Parking in gear

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Parking in gear

Well, I think we've ascertained that there is little to be gained by parking in gear and, if the engine turns backwards as a result, there is the potential to cause a lot of damage!

Also I clearly remember reading about one of the early stop/start applications where a glitch of some sort had caused the starter motor to fire up and wind the car through the garage door before causing a small fire by overheating. The vehicle having been parked up in gear.

So, can anyone explain why I still feel very uncomfortable if I don't park my car in gear? Oh, I know, it's because my Mum told me too back in the late '50's when I was charging round the fields in wrecks with no working hand brake!

By the way, is 42 still the meaning of life and everything? Or has it been recomputed. Personally I think a custard doughnut does it for me!
 
Well, I think we've ascertained that there is little to be gained by parking in gear and, if the engine turns backwards as a result, there is the potential to cause a lot of damage!

Also I clearly remember reading about one of the early stop/start applications where a glitch of some sort had caused the starter motor to fire up and wind the car through the garage door before causing a small fire by overheating. The vehicle having been parked up in gear.

So, can anyone explain why I still feel very uncomfortable if I don't park my car in gear? Oh, I know, it's because my Mum told me too back in the late '50's when I was charging round the fields in wrecks with no working hand brake!

By the way, is 42 still the meaning of life and everything? Or has it been recomputed. Personally I think a custard doughnut does it for me!


Never heard of any of these things jock! Tis a mystery to me how some threads just seem to drag on forever by hearsay & little point, while some interesting threads seem to bomb at the first hurdle...:confused:
 
Always have parked in gear, and have never thought about what would happen if someone hit the car, food for thought :confused:

Personally I think if your car gets hard enough to move the car any distance with the handbrake on engine damage would be the least of your worrys as it's likely to be a write off anyway unless it's a very new car
 
Personally I think if your car gets hard enough to move the car any distance with the handbrake on engine damage would be the least of your worrys as it's likely to be a write off anyway unless it's a very new car

Aye! common sense would be obvious, the cars bodywork would be knackered far more than anything else. Good grief I'm still adding to this thread, sad.....(n)
 
Had an interesting discussion with another instructor about this the other day. He always parks in gear except when parked between two cars in case it damages the transmission if hit by another car. So those that do park in gear would parking between two cars influence your decision and would you park in neutral in this circumstance or would you still leave in gear?

Oh deary me, this thread won't go away will it.
"an interesting discussion with another instructor about this" makes me cringe. What are we teaching learners? I still return to my earlier statement, 'if the parking brake is insufficient, get it fixed.'

Can't see the logic about yes/no dependent on between cars. You cannot guarantee they'll stay. If they all drive away, you're no longer between cars, so how do you know to pop back and put it into gear? Or conversely, you've parked it alone. Then two others park ahead and behind. Do you have an app that alerts you to this, so you can pop back and select neutral?
If parked between other cars, they can only hit you gently. If unprotected, something could hit a lot harder, so in that thinking, you might be better off in neutral unless you're between others. But if between others, if it rolls it can't go far.

Use the parking brake!
 
I drove a car with an electronic handbrake the other week and left it in gear. Sure enough it had moved a few inches and the engine was under tension when I came back.

Peugeots are as good as ever. :bang:
 
Gear selection in winter snow for parking. Any reason in these conditions not to leave in 1st or reverse for parking?
 
Gear selection in winter snow for parking. Any reason in these conditions not to leave in 1st or reverse for parking?

I've lost count on the times that I've mention how funny/ strange places forums can be, & just attract again at times questions that really do not matter, or at best so obvious & ridiculous at the same time so to speak. Part of me still thinks this is a wind up & yes I'm at a loose end adding more to this nonsense....:shakehead:
 
Part of me still thinks this is a wind up & yes I'm at a loose end adding more to this nonsense....:shakehead:
:D ;)

Gear selection in winter snow for parking. Any reason in these conditions not to leave in 1st or reverse for parking?

If the car is going to roll away on ice then gear selection is irrelevant, what you need to do is put a suitably sized rock on the roof of the car to weight it down and stop it sliding away.

The bigger the hill the bigger the rock needs to be. (y)

Edit: you can also tie it to a lamp post.
 
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:D ;)



If the car is going to roll away on ice then gear selection is irrelevant, what you need to do is put a suitably sized rock on the roof of the car to weight it down and stop it sliding away.

The bigger the hill the bigger the rock needs to be. (y)

Edit: you can also tie it to a lamp post.

Of course you can use the old flat tyre trick, letting all the air out of all four tyres giving the car a truly flat platform making it impossible for the car to move....(y):D
At last this thread is beginning to make sense.
 
As above, if the handbrake doesn't work then fix it. If the car is going to slide on the ice/compacted snow, being in gear will make no difference.
My handbrake is useless - every time I go back to the garage, the guy just tightens it up which works for a few more months, then needs to be done again.

He's actually an "anti-mechanic" I guess - everything I ask him to do, he says it's not worth it as it will cost too much!! lol.
 
My handbrake is useless -

Lots of small cars have weak handbrakes, but most can be made to work well with a bit of technique.

This works well on all cars with drum rear brakes.

Stop normally. (Pressure to rear brakes is restricted in normal stopping.)
Do not yet apply handbrake.
Once fully stopped, push footbrake hard. You may hear the rear shoes creak a little as they are pushed hard against the drums.
Now, with footbrake fully applied, apply the handbrake. No excess force should be necessary.
Release footbrake.

This uses the footbrake to apply the rear shoes hard against the drums, and asks the handbrake mechanism just to hold them there. Asking the handbrake mechanism to apply the rear brakes is where the weak leverages and friction in the mechanism will resist your attempts.

I've used this on many small cars, especially small Fiats, and sadly needs to be done on the new Fiesta too.
Corsa C was notorious for a weak handbrake. I've parked one of those on the steep hills of the Lake District without issue.
 
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