Leaving car in gear when parked
Discussion
Like most I always leave it in gear.
If car to be left standing for a while OFF ROAD, i leave handbrake OFF, as I had a mark 3 escort that I parked up for a month once and came back, started ok, rear wheels locked on, so rocked car back and forth to try and release....they wouldn't, so a mate said just drive off and see what happens....so I did, after about 30m in second gear they released with a big bang....hand brake was ok, just seized on with damp, and being on too tight
We lived on a road which was also a hill, a neighbours car slipped it's handbrake......hit about 12 cars before it stopped....there was nearly a street riot!
On a hill leave wheels turned into kerb, if it slips handbrake and gear it will only roll against kerb....modern driving instructors teach/advise this....well this one does
If car to be left standing for a while OFF ROAD, i leave handbrake OFF, as I had a mark 3 escort that I parked up for a month once and came back, started ok, rear wheels locked on, so rocked car back and forth to try and release....they wouldn't, so a mate said just drive off and see what happens....so I did, after about 30m in second gear they released with a big bang....hand brake was ok, just seized on with damp, and being on too tight
We lived on a road which was also a hill, a neighbours car slipped it's handbrake......hit about 12 cars before it stopped....there was nearly a street riot!
On a hill leave wheels turned into kerb, if it slips handbrake and gear it will only roll against kerb....modern driving instructors teach/advise this....well this one does
watchnut said:
Like most I always leave it in gear.
If car to be left standing for a while OFF ROAD, i leave handbrake OFF, as I had a mark 3 escort that I parked up for a month once and came back, started ok, rear wheels locked on, so rocked car back and forth to try and release....they wouldn't, so a mate said just drive off and see what happens....so I did, after about 30m in second gear they released with a big bang....hand brake was ok, just seized on with damp, and being on too tight
We lived on a road which was also a hill, a neighbours car slipped it's handbrake......hit about 12 cars before it stopped....there was nearly a street riot!
On a hill leave wheels turned into kerb, if it slips handbrake and gear it will only roll against kerb....modern driving instructors teach/advise this....well this one does
Into the kerb if facing downhill, away from the kerb if facing up hill. That minimises the distance for a ‘loose’ vehicle to roll. If car to be left standing for a while OFF ROAD, i leave handbrake OFF, as I had a mark 3 escort that I parked up for a month once and came back, started ok, rear wheels locked on, so rocked car back and forth to try and release....they wouldn't, so a mate said just drive off and see what happens....so I did, after about 30m in second gear they released with a big bang....hand brake was ok, just seized on with damp, and being on too tight
We lived on a road which was also a hill, a neighbours car slipped it's handbrake......hit about 12 cars before it stopped....there was nearly a street riot!
On a hill leave wheels turned into kerb, if it slips handbrake and gear it will only roll against kerb....modern driving instructors teach/advise this....well this one does
That has been taught forever, AFAIK.
OldGermanHeaps said:
That can bite you in the arse one day, timing chains can slip a tooth if the engine gets turned backwards.
That was pretty much my understanding too - tensioners are designed to work when the engine is being rotated the right way... Slacken them off, timing is out... bad news for most engines. With that in mind I'm surprised to read that most people choose reverse when facing downhill and first when facing up - I do the opposite so that the engine isn't being rotated the wrong way. But I accept it is unlikely to be an issue as it shouldn't rotate much, if at all.
My daily driver is an Audi S4 which is notorious for timing chain/tensioner issues so that influences my view on this..!
Am I being thick and missing something here?
Jambo85 said:
That was pretty much my understanding too - tensioners are designed to work when the engine is being rotated the right way... Slacken them off, timing is out... bad news for most engines.
With that in mind I'm surprised to read that most people choose reverse when facing downhill and first when facing up - I do the opposite so that the engine isn't being rotated the wrong way. But I accept it is unlikely to be an issue as it shouldn't rotate much, if at all.
My daily driver is an Audi S4 which is notorious for timing chain/tensioner issues so that influences my view on this..!
Am I being thick and missing something here?
I do this too. On the rare event I park in gear.With that in mind I'm surprised to read that most people choose reverse when facing downhill and first when facing up - I do the opposite so that the engine isn't being rotated the wrong way. But I accept it is unlikely to be an issue as it shouldn't rotate much, if at all.
My daily driver is an Audi S4 which is notorious for timing chain/tensioner issues so that influences my view on this..!
Am I being thick and missing something here?
Old habits and all that. I only park in gear when on a hill or when I suspect the handbrake. I always keep the handbrake well maintained.
However.. Having seen how easy it is to release the handbrake on an "in disk" shoe setup (Volvo, porsche etc) by rotating the wheel the wrong way, I wouldn't leave a car with that type of handbrake on just the handbrake alone.
Handbrake on and in gear should be ok, as even a half baked handbrake is still offering some resistance so the movements to the engine are less severe, a bit dampened. Its when the handbrake is fully off and the vehicle can rock back or forward on the drivetrain backlash that can jolt the chain off by a few teeth. I'm in my mates garage quite a lot and its at least a monthly occurance for a car or more usually a merc or renault van as the handbrakes are a disposable consumable on them to come in with a f
ked engine and inop handbrake, and when you ask they say "oh yeah, the handbrake hasnt worked for a couple of months but i have just been leaving it in gear, i didnt have the time to bring it in and thats the third set of cables its had"
ked engine and inop handbrake, and when you ask they say "oh yeah, the handbrake hasnt worked for a couple of months but i have just been leaving it in gear, i didnt have the time to bring it in and thats the third set of cables its had"OldGermanHeaps said:
Handbrake on and in gear should be ok, as even a half baked handbrake is still offering some resistance so the movements to the engine are less severe, a bit dampened. Its when the handbrake is fully off and the vehicle can rock back or forward on the drivetrain backlash that can jolt the chain off by a few teeth. I'm in my mates garage quite a lot and its at least a monthly occurance for a car or more usually a merc or renault van as the handbrakes are a disposable consumable on them to come in with a fked engine and inop handbrake, and when you ask they say "oh yeah, the handbrake hasnt worked for a couple of months but i have just been leaving it in gear, i didnt have the time to bring it in and thats the third set of cables its had"
Not sure how that would cause the belt or chain to jump teethked engine and inop handbrake, and when you ask they say "oh yeah, the handbrake hasnt worked for a couple of months but i have just been leaving it in gear, i didnt have the time to bring it in and thats the third set of cables its had"Gassing Station | Advanced Driving | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff