BunnyGirl

When I was getting my oil changed and stuff yesterday there was a girl (early 20s) in there having her fairly new (since December and now with 8000 miles) 05 Mazda 3 looked at because she had some sort of brake failure. She was at her parent's house and parked it in their driveway that was a slight incline. About an hour after she got there one of the neighbors called to tell her that her car was in their trees! They went over to see what happened. It somehow rolled out of the driveway, across the road, through some bushes, down a five-foot drop (more like a steep incline) and then stopped when it hit some trees. When they got to it the brake lever was still up and set but the car was able to be rolled, meaning the brakes weren't working. She said when she parked it she put it in first gear and set the brake but now that it was popped out of first gear and in neutral. She has $1100 in body damage to the car with scratches, cracked bumper and lights, and minor dents. I guess this is the price of parts and materials since her father's friend owns a body shop and is going to fix it without charging for labor.

She brought it in to the dealership for them to try to replicate the problem, since it has seemed to be working normally except for that freak accident and seems to be okay since then (happened about a week ago). Now, she wasn't mad and complaining that Mazda made a bad car or something, just that sometimes there are bad parts that get put in, and that was what she was hoped happened so that it could be fixed and not happen again. In their testing they said they weren't able to replicate the problem but that it appeared a wire may have been a tiny bit loose so they fixed that. They said that didn't mean there wasn't somethign wrong, just that they couldn't make it fail and everything was tight. Now she is concerned that the brake may fail again if she parks on any sort of incline since they weren't able to find a specific problem at this time.

Does anyone have any ideas what could have caused this to happen???

Oh yeah. She said after the car was turned back on again the brakes started working again.

alfy28

hmm driving mt for 15yrs now, i never had a situation when i parked it in 1st gear with ebrake up, and later on fount out that it had rolled else where.

but yah very strange, because i never seen a car pop back into Neutral after being parked in 1st gear. but yah im curious if any other members here had that situation

expo1

Was the car open? Not unheard of for kids to go into a car and pop it out of gear. Otherwise to have a car pop out of 1st on a uphill grade is very hard to imagine.

BunnyGirl

I was thinking that maybe she didn't lock the doors, some kid got in and started messing with it, went for a crazy ride, and then took off.

The car was backed into the driveway so it rolled forward on its "trip" into the trees.

The part that was odd, though, was that if some kid did get into the car and set this off, that they put the brake back on. Also odd is the fact that the brakes were functional again after the car was restarted. I don't know why this would be, but I don't know a whole lot about the workings of brakes.

The dealership told her it that maybe someone took it out of gear but she said that even if they did, why would it have rolled like that with the brake on???

That's basically the mystery question right now.

RotarySpirit

That's strange...I saw someone post this same kind of thing happening with his 8 I believe. I was disinclined to believe the story simply because it seems pretty improbable that the car popped out of first and wasn't being held in place by the e-brake. The story was almost the same except that he was present when the car was rolling and was able to stop the car I believe. I can't find the thread now, I'll update if I do.

Still seems improbable to me though.

Edit: Found the thread. https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/fed-up-issues-my-8-having-95555/

Zephyr Words

If the car rolled forward then she should of had it in reverse gear. She also probably didn't pull the e-brake up far enough.

BlueEyes

My jettas parking brake didn't work for crap. I could crank it up as hard as i could, blow on the car and it would take off. But, that car was 10 years old. I do recall reading about some Rx8's with poor parking brakes that rolled away.

BunnyGirl

I see from the other thread that temperature was mentioned. The 100+ temperatures outside were also given as a potential reason to her at the dealership, which was my first thought when she told me, then followed by somebody messing with her car. It probably was the hot temperature since she had been driving around all day and got to her parent's house in the early evening when the temperatures start dropping quickly.

I know at work a week or so ago when we had that really hot weather a truck that was parked in front of me ended up rolling a little. The parking spaces all angled slightly downward at each other making a V type of thing, although very slightly. It's a good thing there happened to be one of the concrete pillars off to the side of the parking space or he probably would have rolled into my car! He had a very minor little scuff on his bumper from it, but no real damage. This is another reason I don't pull completely up to the front line in my parking spot. That guy said that was actually the second time his truck had rolled in the hot weather in the last few days.

RedSheDevil

This is not a cause of faulty brakes. The e-brake is meant to be used in conjunction with putting a car in gear (1st for uphill parks, reverse for downhill). She probably forgot to put the car in gear and is now pissed that her car sustained so much damage due to an oversight.

I'm amazed people don't know this. Anyone parking their car in neutral and just using the e-brake is asking for trouble. There should be a test you have to take to drive a MT ... it's a lot more than just "how do I shift?"

therm8

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

The e-brake and the regular brakes are independent of each other. The e-brake in most modern cars is pretty worthless. But had she put the car in reverse instead of first, this likely would not have happened.

XRX8X

ok here go's .i have a horseshoe shaped driveway with a pretty good incline(enough to get a good jump start if needed)i parked my 8 on the down grade when i got home and about two minutes later the car had rolled down the driveway and because the wheel was a little turned the car made a nice complete turn towards the sidewalk between my mailbox and the bushes at the end.i went and made sure i had the brake on and for sure it was!!!what i believe had happened and neverwill happened again was 1. i was tired 2. i did not pull it up hard enough.3.the car wanted to go back out ! this has not happenedany more because i feel as lucky as i was i will make sure it won't .if a kid or anyone at all had been in that path i would not know how to get out of being somewhat at fault but like i said it only happened one time . i now make sure when i am coming up the driveway i use the e-brake a little to be sure it won't move and i also put it in 1st gear as a backup.sorry this came out this way but i sure as hell know it's not a habit to leave the brake off but it's a habit to make sure it is!!!!iquess we shold be happy no one got hurt and a lesson learned by both.maybe your insurance can cover this most do

XRX8X

ok here go's .i have a horseshoe shaped driveway with a pretty good incline(enough to get a good jump start if needed)i parked my 8 on the down grade when i got home and about two minutes later the car had rolled down the driveway and because the wheel was a little turned the car made a nice complete turn towards the sidewalk between my mailbox and the bushes at the end.i went and made sure i had the brake on and for sure it was!!! what i believe had happened and never will happen again was 1. i was tired 2. i did not pull it up hard enough.3.the car wanted to go back out ! this has not happened any more because i feel as lucky as i was i will make sure it won't .if a kid or anyone at all had been in that path i would not know how to get out of being somewhat at fault but like i said it only happened one time . i now make sure when i am coming up the driveway i use the e-brake a little to be sure it won't move and i also put it in 1st gear as a backup.sorry this came out this way but i sure as hell know it's not a habit to leave the brake off but it's a habit to make sure it is!!!!i guess we shold be happy no one got hurt and a lesson learned by both.maybe your insurance can cover this most do it's funny now only because my girl thought i was leaving !!

RedSheDevil

reverse your thinking and you're good to go: put it in 1st (or reverse depending on incline/decline) and use your e-brake as backup.

alfy28

maybe the car was possessed like the Movie Christine

Feras

iTrader: (1)

what i usually do is pull the handbrake up as hard as i can. Added bonus...most people aren't strong enough to pull it down. After hearing about how if it isnt completely engaged it can dislodge i've been loath to be careless about this.

Asmoran

^hahaah Funny you say that. When I used to drive wife's old escort she'd get mad at me if I put on the E-Brake, because she couldn't take it off :D

Now that's not a problem since her Endeavor has a foot pedal E-Brake.

DrDiaboloco

Why would the gear it's in make any difference (1st or reverse) depending upon the incline? The concept is the same... The "engine braking" will keep the car from moving regardless of which gear the car is in, it would seem.

Zephyr Words

The car is made to go forward in first gear and made to go backwards in reverse. So if you put it in reverse when gravity is pulling the car forward you are helping the car stay in the same spot better than if you put the car into first where it would naturally want to go forward.

DrDiaboloco

But there's nothing in the transmission to lock the car in place, it all comes down to the engine resisting movement, and it will resist movement either way. This thread is the first time I've ever heard that you should put a car in reverse if it's facing downhill.

RedSheDevil

Wow, I guess I had no idea this stuff isn't widely known:

1. Whenever possible, park perpendicular to the hill.

2. Park parallel to the curb if you must park parallel to the hill.

3. Turn the steering wheel toward the curb if the car is facing downhill. The front part of the front tire should be turned into the curb, so if the car rolls the curb will help stop forward momentum.

4. Turn the wheel away from the curb if the car is facing uphill. The back of the front tire should be turned into the curb. (I was taught "UP UP AND AWAY" to remember this)

5. For manual transmissions, leave the car in gear. 1st gear if parking uphill, reverse if parking downhill.

6. Set the parking brake.

7. Lift your foot off the brake. If the car slips, park again closer to the curb and reset the wheels against the curb.

DrDiaboloco

No. 5 is the only one I have never heard before.

If I HAVE heard it before, it's long gone from my memory banks.

I guess there's a flood of lawsuits against Saab, because in the oldern daze (and perhaps still) you needed to have the (manny tranny) car in reverse to get the key out of the ignition.

DrDiaboloco

I also have not-so-fond recollections of three different cars that needed a jump-start and WOULDN'T start... with a good push from the top of a hill.

Engine off, key in the "run" position, pushed downhill in neutral, pop the clutch in first gear (which we're not supposed to do for safety when parked??)... no spark, car comes to a complete halt in probably a car length, from 10mph.

If you can bring a MOVING car to a halt in first gear when facing downhill with the engine off, I doubt that there's much danger in a PARKED car rolling off in first gear when facing downhill (and, by extension, a parked car facing uphill rolling off when in reverse).

Granted, the incline wasn't very steep in the scenario above, but remember... The car was already IN MOTION and was brought to a stop by engine braking alone.

BunnyGirl

Apparently there must be debate about your #5 RSD. In one driving class I had they said to always put your manual in neutral with the brake and another one said to leave it in gear. Just thought it was interesting that one driver's ed said one thing while another said something different. I had no real point with this, I guess. LOL

I was just thinking something, too. A lot of people on here call it an e-brake, meaning "emergency." Now, my friends in Europe call it a "parking brake" or a "hand brake" but not an "emergency brake." (My relatives also call it a parking brake or hand brake). I was pointing that out to one of them and apparently she thinks Americans are dumb or something since you use it while parking, with your hand. She said since it was used pretty much exclusively for this purpose it was dumb to call it an "emergency" brake.

Sorry, it's late and I'm rambling again. LOL

zoom44

im eating chocolate cup cakes

BunnyGirl

I'm working (using the term loosely here since I'm slacking) mandatory overtime.