SuperGrover

I was surprised to read this article on what NOT to do to your car:

Tow an automatic car with its drive wheels down:
If you want to destroy your automatic transmission or greatly reduce its service life, a fast way to do it is to allow the vehicle to be towed with its drive wheels down. An automatic transmission uses hydraulic fluid under high pressure to transfer the engine's power to the road. The hydraulic fluid also lubricates the transmission's internal parts--but only when the transmission's torque converter is being turned by the running engine. When the engine's not running (as when the vehicle is being towed), the torque converter isn't pumping pressurized fluid through the transmission--so there's no lubrication. But if the drive wheels are down and turning, the transmission is being "run"--without proper lubrication. It's like running the engine without an oil pump, and the results can be just as ugly. Therefore, if you are concerned about your automatic-equipped car or truck and need a tow, insist on a rollback truck. Instead of dragging the vehicle, the entire car is winched aboard the rollback, tightly secured, and carted off. More and more towing companies are using rollbacks rather than old-style tow trucks because they're safer--and limit the potential for damage to the towed vehicle. However, you can still be towed safely by an old-style tow truck. If the car is front-wheel-drive, ask that it be towed front-first, so that the back wheels are the ones that are down. For rear-drive cars, trucks, and SUVs, the best thing to do is ask that the driver unhook your vehicle's drive shaft--which disconnects the transmission (and transfer case on 4x4s) from the drive wheels, so no damage will occur as a result of being towed.

I had a minor accident in April 2001 that rendered the car undriveable because part of the fender was jammed into the left front wheel well. So I had the car towed traditional-style, rear wheels to the ground. I never knew that was bad! No one ever told me!
When the body shop fixed him all up ($300 over "totaled" but State Farm paid anyway!), my alternator was shot. My friend thought that was because it sat for a month at the body shop, not being driven. Now I wonder if the tow was the cause. I just shrugged the alternator off at the time, because the warranty covered it. (Yes, my salesman sold me a great warranty package on a used '94 Camaro with 50,000 miles in Spring 2000. Aside from the alternator, never really used it, but it was great peace of mind.)

It's been over 2 years and probably 20,000 miles since the accident. I assume any transmission damage would be evident by now. I hope so anyway.

Thoughts?

Capn Pete

That's very true. Automatic cars shouldn't be towed in neutral for too long a distance for the very reason stated above --- no oil circulation through the tranny. A manual tranny is OK in that case though.

As far as your alternator dying because of a tow?? NO. It's one thing for the transmission to be "running", but the motor is not turning with it. I see no co-relation between towing your car and the alternator quitting. It was probably just its time.