How do you park your car?

peasant

Rovi wrote: »

I'm not certain I'm following you here...
Are you saying that an engine can't possibly rotate backwards?
If so, I'd beg to differ, but perhaps I'm not properly comprehending what you're saying.

hmm ...now you've thrown me ...

Of course you can turn an engine both ways (on a workbench for example) but I know that it doesn't turn when you park it in opposite gear ..just need to find out why not

milltown

Without being turned on (ignition and fuel pumps) your engine doesn't care which direction it turns and no damage will result. It's only when running that direction matters, that valves open and close and injection and ignition take place at the right time.

Regardless of which direction you're facing, the only difference between parking in first or reverse is that reverse will have higher gearing than first.

Peasant, if you're keen to really know then jack up one of your driven wheels, put the car in gear and turn the wheel in both directions. It won't be easy in either direction but it will be as hard and as possible in both directions.

ImDave

Cant trust my handbrake at all, I always leave in gear.

milltown

EI-DAV wrote: »

Cant trust my handbrake at all, I always leave in gear.

Is your car NCTed?
I thought dodgy handbrakes were an automatic NCT fail.

peasant

milltown wrote: »

Without being turned on (ignition and fuel pumps) your engine doesn't care which direction it turns and no damage will result. It's only when running that direction matters, that valves open and close and injection and ignition take place at the right time.

Regardless of which direction you're facing, the only difference between parking in first or reverse is that reverse will have higher gearing than first.

Peasant, if you're keen to really know then jack up one of your driven wheels, put the car in gear and turn the wheel in both directions. It won't be easy in either direction but it will be as hard and as possible in both directions.

ooookaaay....

Then explain this to me:

On my VW Syncro both first gear (or G gear) and reverse have the same ratio. I parked the yoke on a really steep slope facing forward and down, left it in first and turned the engine off. Let the clutch slip a little ( to gain some rolling momentum) and then let it out again. The car goes chugg-chugg-chugg as the engine is turned over by the momentum and then stops. So far, so good.

Repeated the same excercise in reverse gear and as I let out the clutch, the engine doesn't turn but the driven wheels lock up and come to an abprupt and screeching halt.

zilog_jones

I park with handbrake and gears, though I often forget to put it in gear unless I'm on an incline (also suffer from crap handbrake). I used to just put it in 4th but after reading this it looks like 1st or reverse should be better.

How does one go about tightening the handbrakes? Whenever I get my car serviced they tighten the cable (or whatever), but I'm so used to pulling it quite hard that it gets loose again after a week or so.

S.I.R

i park via usingthe handbrake then only use the handbrake ( unless on a hill with a gradient of 30 degrees or more ) .

lightening

Is it bad for a car to be parked on a slope all the time? Like if your driveway is on a hill. If so, which is worse? Arse up or bonnet up?

Wazdakka

SAAB 9-3 So its gotta be in reverse to take the key out..

leeroybrown

Handbrake and in gear. Always start a car in neutral.

I'm reminded of a thread that started here years ago where a guy came on calling everyone who parked their car in gear idiots. His wife had used his car and had parked it in gear and he had then gotten in and started it without putting the car in neutral thus rear ending her car with his. It became pretty clear who the idiot was quite quickly and he presumably went back to his wife with a groveling apology.

Sherifu

Handbrake only.

leeroybrown

lightening wrote: »

If so, which is worse? Arse up or bonnet up?

Speaking as someone who has owned an unreliable car I'd suggest bonnet pointing out to get the jump leads in.

milltown

peasant wrote: »

ooookaaay....

Then explain this to me:

On my VW Syncro both first gear (or G gear) and reverse have the same ratio. I parked the yoke on a really steep slope facing forward and down, left it in first and turned the engine off. Let the clutch slip a little ( to gain some rolling momentum) and then let it out again. The car goes chugg-chugg-chugg as the engine is turned over by the momentum and then stops. So far, so good.

Repeated the same excercise in reverse gear and as I let out the clutch, the engine doesn't turn but the driven wheels lock up and come to an abprupt and screeching halt.

I don't know. I've had a quick look and, guessing yours is a camper synchro rather than any of the saloons, I can find very little info on the exact 4wd setup used and I'm not about to spend my day trawling VW forums. The only possibility I've come up with was the mention of the extra low ratio granny gear. It sounds to me like this may be the one with same ratio as reverse. Any chance you're confusing this with your first gear?

I suppose the proof of the pudding would be to repeat your experiment with the van pointing the other way and see if the results are reversed.

peasant

milltown wrote: »

The only possibility I've come up with was the mention of the extra low ratio granny gear. It sounds to me like this may be the one with same ratio as reverse. Any chance you're confusing this with your first gear?

you joker

It's not a "Granny" gear ..G stands for "Gelaende" or off-road and it is a forward gear with a very low ratio, same as reverse.

And the 4WD setup is a viscous coupling

Maybe this "phenomenon" is gearbox related and my gearbox is just not willing to turn "the wrong way" and locks up instead?

Must investigate ....

maims3875

jayok wrote: »

From an other thread on a Civic recall about 79,000 people that could be affected by their car rolling away due to handbrake failure. Do you park your car in gear?

Ok, so Automatics have a P(ark) option, but they also have a handbrake. So do you use the handbrake?

Me? As a habit on the Manual CR-V, I always handbrake, clutch, put the car in first, stop the engine and then release the clutch. The start-up sequence reflects this.

On the Automatic 325, I always shift to Park and then use the handbrake.

Does anyone just use the handbrake alone?

With our Manual (2006 Mark 3) CRV, the handbrake isn't the best, so the routine is ,

Stop,

Heavy on the footbrake,
Handbrake,
release footbrake
Neutral

With our other vehicles, its handbrake only!

milltown

peasant wrote: »

you joker

It's not a "Granny" gear ..G stands for "Gelaende" or off-road and it is a forward gear with a very low ratio, same as reverse.

And the 4WD setup is a viscous coupling

Maybe this "phenomenon" is gearbox related and my gearbox is just not willing to turn "the wrong way" and locks up instead?

Must investigate ....

Not my terminology, Wiki's.
From here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2_%28T3%29

Wikipedia wrote:

There were four wheel drive Vanagons that were branded by Volkswagen as "Syncro." This full-time four-wheel drivetrain should not be confused with the system that was used in Volkswagen Quantum station wagons. The Quantum Syncro wagons had a system identical to that of an Audi 4000 Quattro. The manual transmissions in the Vanagon Syncro had an extra-low-ratio "granny gear," thus giving the appearance of a 5-speed transmission even though this gear was only used off-road.

javaboy

maims3875 wrote: »

With our Manual (2006 Mark 3) CRV, the handbrake isn't the best, so the routine is ,

Stop,

Heavy on the footbrake,
Handbrake,
release footbrake
Neutral

With our other vehicles, its handbrake only!

So you are relying on an admittedly dodgy handbrake to hold your car in position then?

Heavy on the footbrake doesn't really make a difference. The handbrake isn't used to bring the car to a stop anyway.

Wertz

MYOB wrote: »

Usually handbrake only but I always start with the clutch down from force of habit from driving my parents cars - never thought of the starter motor benefit peasant mentioned before though.

Same goes for me...will always clutch in at start up, because anyone else I drive a car after leaves it in gear.
Myself, I only use handbrake, unless the car is on an incline in which case 1st or rev as apt.

WRT Peasant's point, if the car was stopped in neutral and then re-started in neutral, what difference does havign the clutch depressed make then? None I would have thought, or am I missing something?

maims3875

javaboy wrote: »

So you are relying on an admittedly dodgy handbrake to hold your car in position then?

Heavy on the footbrake doesn't really make a difference. The handbrake isn't used to bring the car to a stop anyway.

The design of the CRV handbrake isn't the best, it's a lever that you pull back from the dash, not the normal raise from the floor type.

The handbrake does "feel" better once applied with the footbrake pressed.

peasant

Wertz wrote: »

WRT Peasant's point, if the car was stopped in neutral and then re-started in neutral, what difference does havign the clutch depressed make then? None I would have thought, or am I missing something?

Ok, if you turned the key with gear and clutch "in", the starter motor would turn the whole shebang including the wheels and the whole car ..this is why it jumps.

Take the gearbox into neutral and the starter only turns the system as far as the gearbox ...the drivetrain is de-coupled.

Press the clutch and now you're only turning the engine , as the clutch de-couples the gearbox.

Not pressing the clutch puts an additional load on the starter as it has to turn gears as well as the engine (plus you're turning through a cold gearbox without flowing oil, which isn't good for that either in the long run)

Wertz

Right I'm with you....you're saying that even when the stick is in the N position, the gearbox is still connected, just not to the wheels, so when the starter turns, it also has to take the strain of the gearbox turning, which wears the starter
I always clutch in anyhow from habit, but didn't know it was the case that when car was in neutral, gear box was still connected...always saw it mentioned (to clutch in at start-up) in car manuals but thought it was there for the benefit of those who leave car in gear whilst parked. Every day's a school day...

Guy:Incognito

irishbird wrote: »

First Gear, stop, Handbrake and then netural

Whats the point of going to first if your taking it back out to neutral again?

_Kaiser_

Poll needs a Park and Handbrake option for us auto drivers

crosstownk

When driving an auto I rarely use the hand brake.

With a manual and regular handbrake I always use the park brake and shift to a gear opposite to the gradient (if any).

With a motorised handbrake I usually use the handbrake only.

Mossy Monk

Handbrake only. I have probably parked on hill only once.

dh0661

My hubby Parks handbrake & fifth gear, drives me mad :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Is this just a man thing - or what ?

If I knew how to set up a poll, I would ask how many women park with just handbrake - how many men park handbrake & gears.

Gentlemen ! - if you park in first, second, third, forth or fifth gear - does this give us ladies some other clue about you.

I don't want to hear from guys who park in reverse - I know all about you.:p

Guy:Incognito

dh0661 wrote: »

My hubby Parks handbrake & fifth gear, drives me mad :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Is this just a man thing - or what ?

If I knew how to set up a poll, I would ask how many women park with just handbrake - how many men park handbrake & gears.

Gentlemen ! - if you park in first, second, third, forth or fifth gear - does this give us ladies some other clue about you.

I don't want to hear from guys who park in reverse - I know all about you.:p

Are you giving out about the 5th gear thing specifically or putting it in gear at all?

Handbrakes fail. I really cant see the gearbox droppign out of the car though. So its never going anywhere if it's in gear.

Think of it like the safety catch on a bonnet.

Zapp Brannigan

Handbrake and 1st gear.

dh0661

Stekelly wrote: »

Are you giving out about the 5th gear thing specifically or putting it in gear at all?

Our house, which is out on it's own, near where the car is parked is on very level ____________ ground.
No need for a handbrake at all, if it really came to it.

peasant

peasant wrote: »

The point of putting it into the opposite gear is not to let it move at all.

The engine always rotates in one direction only, whether you're driving forward or backward ...it's the gearing that turns in different directions.

Parking in the gear opposite to the slope makes rotation (and thus movement) impossible ...unless you push so hard that you break the gearbox (say you crash a car at full speed into the parked car)

If on the other hand you park the car in gear (1st to 5th) facing downhill, all that is required is a bit of a push (in 5th) or some hard effort (in 1st) to get the thing moving. On a steep hill in 5th or 4th the car might not even park at all and roll on its own.

ok ...to clarify:

The above is a load of bollo%% :o

I did some research and it turns out that for years I believed something which simply is not true.

A gearbox can indeed turn either way, which means an engine can also be turned either way.

It is possible to push a car forward when it's parked in reverse gear (if you push hard enough!)...the engine will then turn the wrong way round !

The reason why my driving instructor always insisted to park the car on a hill in the gear which was opposite to the downward direction was that it is impossible for an engine that is turning the wrong way to fire itself up accidentally.


As for my experiment on the steep hill mentioned elswhere ...obviously I didn't release the clutch quite the same way both times and the wheels locked up when I was in reverse ...thankfully that was the case, as it now turns out.


Ah well ...you live and learn ...