Spazm

SAME thing just happened to me last week...finally got online to do a search for it. I didn't have it in gear, but I had the PB up about ~75-80% of the way it would go...I figured the surface was very level, I wouldn't have any problem. So after about 6-7 minutes in the grocery store, I'm walking out, digging in my pockets for my keys, and my damn car starts rolling! I freak out, drop my bags and get my keys out, jump in and hit the brakes.

Needless to say, I'm paranoid as hell now.

Murph

I was always taught to put the transmission in the gear that is opposite of the direction that the car would roll. So if you are parked facing downhill, you would put it in reverse. Park uphill; put it in 1st.

My brother had a similar experience with his Fierro (*Gasp* - yeah I know... no comparison to the 8). He used to park it on a hill outside his apartment. He came out in the morning and found his car several hundred yards down the road, nosed up against a telephone poll. Similar to the story here, there was no damage. He found out later (by watching the car) that the parking brake was slipping and the car would "creep" down the hill, a few inches at a time.

That's when he learned his lession to leave the gar in the opposite gear.

rx8cited

How about this from page 4-9:

"Don’t use the parking brake in freezing
weather as the parking brake may
freeze. Instead, shift to P with an
automatic transmission and to 1 or R
with a manual transmission. Block the
rear wheels."

Pretty funny huh? Block the rear wheels <eyes rolling into back of head> .

rx8cited

Murph

Maybe I should go steal some wheel-chocks from the local municpal airport and keep them in the trunk?

Maximus

The parking brake on my 8 is weak as well. I have about 5-8% grade in my driveway and the car doesn't stop until I really pull up the parking brake until the last click(note that I dont push the brake pedal while doing so, will try that next time and see if that makes a difference). At this point if I open the door and try to push the ground with one foot while still sitting in the car it starts rolling backwards...funny? not for me. I ALWAYS make sure the car is in gear when parked.

I am going to ask the dealer to adjust the P brake during my next service in a couple of weeks. I'll probably report back in this thread then.

arattle

You do know that the engine spins in the same direction, no matter which gear? The main reasoning should be, which gear is more powerful? Generally, it's the reverse, with 1st being a close 2nd in power - really shouldn't matter, if you've ever tried to move your car with either gear engaged, you know that it's not going anywhere. I always toss it in first, just force of habit. Besides, if I forget to disengage when I let out the clutch, at least I see where I'm going (not that this ever happens )

-arattle

tokenbrit

I agree. I've caught my car rolling more than once. The trouble is, I don't like leaving it in gear. For now, I just pull the handbrake on a little harder than I would normally.

rx8cited

Better carry and use a set of wheel chocks. Why don't you like to leave it in gear as we've all been religiously taught to do?

rx8cited

Murph

Why don't you like leaving it in gear?

bluesunlion

I think some people are making a mountain out of a molehill. I have about a 20% grade in my driveway, and to ensure that it the car stays there, I pull the brake up till I get that last little click that takes a bit more effort. I also leave it in first gear , which is just common sense.

If I don't pull it all the way up, the car has a tendency to roll a bit. My miata is the same way.

Hornet

I don't leave mine in gear but it has never budged from where I park it. I always have the brake pedal depressed when I pull the parking brake. I also think I have a tendency to pull the hand brake pretty hard so I usually might get to the last clicks. A little bit of advice for those who parallel park on hills...cut the wheel toward the curb if you don't want your car to start off to work without you!

Murph

As an aside, I thought I would share a humorous story.... my idiot coworker had a company car that was a manual trans (Honda Accord LX 5 speed). He lived up on top of this huge hill. On a night when they were predicting "record windspeeds" in the impending storm, he left the car in neutral, and didn't set the parking brake. (Yeah, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed)

To make a long story short, the car rolled down his steep driveway, picked up speed, went across the road, jumped the guardrail and went into the river, striking a tree in the middle of the river head-on. Needless to say he had a little explaining to do with the boss.

Mikelikes2drive

on an uphill u put it in first and on a downhill u put it in reverse? thats what i go by...does pressing down the foot brake and then engaging the PB better? never heard of this... would be very interesting

whp427

Hi I am in the UK Bonnie Scotland. I parked up my car 2 weeks ago and 20 mins after I left it, it rolled across the road and smashed into a wall. There are several others in the uk with the same problem. Drive the car hard, park up, brakes cool, then park brake sleeps after 15 mins.

I may end up in a court case with Mazda UK, and I am gathering facts worldwide. I see a number of you have had the same problem. Mazda clearly has a recall issue here. The handbrake mechanism is worsening to a degree between service intervals such that it becomes marginal after heavy driving and then brake cooling.

My park brake was on 4 notches, full travel up and it happened, so NEVER leave your car unless its in gear or Park (auto).

Any advice/help would be much appreciated. You can email me on whp427@hotmail.com

Oh and by the way I do a great Scottish Breakfast and am 20 miles from Edinburgh, 40 miles from Glasgow in my house...

thx

brian

whp427

Hi I am in the UK Bonnie Scotland. I parked up my car 2 weeks ago and 20 mins after I left it, it rolled across the road and smashed into a wall. There are several others in the uk with the same problem. Drive the car hard, park up, brakes cool, then park brake sleeps after 15 mins.

I may end up in a court case with Mazda UK, and I am gathering facts worldwide. I see a number of you have had the same problem from the forum notes search I did. Mazda clearly has a recall issue here. The handbrake mechanism is worsening to a degree between service intervals such that it becomes marginal after heavy driving and then brake cooling.

My park brake was on 4 notches, full travel up and it happened, so NEVER leave your car unless its in gear or Park (auto).I have witnesses.

Any advice/help would be much appreciated. You can email me on whp427@hotmail.com

Oh and by the way I do a great Scottish Breakfast and am 20 miles from Edinburgh, 40 miles from Glasgow in my house...

thx

brian

afeldman327

holy crap...i guess I should stop parking in neutral! I do remember one time i was driving and I had accidentally left the parking break engaged half way, and I only noticed because the dashboard light was on...

Air Force RX8

In an effort to make this safety issue known, I would suggest filling out a complaint form at www.nhtsa.gov after you contact MNA. If it shoul be a mandatory recall NHTSA can get it done if there are enough complaints to warrant it.

For those keeping track I will post this for every safety related issue I read about. THanks again for keeing track of my posts though! :p

rx8daniel

Very interesting. I should do a poll of those of us at the Dragon a couple weeks ago. I think there I did leave it in gear-- I wonder if everyone did as the driveway was very steep. I moved another's 8 the first evening and I know also left it in gear since it wasn't my car. But - in 28 years of driving manuals I have never made it a practice to leave any of my cars in gear... I always keep the brake applied when parking and applying the hand brake. Will try to make a better habit of leaving it in 1st in addition to the hand brake. The cooling thing does make sense as to a cause. Not sure if it's a recall thing or not. Hard to prove how hard someone pulls the hand brake.
Weird though-locally a woman who works(ed) at a quick lube place crashed an RX-8 into a brick wall / staircase of a house across the street from the business this spring, supposedly when she was attempting to park the car. I had always assumed she was driving it - wonder if maybe she didn't engage the brake fully and that's what happened??

Rob Tomlin

Was your car in gear when you parked it?

I am assuming it wasn't, so you are partially at fault.

Leaving the car in gear is just as important.....no, more important, than setting the parking brake.

rotarygod

You are supposed to leave your car in gear when it is parked and with the steering wheel turned all the way towards the curb with it in the locked position. This is why steering wheels lock when the key is out. In the event something happens, your car won't roll away. I don't think you will get very far in court. You should never rely soley on the parking brake or solely with leaving the car in gear. A court will just argue that you failed to adequately secure your parked car. You should also never drive hard and then immediately use your parking brake. That's sad to hear that it happened and I'm sorry for your loss but a few preventative measures on your part can insure that something like that can never happen again. That wouldn't be limited to only RX-8's. It can happen to any car.

Elara

I had no problem at the Dragon. But then, I always pull the parking brake up as far as it'll go, with that last click, and put it into gear. I've had cars (not the 8- a bug and a volvo) roll on me before when parked on a hill with just the parking brake on, so I'm paranoid about the 8 and don't take chances. Using both should be common sense. That's what I was taught when learning to drive, and in everything I've ever read about manual transmission cars.

ayap888

So I guess this happens only for RX8 manuals (where it's easy to leave it in neutral). I guess for automatic owners, it's second nature to put it in park.

ptiemann

Strange, the 3+ pictures that I had posted in the thread's beginning are gone

Anyway, I'll keep an eye on this thread. Maybe Mazda will give me a free new front bumper.

VikingDJ

Although you should have car in gear when parked, the brake should not fail and do that to you if it's fully raised. I'ved owned plenty of cars who's parking brakes never failed. To me, it would be similiar if someone pulled car out of garage and shut it off, causing it to flood and not run. Is that your fault? You definitely have learned that you should not trust a parking brake 100%, and it's a good idea to get in habit of keeping car in gear. I do think though that regardless of if you have car in gear or not, Mazda will have to accept the blame if the parking brake fails, just as they do if a car floods.

irish8

Hey WHP...

No problems here!! I'm from Ireland, but grew up in Scotland, Stirling to be exact. I've been in the States about 8 years!! Where exactly are you? I go home every year. We should meet up at the "Birk n Hair" (sp?) sometime!!!! :D

Hope you court case works out in your favour.

- Irish