Engage “PARK” last
Auto-Park will engage if the driver unbuckles seatbelt and opens door while the Jeep is in Drive or moving.
Most of us were taught the wrong way to park. Or, should I say, to put our car into “Park”.
Out of bad habit, we have a tendency of stopping our vehicle, and then yanking the main shifter from Drive (or Reverse) into Park. We then set our manual “parking brake” and turn off the engine. That actually is the incorrect sequence of how to do it.
Jeeps, in particular, have a relatively fragile paw to lock the transmission when you shift into the PARK setting. Before shifting into Park, we first must brake the vehicle securely, BEFORE using that fragile paw to immobilize the transmission.
The correct sequence of events should be to:
Stop the vehicle motion, by applying the foot brake.
Shift into Neutral.
While still keeping pressure on the brakes, engage the hand brake (parking brake).
Now, shift from Neutral to Park.
Turn off the engine.
A couple more things that you should know about PARK on a Jeep Wrangler
Jeeps have this thing called Auto-Park. It is supposed to prevent your Jeep from rolling away from you if you exit the car or pop onto the running board (or door frame) to check tire placement or an obstacle. The Jeep people assume that you might remove your foot from the brake and don’t want your car to roll away. Therefore, any time that the drivers door is opened, the system will slam the transmission into “Park” even though your shifter may still be in Drive.
I learned about Auto-Park the hard way when I was trying to use my winch to get pulled out of sand. Every time that I opened my door to stick my head out, the Jeep slammed to a halt.
Never use PARK to anchor your Jeep during winching or recovery. That paw is small and fragile, and only intended to prevent your Jeep from rolling away on a level surface or very slight incline. It was not built to withstand thousands of pounds of tugging. So if your Jeep is doing the winching, or anchoring another Jeep that is doing the winching — you do NOT want to be in PARK. Keep your vehicle in Neutral and apply maximum pressure to the foot brake along with engaging the hand brake.
