do I need to place auto transmission to Neutral or Park before turning off the engine?

you always want to put it into park, always. There's really no reason to leave it in D to shut off ur car. Alot of cars wont even let you do that.

It won't harm anything at all. Until you get out of the car without putting it in park, and the car begins to roll. Get in the habit of shutting down and securing the car properly.

He also said it would harm the engine and/or

Not really. It will not harm the engine.

Use Park to keep your car from rolling when you park. (Clever coincidence, those two words, huh?)

Be sure the car is stationary before you put the tranny into Park. If you are rolling along and drop the tranny into Park, you may be in for a big $urpri$e.

You can turn the engine off with the car in gear. You have to put it into park to get the key out.

I think the question regarded sequence, whether it was better to put it into park before shutting down or whether you could shut down and then put it into park.

Don't know if it's bad for the transmission to turn the engine off while it's in gear, but it's a PITA when you're used to a manual transmission, where it's normal to leave it in reverse when it's parked.

Sorry about my English. Maybe I didn't write my question clearly. What I'm wondering is *not* whether the gear is in "P" or "D" position

But what I'm wondering is whether it would harm the engine and/or the transmission system if I stop the car and rotate (*not* yet remove) the key just to turn off the engine while the gear is being in "D" position.

Thanks, Parinya

No, it will do no harm. Sometimes it is needed if the gas pedal gets stuck down so you can get a vehicle under control.

You will lose your power steering and power brakes though.

Mike

Absolutely will do no harm. Whoever told you that does not know what he or she is talking about.

hhhhmmmn!!! good question, had never thought about it, my key will not come out of the switch until I put the bugger in park.

and I always remove my key before alighting, the buzzer - tells me to - and not to be stupid.

mho v=83e

a lot of questions being asked in this forum is answered in the owner's manual that comes with each car.

it doesn't hurt to kick an issue around - but sometimes you get only subjective answers that have no merit.

a review of the owner's manual can be an informative experience.

mho v=83e

Someone once recommended to me to start a vehicle with an automatic transmission by putting the transmission in neutral. I couldn't see what the difference was between starting the car in park or neutral, and they couldn't give me a reason either.

That is a trick to use on worn out vehicles. The shifter linkage gets sloppy so the park safety switch won't always set. If you shift to neutral, you have a better chance of making the safety switch switch.

Mike