While moving at about 6 mph (I was slowly pressing the brakes)....I accidentally pressed the parking button. The car immediately stopped after a large tug and when I put it in drive, there was another large tug. Did I damage any gears/transmission?
Probably not, but I wouldn't do it again. At low speed selecting Park puts a parking pawl which is a mechanical stop in place. This locks the car drive train so it can't roll. So what you did was a sudden lock up of the drive train and put it into tension. When you put it back into drive that tension was relieved hence the tug. The same thing can happen in any car with automatic transmission if you put the gearshift into Park while still rolling. Like other cars if you are rolling above a certain speed the Prius transmission will select neutral to avoid damaging itself. The exact speed where this happens varies, but if you had done this at 20MPH the transmission would have gone to neutral. If you don't notice any adverse behavior I wouldn't worry about it.
Should be ok. When I parked on an incline, the car rolled back and putting it in "D" or "R" later would make sound as well. Even with the parking brakes engaged, the car still rolled back.
just to be on the safe side, i would have the dealer take a look at it. you wouldn't want to park on a slope and have it roll away! i'm pretty sure the owners manual say to come to a complete stop before putting it in park.
if the car still stops and goes into park... you still have a parking pin and all should be ok. i would not take it to the dealer for something a couple thousand of us do at least once a year with Zero ill issues reported. if you were going about two mph faster the pin wouldn't have dropped.. it would have beeped at you and tossed itself into N...
Accord manual says do not put car in park while car is moving or transmission damage may occur. I would think Prius manual says the same, so don't do it.
Your Accord has a fairly normal automatic transmission which can be damaged by clumsy handling. The Prius, on the other hand, has computers controlling all of the moving parts. The Prius will not allow you to shift into Park unless it is safe to do so. You may stop abruptly, but it won't hurt the car. Tom
The small child in the picture on the left hit my P button once. In six more years he will be done being grounded.
*joins uncoordinated club* :behindsofa: I hit PARK while driving today. I was messin' around with the EV and ECO buttons while driving 25mph and accidently hit PARK. Nothing happened, but definitely a "DOH!!" moment.
WOW! PARK is on the total opposite side of the center console.... I've hit the rear defogger before wanting to hit PWR mode and wondered why the car seemed really sluggish. You'd think the bright dummy light not telling me PWR MODE on the dash would have been a clue....
