I was waiting for my friend to come outside when picking him up. I put the car into park in his driveway. The driveway is on a slight incline, and it's a U-shape. He comes out we get going, and I realize I can barely put the car into Drive, it was very stiff. I shifted (automatic) into D and heard a CLUNKKKKKKKKKKKK noise. It gave me the chills, but the car drove fine after. It was weird how it was harder to move the shift **** into D on the slight incline, and hear the slam noise. Has this happened to anyone else before? I really didn't think such a small incline could cause this. Did this do any damage to transmission?

 

Use your parking brake when parking on an incline to avoid this. Set the brake before putting the car in park. When leaving, put it into gear and the release the parking brake. That way it won't roll slightly forward or backward and put the transmission in a bind like that.

The transmission will be fine.

 

Like said above. Keep the weight of the car on the brakes, not the trans. I can remember my dad yelling at me for that 20 years ago.

 

but the answer to the OP's question is no. The gears should be fine. Drive around and as long as you don't have any funny noises or bad shifting, no harm is done.

 

Just as I tell / yell-at my daughters the same!

 

Good read - Ok, so, what happens if the Parking-Pawl breaks??? - Bob Is The Oil Guy

I imagine worst case scenario is you'd lose the parking position in the trans (assuming any potential floating parts won't cause other damage). That is the wheels won't remain locked/prevented from moving when in park. You still have a parking brake pedal though. It's been years since i've owned an automatic, but every now and then will drive the folks' car, and still engage the parking brake even on level surfaces. With a manual, if totally flat, i'll just use the ebrake, otherwise, leave it in 1st or reverse and ebrake.

 

I learned this (all above) at early age. When a car has keys if you don't park right it is harder to get the key out but when e brake is engaged its easier. So know its just habit. I live in the hilliest part of Philly so this is something I had to learn. Just remember to engage the brake before the car rocks.

 

Interesting info regarding the key removal but what about cars that have push button ignitions?

Also a good rule of thumb is on steep inclines or any incline make sure your tire is resting against the curb before engaging park. Otherwise you may never get into drive without a nudge from another car.