When you park, do you put your car in neutral or in 1st? And what's the difference?

 

well it depends if your on an uphill or downhill. Up hills i leave it on 1st... and on down hills i leave in reverse. As for flat grounds.. i usually leave in neutral or sometimes in first. I guess its because putting it into gear puts less pressure on the e-brake and it helps as a back up incase your brakes fail or somethin

 

I usually leave it in first

 

My driveway is on an incline and I used to leave it in neutral with the e-brake on. One day I heard a car honking its horn so I looked out my window to find my car in the middle of the street. Not knowing what was going on I thought someone was stealing my car, so I ran outside all angry and ready to throw down. Just to find out my e-brakes failed to engage and the car rolled back, blocking the street. You could bet I learned a lesson and starting putting my car in gear when I parked.

 

seems the parking brake is rather weak on my z. i really have to yank it up to get it to hold the car on even a small hill. also, it rolls back a little before it engages. is this normal? anyone have the brake adjusted yet?
nevertheless, i leave it in first gear when parked

 

I also noticed that with my 350 but I don't know if its normal or not. If I remeber correctly I think all of my Z's did that.

 

My driveway has a slope. I have had cars which rolled down the hill even though I 'thought' I left it in 1st gear with the E-brake on. So I always leave the transmission in first with the E-brake on. I also push in the clutch to make certain that the E-brake alone will the car and to take any tension off the transmission. I also block the wheels. In SF if you park on a hill, police will ticket any cars which have not turned the wheels into the curb.

This seems excessive but even if it fails only one time in a thousand, my car will roll down the hill once a year. I have already 'lost' two cars already.

 

It is not good to leave it in gear to hold the car in place, the way I do it is apply the parking brake until I know it is holding the car and then put it in 1st or reverse as a backup but still without a load on it.

 

Westpak: I agree that it is better to have the primary be the Ebrake so that there is no strain on the transmission.
I see I left a key verb, out of my post. ('hold')

 

Definitely leave it in gear!

I like the idea of double clutching to make sure the e-brake can hold the car and to make sure there is no load on the gears.

-D'oh!

 

just make sure you guys put it back in neutral before starting the car. Made a couple of rookie mistakes with an older car

 

Quick story... a few years back a friend was out fishing with one of his friends. They drove to this lake in a manual mustang. They parked the car on the side of the road, which happened to be sloped towards the lake. (You should see where this story is going). Anyway, the guy never put his car in gear, and while they were fishing the cable which activates the e-brake snapped. They watched the car roll down the hill and end up in the lake.

It is for this story alone... that I always put my car in gear when I park.

BTW, don't forget to turn your wheels when you're parked on a hill.

 

I can't imagine a good reason to park in neutral. By leaving it in gear you have a backup of the parking brake fails. What advantage is there to leaving it in neutral?

 

I generally park with the car in gear but sometimes when I park on a level street, I park in neutral. The reason is that if I'm bumped by a car in the front or the back, it won't put a strain on the transmission. Am I paranoid?

 

I've pushed manual cars out of the way to get a parking spot (I was driving an '86 Ford LTD). Hope that doesn't add to your paranoia.

On a serious note... I don't think a bump would put enough strain on the tranny to do any damage. Haven't you ever push started a car or motorcycle?

 

pushing the car would cause the pistons to turn, which is a HELL of alot of compression, and not easy to do. thats how it holds the car. also the engine wants to turn a certain way, by parking down hill and putting it in reverse, for it to roll it would have to turn the engine opposite its natural way. while this sounds bad.. it apparently does a better job of stopping the car, and doenst harm it.

as for nuetral and starting, the car wont crank if the clutch isnt in all the way. after starting it, if you let the clutch out while still in gear.. well thats your own damn problem, haha. they did what they can to save you from yourself.

 

o god Ares I need saving from myself all the time!!!

 

My routine is:

-Put e-brake on.

-place tranny in neutral

-turn off ignition & take foot off pedals.

-put tranny in 1st (level or uphill) or reverse (downhill)

-pray no one bumps into the Brick, tosses eggs, or keys it.
(This site can make one paranoid......... )

 

Rat's Z said what I was going to say. You put no strain on the tranny if you left off your foot brake before releasing the clutch with it in gear. This way your tranny is not loaded, it is just there as a back up if your e-brake slips/brakes.

 

I was taught to put the car in either 1st or reverse when parked, however the manual says to put it in neutral. I'm still trying to break my old habit.