I know, I know... I've owned this car for almost 10 years and driven 115K miles... So, stupid question; obviously I should know the answer. But,

I'm parked at the florist in Maynard on Friday. It's about a 15% grade, maybe less. I parked the car in 3rd gear.

It started rolling backward slowly. I don't know if it would've stopped, but I reached back in and pulled the e-brake (which I almost never use)... Then I put it in first and pulled the brake up even harder. No problem then.

Is the engine just turning backward? Is that possible? I have no real sign that my clutch is gone (and would be surprised if that were the case)...

What do you think?

 

hmm interesting.

I would assume that yes the engine is turning backwards. in a low gear (1st for example) it takes a lot of engine rotations to get a little bit of wheel rotation. this is a high torque/low output speed ratio. so the other way around, it would take much more torque applied to the wheel to get the engine to turn over.
on the other hand, a higher gear would result in an engine speed/wheel speed ratio closer to 1, which means easier for the wheels to drive the engine.

this is why when people jump start (in my experience quads and dirtbikes, but works with cars too) you drop the clutch in 2nd gear instead of 1st. an easy way to test this would be to just park it in 4th or 5th and see if it rolls easier.

however ive never experienced this myself, i almost never park my car in gear. ive had a few funny incidents with atv's that were parked in gear maybe im just paranoid

 

Thanks, jbird! I will do some experimenting on hills and figure out what I'm experiencing.

What mishaps did you have with ATVs in gear? I've always parked my car(s) in gear.

 

lol funny thing about that. not once, but on two occasions this happened. We had a modified banshee (2stroke sport atv, stripped down, removed most of the electrical system). on a particular long haul the banshee was on the front of the trailer. we always left them in gear, strapped them down and got on our way. While cruising about 70 on the highway, we suddenly hit some major traffic so we hit the brakes pretty hard. the straps mustve came loose because the banshee rolled forward, kicked itself over, and being an erratic 2stroke like it was, began just revving itself to redline. It would have just stalled but the front tires rolled over the edge of the trailer, balanced on the edge and the rears were up in the air. needless to say it was hectic to jump out in the middle of the highway to haul it back onto the trailer, strap it down and disconnect the spark plug wires

 

I always park my cars in gear as well. Usually in first, but occassionally in second gear. Either way, lower should be better. It doesn't surprise me that it wouldn't hold the car in 3rd. We have wee-tiny pistons in those motors.

I can't think of a good reason to leave the car in neutral though. I have heard enough stories of parking brakes failing, or failing to be set which have resulted in a car rolling away. Belt and suspenders are the way to go.

 

Yes Charlie, the engine can turn backwards.

 

Reverse FTW check the manual pretty sure it says reverse

 

That is MESSED UP, jbird!! Wow. Damn, that's what you get for riding a vehicle without spark plugs!

 

Cool, Bill.

Thanks, guys. I haven't done the experiments yet, but I intend to soon. First order of business, though, is swapping off the summer tires for the snowies and removing my hitch.

Tallyho.

 

15% Grade is pretty serious - not surprised it rolled. I'd totally use the ebrake in that instance.