My FD rolls in first gear?
 

i was in my driveway ( on a very small decline slope) taking my center console apart to tighten my E-brake so i had it in first gear went to go get a wrench to tighten it turned around and saw the car rolling slowly down hill i was like WTF and ran to stop the car. of course i normally use the E-brake while parked but this concerned me. so to test it i parked it on level ground put it in first car off, and decided to see if i could push the car in gear and after some force i got the car moving in first gear like 5 feet. is this normal on the manuals in this car? ive never had a manual car this light. my transmission shifts wonderfully no grinds just a little tougher when its cold.

Never tried actually just pushing it, but yea with the car in gear and on a hill usually the engine compression itself doesn't have adequate pressure to hold the car.

1.3L motor isn't much of a brake.

Rotary engine really doesn't have that much resistance. Yes its normal.

thewird

Rotary is pretty easy to turn by hand, offers very little braking resistance when parked. Which is a bit of a pain since it also seems that my Mazda rotary vehicles always have poorly adjusted parking brakes.

ALWAYS USE WHEEL CHALKS! I had a close friend pass away because he didn't chalk the wheels while working on his FD. A slight incline is all it takes to overpower a weak e-brake and the transmission, let alone just one.

Never knew it is that easy to push the 7 in gear, I can barely push my MX-6 forward with 2 people when I had it in 1st gear.

Put the car in a higher gear than 1st, that will be MUCH harder to move since you're adding mechanical advantage.

And, as stated, use wheel chocks, even if it's a brick, some wood, or an old phone book. I've had an FD roll back on me, no harm done, but scared me senseless. Takes 2 seconds to toss something behind a tire.

Dale

I was told that the lower gear is hard to move? My MX-6 is hard to move with 2 people on 1st but is easily move by myself on 3rd.

That's backward. Low gear, 1st or whatever, rotates the motor more for each unit of forward car motion. When I start my shifter kart, I put it in 6th (cause it's harder then hell to pull in 1st).

Dude that so awful im sorry that happened, that's why i hate being under cars because of things like that even when im under a 2 post lift it feels weird.



Thanks for all the reply's my peeps, really took alot of worry away i will look for some good chokes to carry around with in the car. i believe ive seen some cool collapsing ones before good for storage.

I've never had this issue.

Then again, when I pull the brake, I pull it as if theres no tomorrow

It was very tragic. We were best friends since the 3rd grade. He passed away this past August. Best advice is to take your time and double check everything. Use solid jack stands on a level concrete surface. Secure your stands and double check their position. Chock the wheels, pull the Ebrake, and put it in gear.

My friend was in a hurry, and just excited to get his new parts installed. A simple mistake cost him his life.

lol, there's little resistance because obviously the rotors spin in a circle... pistons engine has to go up and down so there's more resistance with those.

I has little to nothing to do with motion, it's all about compression and gearing in your tran.

Just put a huge brick behind the rear wheel, and if you jack up the car stick your wheels under the side, so if anything happen to the jack stands it will only fall onto the wheels.