hello club lexus, earlier today I let my niece drive around the neighborhood so she can practice with her driving permit. For some strange reason she wasn't thinking towards the end and shuts off the engine before we even stop or get to the curb. Long story short, I asked her why did she turn off the engine, she realized what she did, freaked out, while the engine was off put the car into park when it was currently in drive (when the car was off and just rolling) then I heard grinding from the engine. I quickly test drove it around and it seems fine (maybe it is just psychological but I feel as if my car doesn't shift as hard, smoother than before). What damage do you think has been done? I also heard that there are devices to prevent this from causing damage but my car was shut off so im not sure if the computer even activated this feature.

 

Should be fine, the noise you herd was the parking pawl trying to catch in the trans.

 

thanks for the reply zppeacock! but i also heard that the noise is the noise of the parking pawl yes BUT it can be grinded, cracked, or broken? I also heard something about a "synco" or something like that grinding and leaving metal chips in the transmission, I should do a atf flush, necessary?

 

I also forgot to mention, lets say if the park pawl broke. If i were to park on a driveway then test it out to see if it works or not still, and my car doesn't slide down the slope, how will I know if it is indeed cracked, just not broken?

 

Don't be too hard on your niece.

 

Take it apart and find out

 

Don't worry about it. Nothing has broken, if the car doesn't move in park then it's all good. If it rocks back and forth while your pushing the car while it's in park it's fine, if the car actually moves then it's broken. Easiest thing to do is park on a hill, if the car rolls back an inch and then stops it's good, if the car starts to roll while in park and doesn't stop it's broken. You can always use the handbrake if your worried about the parking pawl.
NEVER,EVER FLUSH the atf, ONLY DO DRAIN AND FILLS. Doing a flush makes all of the metal and debris go through the tranny and valve body which is not good. A drain and fill is easy, and it's good for the car.