Problem parking manual tranny car....

[JaCkaL829]

My friend just got an 02 Impreza WRX tonight with 97k miles, yada yada yada. Anyway everything seems to check out, except when he parked it. He lives on a really steep hill and his driveway is also pretty steep. So he parked it and left it in 1st gear. Once he lifted off the brake, no parking brake yet, the car rolls down and you can hear the engine turning. He did it at my house tonight too and tried both 1st and 3rd with the same thing happening. Only way it will stay is if you pull up the parking brake. We we`re just wondering what can be wrong, because there is obviously a problem since putting it in gear should be able to hold it up to an extent. Other then that clutch seems fine though. He even let me drive it since I`m a little more experienced with stick and noticed no problems with the clutch or shifting. Car is very nice other then that problem, once the turbo kicks the car pulls hard, unlike my base RSX :redface:

He called the dealer but I`m really not sure how far he`s going to get with them since it`s used and has a very limited powertrain warranty.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. My friend was posting on NASIOC too, but I figured I`d ask here since it`s a pretty basic auto question.

[bigron62]

thats what the e brake is for . you cant count on being in gear on a hill .most turbo cars have a low c/r so its easier to turn over the motor ..curbing the wheels will also work

[Beemerboy]

To start curb the wheels, when you park the car, then set the parking brake before you let go of the foot brake this insures that the car is locked in position...using the transmission to hold the car on a incline like that is damaging it..IMO...however after you have secured the car as I suggested then leaving it in any gear will be OK

Upon take off reserve the process that I laid out....you can even use the parking brake to hold the car in place while you let the clutch out, in gear and release that at the same time, if you are on a steep incline...the only other thing is go to an area where this buddy can practice

[JaCkaL829]

thats what the e brake is for . you cant count on being in gear on a hill .most turbo cars have a low c/r so its easier to turn over the motor ..curbing the wheels will also work

what is low c/r?

It seems like I`m getting similiar responses on another forum too. I guess theres nothing wrong with the car. I`ve never tried to park my car on an incline/decline without the parking brake so I never really knew. I guess thats good news for my friend. Only thing that`s scary is how important his parking brake is since it`s going to spend most of it`s time parked on a decline. I remember the next block over from him (same hill) some guy had a new rsx and didn`t pull the parking brake up all the way, and it ended up rolling down and hit another one of my friend`s car :redface:

[bigron62]

compression ratio... curb the wheels .....im out

[TiredNGrouchy]

We we`re just wondering what can be wrong, because there is obviously a problem since putting it in gear should be able to hold it up to an extent.

Haven`t you ever push started a car with a dead battery and manual transmission? The engine doesn`t provide that much resistance against turning.

[AhsGrad1973]

I always used reverse when I parked my manual transmission cars.

[holland_patrick]

Turbos have a Low C/r becaust of the boost from the trubo. so it is easy to turn the engine.

N/a engines have a higher ratios but no boost :(

[JaredPointer]

I always used reverse when I parked my manual transmission cars.

x 2

[JaCkaL829]

Just an update...

I took my car out of my garage since it stopped raining, and it hasn`t been started in a week. I was curious about the whole parking thing so I went to the incline in my driveway where my friend`s car rolled right down. I `parked` it by just leaving it in 1st gear as well as reverse without the parking brake and my car didn`t move at all. My compression ratio is 9.8:1 compared to his which is 8.0:1. I`m still wondering if theres something wrong with his car.

[CharlesW]

Just an update...

I took my car out of my garage since it stopped raining, and it hasn`t been started in a week. I was curious about the whole parking thing so I went to the incline in my driveway where my friend`s car rolled right down. I `parked` it by just leaving it in 1st gear as well as reverse without the parking brake and my car didn`t move at all. My compression ratio is 9.8:1 compared to his which is 8.0:1. I`m still wondering if theres something wrong with his car.I pretty much stayed out of this discussion for just that reason.
It seemed unlikely to me that an engine in good condition would not have enough compression to keep a car from rolling when it is left in 1st gear or reverse.
He might want to have a compression test run on the car keeping in mind that he may not be real happy with the results.
While 8:1 is not high compression, it isn`t terribly low either. Back in the 40`s and 50`s, a lot of compression ratios were in the 7:1 area and very few people used "parking" brakes because of the possibility of them freezing. I think the "high compression" heads I put on a 1949 Ford only resulted in a ratio of 8 or 8.5:1 versus the stock 6.8. I don`t remember, but I think that Ford V-8 was about 239 ci. or about 4 liters. (?)
The WRX is probably only 2 liters so that might make a difference.
While I hope I`m wrong, I think he has a problem.

Charles

[blk45]

It depends on how steep the incline is. Also, technically, wouldn`t it be easier for the weight of the car to turn the engine over with it in first due to the gear reduction? I know it is kind of a standard to use first gear. Either way, the parking brake should definitely be used and it wouldn`t be a bad idea to turn the wheels to the curb, as suggested by others, just to be safe.

As mentioned, he may have some leak down issues. It`s not very expensive to get a compression check done. Cheap price for some piece of mind.

[JaCkaL829]

Just called a friend I use to work with. He is kinda of a gearhead, a little ADHD but seems to know a decent amount about cars since he built up a 12 sec civic, and has a really fast SRT4.

He was telling me it was probably a tranny problem naming some parts like pressure plate and what not. He was saying it didn`t sound too good, and really had nothing to do with compression ratio. His car has a similiar compression ratio (4 cylinder turbo, SRT4 Neon) and he said it definitely doesn`t do that. He was saying the previous owner probably did a lot of awd launches which involves slipping the clutch and that creates a lot of stress on the clutch, not to mention it`s the original clutch at almost 100k miles.

So the jury is still out...

[CharlesW]

It could be a clutch problem, but I can`t imagine a clutch slipping enough to let a vehicle roll and not be noticeable in driving the car. If the clutch doesn`t slip when driving the car, it probably won`t slip when the car is parked. A slipping clutch should be very noticeable in the upper gears, especially a turbocharged AWD car.
A good mechanic can diagnose the problem pretty quickly. Fixing it may take longer. And more dollars.

Charles

[blk45]

I`m with Charles. If the clutch was slipping enough to allow that, you would definitely feel it when driving.

An easy way to test for clutch slip is to drive in a high gear at a low speed and floor it. If it is slipping, you will feel it.