Torque Lock - Chevrolet 2009 TrailBlazer Owner's Manual

Leaving the Vehicle With the Engine
Running
CAUTION:
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It can be dangerous to leave the vehicle with the
engine running. The vehicle could move suddenly
if the shift lever is not fully in P (Park) with the
parking brake firmly set.
If you have four-wheel drive, the vehicle will be
free to roll – even if your lever is in P (Park) – if
the transfer case is in Neutral. So be sure the
transfer case is in a drive gear – not Neutral.
See Four-Wheel Drive on page 2-30.
And, if you leave the vehicle with the engine
running, it could overheat and even catch fire. You
or others could be injured. Do not leave the vehicle
with the engine running unless you have to.
2-36
If you have to leave the vehicle with the engine running,
be sure the vehicle is in P (Park) and the parking
brake is firmly set before you leave it. After you have
moved the shift lever into P (Park), hold the regular
brake pedal down. Then, see if you can move the shift
lever away from P (Park) without first pressing the
button on the console shift lever. If you can, it means
that the shift lever was not fully locked into P (Park).

Torque Lock

If you are parking on a hill and you do not shift your
transmission into P (Park) properly, the weight of
the vehicle may put too much force on the parking pawl
in the transmission. You may find it difficult to pull the
shift lever out of P (Park). This is called "torque lock."
To prevent torque lock, set the parking brake and
then shift into P (Park) properly before you leave the
driver seat. To find out how, see Shifting Into Park
on page 2-35.
When you are ready to drive, move the shift lever out of
P (Park) before you release the parking brake.
If torque lock does occur, you may need to have another
vehicle push yours a little uphill to take some of the
pressure from the parking pawl in the transmission,
so you can pull the shift lever out of P (Park).