to not park my car in gear?

[CrazylazyJane]

DH and I are at odds on whether you are supposed to park your car in gear or not, so settle the argument for us.

He maintains that he was taught to always leave your car in first gear when you park it incase the hand break fails

I was taught to leave the car in neutral when parking. The only exception being when you're parked on a steep hill, you may consider leaving your car in gear to prevent it from rolling.

I drive DG's car a few times a year and today jumped in it and bunny hopped as I turned on the ignition. Yes, yes, one should always check the gear stick before turning the engine on but I don't routinely as I would always leave a manual car in neutral. So AIBU for being annoyed that he keeps doing this?

Sorry, maybe I'm missing something. Surely the 1st thing you do before turning engine back on is check that car is in neutral /clutch is down (stick) or the car is in park (automatic). You only move to drive or lift the clutch when you're ready to move off.

I wonder what other people were taught to do before turning engine back on and before they start to move.

My dad (born 1918) parked in neutral. So does DH (1946) me (1961) and DS (1989). Except steep hills, because that's correct.

Except steep hills, because that's correct.

Why is it correct?

The highway code says to park in gear on hills, I assume that's what the poster meant.

Always in gear but Ive been driving over 30yrs and that what we were taught

Every driver should get in the car and check the gear stick before starting

Mine was getting loose and had noticed it didn't ratch up to top

I had my not few weeks later and tech it failed on that but the garage fixed it in the service before hand

out of interest, why does anyone think it's BAD to put a stickshift car in gear before turning engine off?

I was researching cars a few years back and was reading about scirocco 1.4tsi and reliability (or lack of) on a VW forum.

Cam belt failure on these and some other vag cars can be a problem. And a common cause of this apparently was leaving the car parked in gear, if you forget and start the car without the clutch pressed, you do the kangaroo hop thing, stall, and your cam belt slips. Engine will then likely blow up if driven off. https://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24300

Timing chain failure after parking in gear mentioned on this thread too.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=154&t=1750858&i=20

General consensus seems to be to leave your car parked in gear though.

No

@Lonelycrab

And a common cause of this apparently was leaving the car parked in gear, if you forget and start the car without the clutch pressed, you do the kangaroo hop thing, stall, and your cam belt slips.

That's why it's better to ALWAYS park in gear, so it becomes habit to put your foot on the clutch when starting and/or put the gear into neutral.

If people only park in gear on a hill, they're not in the habit of checking/clutch when starting off, so are more likely to kangaroo hop, but if you always park in gear out of habit, you'll also clutch/neutral when starting, likewise as habit.

I was taught always in neutral unless on a hill. My ex husband learnt about 10 years before me and always left it in gear.

I was interested to read that turning off your automatic while in drive/reverse is always? apparently absolutely harmless.

That's why it's better to ALWAYS park in gear, so it becomes habit to put your foot on the clutch when starting and/or put the gear into neutral

Sorry, I realised after my first post I got thing’s slightly wrong once I re read the (slightly boring) pistonheads thread.

It’s not to do with starting the car in gear and kangaroo-ing the car. It’s to do with the handbrake slightly slipping over time when parked, thus forcing the engine to rotate backwards in its cycle. This stresses/bends the cam chain tensioners which then leave the cam chain loose and not tensioned. So when the engine is started as normal, the loose chain can slip and sometimes lead to engine failure as the timing is out.

If you leave the car facing up hill, park the car in reverse gear, if facing down then park in first was the advice. This means if the HB slips, the engine will be trying to rotate in the correct direction, not backwards. It’s when the engine rotates/cycles backwards that the damage can be caused, apparently.

I’m not in any way a car expert, was just to pass on info to a pp.

Me. Handbrake failed while parked in my drive (which was only a slight incline, but 90 degrees to a steep hill) and it did a backwards circle down the hill and crashed into my neighbour's car and garage. I only realised when I looked out of the window and the car had vanished! It was a relatively new second hand car and I'd had an automatic before with 'park' mode so it hadn't occurred to me to leave it in gear. I always do now on even the slightest of inclines.

I never park my car in gear, I was taught to put it in neutral, unless on a very steep hill. I learned and passed 10 years ago. DH learned over past 5 years with 5 different instructors (not his fault) and passed last year - he wasn't taught to put it in gear either

So those of you claiming it's 'basic driving knowledge' - it really isn't, if you're not taught it 🙄

I also don't turn my wheels unless on a really steep slope - my new car bleeps at me and tells me to 'align the steering wheel' if my wheels aren't straight when parking, it stops and says 'complete' when I've done it.

I also wasn't taught to put handbrake on in traffic (much to my Dads horror) and was taught to ride the clutch (which makes my mechanic flinch! I don't do it now but it took a lot of work to undo the habit as that's how I was taught to drive!)

If you leave the car facing up hill, park the car in reverse gear, if facing down then park in first was the advice. This means if the HB slips, the engine will be trying to rotate in the correct direction, not backwards. It’s when the engine rotates/cycles backwards that the damage can be caused, apparently.

No, it’s the other way round. The whole point is that the engine will spin backwards. It’s not about engine damage but to prevent the engine starting. Bear in mind that this was written at a time of mechanical fuel pumps and coil/points ignition systems. If the handbrake failed and the engine spun the correct direction there was a possibility that it could start and then you have a running car in gear heading down hill. This doesn’t really apply to modern engines though, there’s no real way they could start in that scenario. I’m

@Shade17 This thread on the subject explains it.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=6&t=78753&i=20

I fully understand how it works thanks, I’ve explained why the original Highway Code rule came about.