without combustion might damage something.
 
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Do yourself a favor and don't accidentally turn the key all the way off (manual trans) because your steering wheel will lock.

Spoken from experience.
 
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Depends on your car.
In my Chevy S-10 with electronic ignition, I lose power steering and cant start again until I stop, put it in P, and unstick the steering wheel. (Tried it on a deserted road one night at 25.)
At 60 that could get you killed.
 
Locked steering wheel isn't a big deal... you don't even have to turn the engine on, just twist the key 1/4" and you've got steering again.
 
My manual trans am overheated at 70mph so I cut it off immediately and coasted off the highway. Water pump locked up and turning it off saved my engine.
 
I have done this plenty of times. They key is to not turn the key off the ignition, or the steering will lock. The power assist at 60mph is very little, so you CAN effectively steer without any assist at high speed. Once you hit low speeds, you are in need of bigger muscles.
In my Acura, I have a reserve for power assist for bakes. So I can brake successfully 3 or 4 times, but after that, YOU are braking the car, so it is extremely difficult.

In the Lexus, it is the same story, but I am not extremely confident with the system.
 
exdeath said:
Locked steering wheel isn't a big deal... you don't even have to turn the engine on, just twist the key 1/4" and you've got steering again.
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It's kind of a big deal if you aren't expecting it and pull the key out of the ignition thinking you're a bad ass turning off the car before you come to a complete stop while parking.

I did that once and won't do it again. Thankfully I was going slow and managed to park safely.
 
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