Leaving car in gear instead of handbrake and it moved ! !

[D1CKY]

As some of you guys may be aware, i broke my passengers side handbrake cable yesterday http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=314113

I still have a handbrake cable on the drivers side, so i still have some handbrake i can use.

So anyway today i was waiting for my girlfriend to finish shopping and i was parked on a hill and thought instead of using and relying on the drivers side handbrake cable to hold the car i'll put the car in gear instead.

So once i'd parked up with the handbrake off into gear it went.

I just happened to choose 4th gear, so just after doing this i realised the car started moving/creeping forward a few feet every 30 seconds or so which was weird so i tried another few gears 3rd and 5th and it did the same.

Does anyone know why this was ?

The car was turned off and parked up (no engine running)

1st, 2nd and reverse were ok the car never moved at all in those gears.

What would be up ?

Would it be a problem with my gearbox ?

I thought it could be my clutch but the clutch works fine with no issues.

Here is a picture of the hill i was parked on.

It aint exactly steep :S

 

[Phill_howz]

the lower the gear the less itl move!
exp if you park facing up the hill put it in reverse it wont move!!
If u wer on less of a gradiant 4th would of bein fine!
my drivers side handbrake was broken last week ,left it in 2nd nd it was fine!!
doubt theres a problem with the gearbox!

 

[Ben.Block]

I always thought if you were facing down a hill only reverse gear would be safe to stop you moving forward, and likewise if you were facing up a hill in the car only a forward gear would stop you rolling back.

Might be talking complete cack.

 

[Phill_howz]

ye thts the one! what i said the other way around !!lol
Whoops!!!

 

[D1CKY]

Ah right ok.

Cheers bud.

Any ideas why its like that ?

 

[theduck]

I always thought if you were facing down a hill only reverse gear would be safe to stop you moving forward, and likewise if you were facing up a hill in the car only a forward gear would stop you rolling back.

Might be talking complete cack.

+1

 

[Phill_howz]

just the gearing really!
I wouldnt of thought it was the box!
If you pushed your car when in gear the higher the gear the easier itl be to push!!!
i.e when on a hill the higher the gear the more itl roll!!

 

[Ben.Block]

Ah right ok.

Cheers bud.

Any ideas why its like that ?

im sure it because the engine only turns in one direction so putting the car in reverse and pushing it forwards would make the engine spin backwards which im sure cant be done, (maybe with enough force it could)

 

[Birdthom]

lower gear = engine has to turn more for every turn of the road wheels, therefore less likely to roll away.

If you leave it in reverse and for some reason your car moved forwards (eg really really steep hill, or maybe hit from behind) then your engine will be turning the wrong way, which is not good!

 

[HartZ]

I always park my car on my drive which has a slope, always leave it in first gear, and has never slipped for me..

 

[Justin182]

Yeah, no point leaving it in a high gear, always 1st or 2nd for me.

My mum wrote her car off after the hand brake cable snapped and i was nearly killed by a mondeo gunning it silently down a hill after its cable snapped too. I was also in charge of a small kid so was pretty scary. Went through the house wall at the bottom of the hill lol

So you can guess that i put it in gear too hehe

 

[ditz]

the engine finds it easier to turn the wheels in 1st gear, therefor the wheels find it easier to turn the engine in 5th.

so reverse is best to stop the car moving (as its lower still than first) and first gear is next best.

 

[DrR]

Ah right ok.

Cheers bud.

Any ideas why its like that ?

im sure it because the engine only turns in one direction so putting the car in reverse and pushing it forwards would make the engine spin backwards which im sure cant be done, (maybe with enough force it could)

Old motorbikes used to sometimes start up with the engine spinning the wrong way.

 

[Ben.Block]

im sure it because the engine only turns in one direction so putting the car in reverse and pushing it forwards would make the engine spin backwards which im sure cant be done, (maybe with enough force it could)

Old motorbikes used to sometimes start up with the engine spinning the wrong way.

Cool.

 

[bomber]

ive always left my cars/van in gear, always is 1st as well. never had a problem but i know if its in 4th or 5th it'l move on a hill.

so, nouts wrong with your clutch or g'box

 

[D1CKY]

Ok cheers for clearing that problem up guys.

So i guess i'll be using 1st, 2nd and Reverse from now on

 

[Daz.]

Holy thread revival!

I noticed this in the Megane the other day - on steep up-hills even in 1st the car will still move backwards - it will rotate the engine (but only just) - it's like the car is 'just to heavy to hold itself.

It's really irritating as I worry if the handbrake fails the car will go wandering!

 

[Thrill]

Holy thread revival!

I noticed this in the Megane the other day - on steep up-hills even in 1st the car will still move backwards - it will rotate the engine (but only just) - it's like the car is 'just to heavy to hold itself.

It's really irritating as I worry if the handbrake fails the car will go wandering!

Put it in reverse