Shifting into N in AT

  • Thread starter Thread starter azndrifter318
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azndrifter318

azndrifter318

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I have a 93 Maxima which is AT. Okay before you guys flame, I'm working my a** off, but still haven't got enough where i can live and spend money on new brakes. My brakes squeal real bad at the very end of my braking. Lately I've been shifting into neutral and I don't have to press my brakes as hard at the very end so that sound stops when i do that. I usually only do this only if theres a car next to me with its windows open, cuz well its embarassing. Is there any harm in shifting into N? I don't rev it or nething, all i use it for is the engine brake.
 
Well it's not actually engine braking, it's just a lack of engine to drivetrain connection. On an automatic even if you don't press on the gas pedal a small amount of torque is still transfered if you are in drive gear.

I don't see any problems with shifting into neutral while the car is moving, having your foot on the gas while in neutral and shifting into drive gear is a no no, however.
 
What Humbo says is true. I will also say that you should fix your brakes immediately even if you have to borrow money from someone to do it. Brake pads all around should be $50-60, but if you have to add replacing or resurfacing discs into that the price will be more like $200.

If you can change your own oil, you can do a disc brake job. I can talk you through it.
 
Shifting into N (Neutral) is fine as Humbo said.

You may want to try and clean excess brake dust from your brakes with compressed air, if your not willing to do a brake service yet, sometimes it helps or stops the squealing.
 
I do it at every stoplight and sometimes just when I'm cruising. There's another benefit to doing it, too: I've found slight fuel economy gains shifting into neutral whenever possible.
 
Duke
Brake pads all around should be $50-60, but if you have to add replacing or resurfacing discs into that the price will be more like $200.
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Depends on the car, I got four new rotors for $60 :)

I'd at least take the wheels off and have a look at the brakes, make sure there are still pads left.

Edit: Cleaning brake dust off may help, the rear drum on my motorcycle made a ton of noise when I bought it, I pulled the brake apart and found there was nothing wrong with it, just a lot of dust. Although a Maxima probably doesn't have drums... but if it does, that might be something to check :)
 
retsmah
Although a Maxima probably doesn't have drums... but if it does, that might be something to check :)
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Depends on the model - an 89-94 Maxima GXE will have rear drum brakes, while the uplevel SE model had four-wheel discs with optional ABS.
 
I have a 93 Maxima which is AT. Okay before you guys flame, I'm working my a** off, but still haven't got enough where i can live and spend money on new brakes. My brakes squeal real bad at the very end of my braking. Lately I've been shifting into neutral and I don't have to press my brakes as hard at the very end so that sound stops when i do that. I usually only do this only if theres a car next to me with its windows open, cuz well its embarassing. Is there any harm in shifting into N? I don't rev it or nething, all i use it for is the engine brake.
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I'm guessing that you're actually better off shifting into N when you're slowing down or stopped - and what other people are saying seems to agree with that.

However, I've got to second Duke on this, if the brakes are squealing really bad then you're probably in the wear indicators and should protect your rotors with a new set of pads.
 
It is probable that you've got worn out pads. As a temporary measure, you could bend the squealers out, hopefully eliminating the noise. If this has no effect, take it in to a shop (Since it sounds like you're not the do-it-yourself type).

The squealers are small metal tabs on the brake caliper that ride with the brake pads. As the pads wear down, the squealer gets closer to and eventually touches the rotor, making for noisy brakes.
 
Shifthing in to N while stopoin for a short time eg traffic lights, may cause more wear to the gearbox. When you shift, you engage the shift plates(i think, read it some where) and repeated shifthing wear it out faster.

Leaving it in D does no harm because all autobox are made to slip, and you won't damage anything.
Even when driving, the autobox slip.
 
How many miles do you have on your pads? It could be the brake pad's wear sensor, making the squealing sound. If so, as Duke said, replacing pads are pretty simple task and aftermarket pads are very affordable. If the pads aren't that old, it could be your rotor(disc).

When my Accord had squealing brakes, I bought new set of brake pads. I think they were around $40 - $50(bendix). My friend was gonna install them for me, but my original pads still had plenty of pads left. It did turn out to be the warped rotor, that was causing the noise. Fortunately, we were doing this in the shop, so he resurfaced them for me. :) 👍
 

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