Engine knock when backing up in NEUTRAL gear

[nabril]

Hello

Every day I park my car at the front of my house on a slight incline. When I leave the house, I usually put the car in R and then coast down in Neutral, N. When I level out at street level, I often (almost daily) notice that as the car rolls backward to a stop, the engine knocks slightly and I feel the car jolting slightly back and forth. I notice that the RPM's decrease a bit, and then the knocking stops.

What can be causing this?
Thanks

[centralcoaster33]

Hi Nabril, do you have an automatic, CVT or manual transmission? Saying R and N makes me think automatic or CVT, but then you say you're in Reverse and coasting, so that makes me think manual, in reverse, but with clutch in for coasting. If you do have an automatic or CVT, what do you mean by coasting in Neutral and being in R? You have to be in one or the other with those. Are you using your brakes at all to stop when you reach the bottom of your driveway? Finally, what make you say engine knock, do you have a code for your knock sensor? Sorry for all the questions, but I think we need to understand your situation a bit better to offer an explanation.

[nabril]

Thank you.
Yes, I have an automatic transmission.
I'll put the car in reverse and once I roll a bit to catch the downhill, I'll put it in neutral and roll down pressing the brake gently as needed. At the bottom of the decline as the car slows down is when I feel the engine lightly jolt or knock. Once I shift to D and roll a bit, the knock goes away.

[nabril]

To clarify. I feel the car shake forward and backward gently as though it's going to stall perhaps. It's not so much what is known as engine knock, but it rather feels like it's about to stall out because of not enough gas or something.

[centralcoaster33]

I see. Thanks for the feedback. Are you under warranty still? Is this issue pretty easy to reproduce? I'm thinking something could be up with the idle, but an easy thing to do if yes to both questions is to bring it into a dealership and have them diagnose a bit. The stumbling of the engine seems a bit weird and it's not in gear at that time, so I think idle maybe. I wonder if maybe the Park/ Neutral switch is having issues sending the proper signal. Of course anyone else who reads this and knows something will likely respond.

Thinking along the lines of that switch, check out this article. Guy has issue swapping between R, N and D...
p0705-transmision-range-switch-input-t595601.html

[Rogue Jarhead]

If you back down the driveway leaving it in reverse does the noise still happen? These automatic transmissions are not really made to coast in neutral.

[Rogue One]

Thank you.
Yes, I have an automatic transmission.
I'll put the car in reverse and once I roll a bit to catch the downhill, I'll put it in neutral and roll down pressing the brake gently as needed. At the bottom of the decline as the car slows down is when I feel the engine lightly jolt or knock. Once I shift to D and roll a bit, the knock goes away.

Your 2010 Rogue is equipped with a CVT. The US models have never been offered with a standard automatic transmission.

There is a clutch that will engage at some point when you're in reverse. Some think it's to keep people from going too fast in reverse, and will kick in once you reach a certain speed, which is probably what you're experiencing.

[R.T.]

Excerpt from the Owner's Manual of my 2016 Rogue:

"Except in an emergency, do not shift to
the N (Neutral) position while driving.
Coasting with the transmission in the N
(Neutral) position may cause serious
damage to the transmission."

FWIW

[nabril]

Wow. Ok.. Big thanks. I've been doing that for years with all my cars, while approaching a red light, for example.