Emergency stop?

Was just driving and accidentally pushed the start/stop button instead of the heated steering wheel button. I got both a loud audible and a visual alert with a message to the effect "press and hold for emergency stop".

I was doing about 60mph at the time. Just curious exactly what would happen if I did in fact press and hold the button. Deep thoughts.

 

It would shut the engine off.

 

Yes. Thank you. Would you lose power steering? Would you lose power braking? How quickly would it decelerate in gear vs being in neutral?

I was driving my GF's father's F250 down a steep grade at a good clip in HS (back in the late 80') when the truck stalled.... Very hard to keep that bastard on the road without power steering and brakes.

 

Haha, this reminds me of the SNL skits from the 90's "Deep thoughts, by Jack Handy".

 

A description of what might happen in that situation might be buried somewhere in the manual .

My guess, is that the warning of “emergency stop” might be accurate. It will stop the engine and create an emergency situation when you lose brakes and can barely turn your steering. Actually, we have a electric vacuum booster(except 2wd 4runners). The brakes might actually work with the engine off. Maybe not though since the “emergency stop” might shut off the electrical system.

Seriously though, can’t think of a good reason ever to shut off the engine while the car is moving.

 

Maybe, hypothetically, if the dealership spills oil on your starter, messing up your electrical system, and your engine runs away. In gear that could be bad

 

Losing power steering yes, power brakes, technically yes but you’ll still have boost in the system to assist in a stop or so.

 

If your car experiences a fire or mechanical failure, that's a good reason. Make sure you shift into neutral before doing it, that is, if you can remember while trying not to panic.

 

You would lose power steering since the pump is engine driven but the brakes will for for at least a few braking events since there’s residual pressure in the booster. It may continue to function if the ignition stays on my shuts the engine off.

Steering effort would be less with the Runner since it’s not as heavy as the F250 and it’s IFS.

 

The engine would stop. You would loose power steering and power brakes. It would be the same as turning the key off while going down the road on an older vehicle.

it’s meant to do that by design. They made this very clear several years back when Toyota was being blamed for unintended acceleration that caused a few accidents and deaths. It’s the same reason why the floor mats have clips and is part of the items to check when changing the oil or other service at the dealership.

 

I’d prefer to stop before shutting off the engine. It’s not going to take more than 5 sec to safely stop, first, then you can shut it off. If there’s a fire, shutting it off probably won’t extinguish it anyway.

If there is a stuck accelerator pedal or runaway situation, yes you are correct. The thing to do is to put the transmission in neutral, then brake normally. Turning off the engine makes things much less safe for no good reason. Once stopped, it’s safe to panic, shut off the engine, and run away.