I do not believe in ghosts. I believe in a higher power, but not in a 'God' per se. Something about the situation makes me wonder about both. I had a remote start installed in my car which in turn bypassed the clutch sensor. The system has a fail safe mechanism that requires the transmission be in neutral and the car running with the e-brake engaged in order to set the remote start every time you leave the vehicle. If any of the above are not met the system will be immediately disabled and the car will shut off.

That being said, my neighbor was outside this evening changing his water pump in his mustang gt. I hit the remote start button after I got out of the shower and watched the car through the back door turn on and running. A couple of minutes later my neighbor was banging on the back door. I ran out side to see a cloud of smoke and the car pinned on top off a pile of concrete blocks that used to be a part of the landscaping. The front bumper was destroyed. With the front end about 12 inches off of the ground and a small jack we were able to clear the scene and push it back off.

My question... HOW???? DID???? THIS??? HAPPEN????

How can a car go from neutral to 1st or 2nd gear with nobody in the vehicle and the doors locked. Is this even possible? Or does God really hate me?

I tried to recreate the situation by starting the car with the clutch out and in gear, dumping the clutch with the e-brake on, etc etc etc... In every situation the car died. The only factor I couldn't recreate was the higher idle on cold start. I recently had the transmission fluid replaced and an oil change and noticed first and second gear were a bit difficult when it was cold out and my clutch recently has been acting up and sticking although it is full of fluid and I haven't been able to find any leaks on the slave or master cylinder.

It is a 2006 350z Grand Touring model with about 78k miles. Any ideas?

 

maybe this will help your haunting??



for serious, wtf?

 

Call ghostbusters.

 

You mean the gear was engaged at 2nd when you found the car? Was the door locked when you got there?

Is your drive way sloped? Was the ebrake pulled all the way up?

Just wondering.

 

Are you sure the doors were locked? Maybe you on accident you unlocked it with the remote.

**** off any neighbors recently?

 

Hit the Unlock button maybe? Have any haters? Kids around? Daemons?

 

Here is what actually happened;

A. Doors unlocked by accident or left unlocked the night before, mustang owner saw car running - got pissed you got remote start, rammed your wall and started banging on the door.
B. You left the car in gear, failsafe system failed, car hit the wall.
C. A higher power, plowed it into a wall

I am leaning towards A

 

I'm 100% sure either your neighbor or someone in the neighborhood got in the car, gave it too much gas and plowed forward.

 

This is a perfect example of why cars with manual transmissions should not have remote starts.

 

im sorry but LOL

 

Post some pics

 

I picked up an 04 ZR last fall and it has remote start installed. I've only used it a few times, however, when I hit the button once I noticed the car surge. I had left it in gear, however, the gear cut off should have engaged. I'm not sure how safe or reliable all the cut off safety switches are. I think it is more likely that you left your car in gear when you hit the remote start. I would take it back and have the in-gear cut off switch checked.

 

Someone had to have released the E-Brake or you either forgot to put it up

 

Regardless of the actual turn of events, your remote start system has failed you. Mine cuts off the split second you try to put it in gear without the key in the ignition and on -- the slightest pressure on the shifter kills engine. The neutral safety switch is very sensitive.

 

My Z with Compustar Alarm and Auto Start is a Stick. I have to go thru a procedure just to be able to use the auto start. This was either a real cheap auto start with no security feature or your neighbor hates you.
MY Z stays on when I shut off my car. It will only do this if E brake is up, and car is in neutral. You will actually here a click when it activates and the car will remain on until you close all doors. If you then open a door and close it, it will shut off this feature.

I once bought a used Celica with auto start and no safety feature. I had no idea, i pressed a series of buttons and found my car driving off into a maxima in the Mall parking lot. The kid in the maxima was so freaked out we just called it even. LOL

 

haha this is funny (sorry op)

Im going with angry neighbor too though...

 

My car has the same feature. I have to go through a procedure to set it. The car was locked when it started. It was in neutral and the e-brake was pulled. This was an act of god. Unfortunately not covered under most insurance policies.

 

Lol

 

Its impossible to leave the car in gear. Due to the fact that it has to be in neutral and RUNNING when I set it. I step out of the vehicle and by hitting the lock button it finishes the auto start initiation procedure and locks the car down and shuts off the engine to prevent tampering. Car was running in neutral and e-brake pulled (requirement for it to even engage the system) when I hit the lock button.

The only thing I can think of is the throttle got stuck somehow (electronic throttle).... OR the entire system failed and I never engaged the remote start the night before, just left it in gear and when I hit the remote start button it tried to start the car anyways... EITHER WAY something strange happened and I feel like an abused dog just waiting to be smitten around every corner and especially when I leave the thing in a parking lot by itself.

Just Imagine, you're sitting there in your car and all the sudden this ghost car starts burning off the tires and flying towards you after you get done loading your groceries. How do you swap insurance cards with a ghost???

 

If you hit any of the lock or unlock buttons on the remote. Or any button besides the start button or if someone tampers with the door handle and it receives an alarm or pre-warn the auto-start feature is automatically cancelled out.