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damage transmission from jacking car up?

B

byron366

CEG'er
Joined
Apr 7, 2010
Messages
54
Location
Eastern Ontario
Hello all,

I just got done doing some A/C work to my Mystique which required the car to be lifted. I tried zorrex's method of lifting the front end. his method involved placing the jack dead center on the front subframe behind the radiator. well I did that, but left it in park. about 3/4 of the way up, i heard this loud grind. i immediately knew that the axles were forcing the transmission since it was in park, so i lowered it to inspect. I didn't see anything visual, so i started it up and threw it into reverse. it moved in both reverse and drive, so I know that the tranny wasn't busted. I do not however know if it will perform the same at higher speeds. maybe somebody can tell me if I really did wreck the transmission. (hopefully not) thanks!
 
no it wasnt the tires. jacking parallel with the car will cause it to move forward because of the motion from the jack. as the jack raised up, the car was inching forward. it got to the point where the transmission stopped the wheels, but I kept going because I wasn't watching the wheels.
 
I don't think i understand you correctly. I jack my car up the same way in the front. I leave my SVT is first gear, Use the parking brake and chock the rear tires. This is lifting the front of the car by the sub frame. Leaving my car in gear would act as park. i have never had anything happen and you shouldn't either. Are you sure it wasn't the jack and or suspension creaking as they lifted? Also if you are lifting the front of the car dead center on the front sub frame the car would want to roll backwards not forwards on a level surface.
 
if you're using a floor jack then the jack should move not the car. if you're using the jack that came with your car to try and jack this way then you are playing a dangerous game. i've jacked my car this same way several times and i always leave my car in park and have never had any issues. the only noise that i have ever heard comes from the tires as they scrap a little, as the suspension relaxes, and the weight of the car is taken off of it.
 
to tell you the truth, my driveway is in such poor condition, so the jack sunk into the asphalt with the slightest load from the car. as the jack moved up, the arm also moved forward (as in towards the front of the car). because the jack was sunken so low into the ground, the forward movement of the jack arm pulled the car forward, thus causing the front wheels to move forward. thats what I think forced the transmission.

maybe i should of set the parking brake in the first place. my jack is so small though. i felt that it would of fell off because of its small size and uneven asphalt.

however, the tranny still worked when i started it following this "incident". it seemed to act normally in drive (1st gear at least), reverse, neutral and park. so maybe i'm just making a big deal for nothing. Thanks for the help anyhow
 
please always use the parking brake and chock the tires of the opposite side you are lifting. the car CAN roll off the jack otherwise. Also please use jack stands because any type of jack can fail at anytime.
 
1: Always set your parking brake and some type of wheel chocks when you are jacking up your car. Always use jackstands after you have it up.

2: Unless you were using racing slicks and glue with a couple thousand extra pounds on the tires, there is no way the traction of your tires would have overcome park on your transmission. What you heard was some other noise. Ask someone to tow your car in park sometime, you will see that your tires do not spin. Assuming the jack was staying in place and pulling the car forward, there are only two things that could happen. Either the tires would slip or the jack would slip. The jack slipping is probably what made the sound you heard. Never fear, your transmission is fine.
 
I highly doubt that was anything related to the transmission. It sounds like the jacked slipped on the car for a second. Happens all the time which is why you should never work under the car without wheel chocks and jack stands. You never know what might happen with the jack no matter how solid it might feel.
 
now when I come to think about it, you guys were right. the jack slipped on the subframe. when I looked underneath to see if anything happened, I think I remember seeing that the jack had moved forward a half inch. I'm just glad that the tranny is fine. thanks for the input.
 
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