Leaving car in gear while parked- yes or no?
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thescouselander wrote: »That's very dangerous. The parking pawl in the auto box is not designed to hold the full weight of the vehicle while parked - it could easily snap and the car roll off. Always use the handbrake
Many years ago I read that in the US they had a specification for the robustness of the automatic transmission parking pawl such that it could cope with the parked car being shunted by another car parking in front of or behind it.
Personally I always use the handbrake, supplemented by parking in gear if on a slope. I've never experienced any handbrake problems with three cars that I've owned for 33 years, 15 years and 11 years. They are all conventional lever operated brakes of course, not electrical.0 -
securityguy wrote: »To my certain knowledge (as I've owned them) true for 96, 99, old 900, new 900, all 9-3, all 9-5: mostly cars with ignition on the floor. Not true for 9000, as it has the ignition on the steering column. For autos, they lock in park. It started on cars like the 96 with a column shift and then when the shift went down to the floor on the 99 the ignition lock went with it. Later cars (9-3, certainly) have a steering lock as well, done by solenoid, but on most of the older stuff the reverse lock is instead of a steering lock.
To your certain knowledge, ALL 9-3s need the gearbox in reverse to remove the key?
Neither the 56 plate 1.9TiD cabriolet or the 54 plate V6 Aero I've owned did. Neither did the 07 plate 2.0t estate my brother-in-law owned.0 -
Will only leave in gear if on an incline (as well as wheels turned into and touching the curb if really steep).
VW group cars and the ford van I have insist that you press the clutch before it allows the engine to start - I assume to encourage leaving the vehicle in gear and to ensure that it doesnt jump forward when started.
A GM engineer I spent some time talking to at a trade show a couple of years ago told me that's a side-effect of the real reasons; it forms part of the clutch switch circuit test (particularly on start-stop vehicles), it helps in reducing load on the increasingly fragile starter motors used to save weight, and it helps reduce uneven shock to the DMF on startup to help prolong its life.
The DMF thing is the main reason I always push the clutch in on any modern car when starting and stopping the engine.0 -
That's more to do with the inexperience and/or poor driving skills of the driver in question. If you don't check you're in neutral when starting the engine then you need to go back to driving school. It's not something I "shortcut" as well as starting with the clutch pedal depressed.Saw an accident once caused by someone leaving the car in gear when parked. I was at a large supermarket carpark. I was waiting in our car while the wife was shopping. A car parked opposite but one space down from us. An older woman and her daughter got out and went into the shops.
When they arrived the older woman was driving. They came back to the car and this time the older woman got into the passenger seat and the younger one into the drivers seat. She wasnt in the car properly, had the door open and one leg out but started the engine. Car leapt forward into a bollard. Front of the car was trashed, driver in floods of tears with an obvious and visible broken wrist and an injury to her leg.
If its only ever you who drives the car then whatever, but if you share the car with someone else then its a bit risky. Obviously the younger women should of been in the car properly and should of checked the gearstick but we all make assumptions and we all shortcut checks from time to time.0 -
In 45 years I've only ever parked in neutral in a manual with the handbrake on on a level. In all that time the car has never been involved in an accident by being shunted by another car, a lorry an articulated lorry, a tank, a helicopter or a drone. Maybe I've just been lucky.You know what uranium is, right? It's this thing called nuclear weapons. And other things. Like lots of things are done with uranium. Including some bad things.
Donald Trump, Press Conference, February 16, 20170 -
I always use the handbrake, and leave it in gear as a "belt 'n' braces" backup. Mind you, that's probably got something to do with my first car many many years ago; the handbrake was - ahem - suspect, at best. But I also always press the clutch pedal when starting - again, a throwback to my old banger days, when it was a lottery whether the damned thing would start anyway, so anything I could do to reduce the load on the starter/battery was a good thing. It's got so ingrained in me now, on the odd occasion I've deliberately tried to start without pressing the clutch, just to prove a point to myself, it feels utterly "wrong" :-)0
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I always leave mine in gear. Two weeks ago a Amazon delivery driver vehicle hit my mates car because he didn't put handbrake on. Lucky it didn't happen further down the street as its hilly
The guy wanted to pay for damage and not via insurance as he just got the job and didnt want to loose it, he claimed he be put of work.
Yes he has made some money too good to his word. Luckily on minor damage to his BMW
I like to use gears as a backup in case the handbrake fails or you forget not that I ever have but you never know0 -
Given that engine breaking is a thing, and that by leaving it in gear even if it's pushed by a train all it will do is turn the engine over (although it won't start as no ignition) I have absolutely zero worried about it damaging the transmission.0
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Given that engine breaking is a thing, and that by leaving it in gear even if it's pushed by a train all it will do is turn the engine over (although it won't start as no ignition) I have absolutely zero worried about it damaging the transmission.
The "fear" comes from the thought that the gearbox is designed to drive the wheels (from a standing start), not for the wheels to drive the gearbox.
But I agree ... I will always park in gear if parked on a hill, but I tend not to if parked on the flat.0 -
The driver in question is the other guy you don't know enough about. That's why if it is likely the next person to start the car is an unknown quantity, it's probably best not to leave it in gear unless it is a modern vehicle with other safeguards like not being able to start without the clutch being depressed.That's more to do with the inexperience and/or poor driving skills of the driver in question. If you don't check you're in neutral when starting the engine then you need to go back to driving school. It's not something I "shortcut" as well as starting with the clutch pedal depressed.
I would say that 50% of drivers on the road in UK need to go back to driving school (if indeed they ever went to a proper one), but not for this specific reason, just a myriad of very bad habits exhibited daily on roads around London for example. Personally I think we should all be routinely rechecked every 3 years by state examiners - I am sure accident and emergency would be a quieter place if we did.0
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