G'day Everyone,

I dont post in here much, but spend a fair bit of time reading through, so thought I might share a little tail of woe with you.

I rocked up at my Mums place for a family gathering to celebrate my sister returning from New York (Im in Melbourne, Australia). I'm there having a good time catching up with my sister and family, when all of a sudden there is a knock at the door.

Turns out my beautiful Series 8 with less than 35,000ks on the clock is now sitting in the middle of the road. Not only that, but its resting nicely up against a late 90s 911!

There are about 4 cars all backed up (as my car is blocking the street), so I jump in (having first opened my passenger door, then sliding across to open the drivers side door due to my drivers side door handle having failed last week) and move it somewhere more suitable than the middle of the road.

I pulled harder on the hand brake to test it, and it only really had one more click in it - so it wasn't that I forgot to put it on so Im putting it down to a mechanical failure rather than a personal failure (is that a good thing?!)

Turns out that there is no damage to my car that wont buff out - but i did manage to dint 2 separate panels back panels and the wheel on the Porsche. I wonder what 2 panels and a wheel is worth on a 911?

So anyways, if anyone wants to buy a great S8 in Melbourne (well great except for a broken door handle, hand brake and owner), now's probably a pretty good time to send me a private message.

Oh the joys of 3rd gen ownership!

 

mine decided to break free while idling for 15min at a friends house. it was sitting at the top of her driveway, then it all the sudden decided to drift backwards 400ft into a tree. insurance covered it of course. but the body shop took around 8 months to repair my car. bastards

 

Yeah there's nothing quite like that feeling of "hey my car should have been right here... Oh ****!"

And then reliving it time after time with your whole family while all you can think about is how much that little failure just cost you!

 

Mine rolled on me once while I was at the beach, Luckily it was in a parking lot or it couldve been ugly.

 

uh . . . so should i be investing in some sort of emergency brake upgrade, are are all of you suffering from bad luck?

 

I was suffering from a serious lack of judgement. Being very flat in florida, I usually just park the car and leave it in first. Up until that point it had always been enough to keep the car in place. This day however, it was not. I always use the parking brake now.

 

I NEVER leave the car in gear and i HATE driving the cars of people who do.

 

Sorry for the bad luck! That really blows. Thank god the FD didn't get too hurt. Who cares about 911s. ;D


cliffs?

It's generally recommended to keep the car in gear just incase your ebrake fails. Are you saying you can tell the difference between a car that's usually left in gear v. one that's left in neutral? I don't buy that.

 

I leave both the FD and REPU in gear and parking brake on. I have never had a Mazda with a hand brake that impressed me, they always seem to be right on the fine line of failure.

 

yeah, after mine broke on me once, I always leave it in gear as well

 

LOL! If your family is anything like mine, you'll be hearing about this incident for, oh, the rest of your life!

 

2nd...

What's wrong with leaving a car in gear and why do you hate driving a car that's left in gear?

 

Yeah,

I once came out of house and found car was missing, after the panic attack, I realized it was across the street in neighbor’s front yard, no damage, just missed a tree. Only thing more FD’s would have been to then burst into flames.

 

it's your fault for not having it in gear.

sorry, but that's the truth.

anyone who just leaves thier standard car in N with the handbrake on is asking for trouble.

 

what's that supposed to mean? you saying it hurts the transmission?

lol, riiiight...

go ahead and keep thinking that.

put it in 4th, not 1st.

 

??????????

It'll for sure roll away in 4th...

 

I didn't say that, don't put words in my ******* mouth, I referring to people who ONLY PUT IT IN GEAR. It's one of those things I'm OCD about. Maybe i should have clarified but i was up late and didn't give a ****.

 

Ebrake broke free on me while it was parked at my parents place, which is on top of a steep hill. I guess it was kind of nice in a way. It got me started on my current project; replacing everything. Little sister comes downstairs, and says: "Michael, your car just rolled down the hill."

 

Not to be a dick, but why would anyone idle their car without being in it... on a hill?!

or park on a hill not in gear?

Sounds to me like negligence. The only way to really safely have your vehicle on a hill is to have it in gear, or to be IN the car and holding the brakes. Or find somewhere else to park if you must idle it and not be near it.

 

And if you park on a hill, you don't put your car in gear? Its called SAFETY. Quit being OCD and think. If you ARE going to be OCD about parking in gear... then START parking in gear and be picky about it. E brakes fail. ESPECIALLY on older vehicles. and ESPECIALLY on OLD CABLE actuated E Brakes,

Not "trying" to be a dick here, just pointing out that you are OCD on the wrong side of this fence. And the OP has already admitted "brain fart" in this instance. Had he remembered to put it into gear, then he would not be in this situation. But accidents DO happen. No reason to never park in gear and increase your chances of one happening.

What it really sounds like is you are just in bad driving habits. You like to get in the car and push the clutch (or not if the clutch switch is disabled) and not have to do anything.

Proper routine is to get in, put a foot on the brake, push in the clutch, check the shifter to see if the vehicle is in gear or not, start vehicle, go from there. Do it right, don't make an excuse for having a bad habit. Order of operations may differ slightly from person to person, but you should always have a picture of everything going on EVERY time you get into a vehicle. Its just like checking a gun to see if it is loaded. You do it every time you pick up a firearm. Get in the right habits from the start.

 

no... it won`t

there is less chance of it popping out of gear while parked if it is in 4th, rather than 1st.

 

ahh... gotcha.

 

with tension on it, a healthy transmission should never "pop" out of gear anyways. once the clutch hub is popped into gear, it will stay there until you force it out. If you've ever disassembled and examined the FD 5 speed, you would know that the hubs have springs that hold it in and out of gear. It is these springs being forced into position that give you the (temporary) resistance while shifting. Once in gear, you have to overcome the springs again to remove it.

 

As long as it wasn't being a dick, lol. No harm done. i do completely agree though, the e-brake alone cannot be trusted, especially on steep inclines, when i leave it in gear i do leave it in 4th. My e-brake on my FC is practically worthless at this point.

 

I allways use the e-brake, but never leave it in gear. However I am kind of paranoid about my car so I carry a small wheel wedge to use on slopes . Usually put it about 1cm from the wheel so I can see if the car has moved....As yet it has never moved on a slope.