question......
 

ok, so i notice last week that my car will no longer hold itself in place when parked on an incline in gear. so my first thought is, damn my clutch is slipping.

im due for an oil change anyhow, so i make an appointment with the dealer and bring it in. i also have been hearing some pinging at certain rpm levels, thought id kill 3 birds with one stone as its an hours drive to the nearest dealership.

i get there and explain my thoughts on the issues, i think the pinging was carbon buildup, and i told them i suspected the clutch just needed to be adjusted. the dude says cool and i leave.

several hours later, i get a call from the dealer saying its time to come get my car, and i ask him what was up with my problems. he says the mechanic told him since its a rotary engine, it will always roll when on an incline and in gear. i found this interesting because i never noticed this before, and ive owned the car for 8 months now. the issue with the knocking, he says, isnt possible because "well its a rotary and you dont have any pistons under there".

...

i had to stop myself from saying "omg!!! how much will a new set of pistons cost me??" but i didnt. so by now ive lost confidence in this mazda dealership's mechanics. then he reassures my lack of faith by saying " and um, when you change your oil you need to use a ..... uhhh........ hey what oil weight is he supposed to use?" i hear someone shouting a reply in the backround and stop the service rep from even opening his mouth and saying 5w-20. he sounds like hes never heard of the oil weight before and i cant wait to get my car out of that shop.

anyways, my question is: anyone else MT roll when parked on an incline in the approprate gear? also, does pinging as a result of carbon buildup sounds like someone pinched your car's nose and some beans being shaken in a tin can at the same time? i hope that can be understood.......

anyhow, sorry for the long post, but i feel like a car dealer should know his product a little better than that.

rolling has nothing to do with having a rotary engine.

your emergency brake sucks.

Are you using the E-brake/Handbrake ?

Oh that sucks. I think he means he puts the car in 1st gear when on inclines and it rolls? Wow. I guess get both the clutch and e-brake checked again by a different dealership. Theoretically the ebrake should be doing most of the stopping and the gear is for extra protection. For you non-believers, I did the experiment the other day with just putting the car in gear (and reverse) and found that the car didn't roll with gear in 1st BUT did roll back with gear in REVERSE. Yes, re-inventing the wheel.

The pinging could be from the octane of fuel you are using. Usually 87 is ok but if you use Uncle Bob's Discount Gas, it may be of lower octane and the 8 is pre-detonating. So try a higher octane or more reputable gas brand.

You ever notice that you did a "chunky" shift? More than likely if a car is moving in gear like that it could be a worn tooth on the gears.

My car is ALWAYS parked on a hill and I have had it over a year. I park the car, set the brake, wait 15 seconds, rev to 3k, turn off car, wait for engine to spool down, and put the car in 2nd.

I have no idea why I put it in second gear, I have just always done that with my cars.

Now... my 85 Fiero does roll a bit even when in gear. And I took the e-brake off of that car. So it does roll... but not like feet or anything.

Use the park brake! Course the car is going to slip if you park it in gear with the brake off!Gears are for driving with, brakes are for stopping with. In an automatic a large pawl locks the transmission to stop the vehicle, there is no such device on a manual transmission. Are you new to MT by any chance?

Why would anyone park on a hill and NOT use the parking brake? Maybe I'm missing something...

i do use the e-brake, but i noticed it when i was parked on a very slight incline, nothing i usually even would have set the brake for. but now i always set the e-brake, as i now have no choice. im not new to the MT, i know the ins and out of one and have never even owned an auto (i hate em) and i never had it roll before just recently. i had my suspicions it was a tranny issue and not an engine issue, though it is the compression that holds the engine and the renisis isnt exactly compression heavy.

i figured the knocking was carbon buildup due to low octane gas, it sounded like it blew out on the very drive i noticed it on. im not worried about that problem as it hasnt continued.

thx for the replies guys!

also, the reason your car rolled in reverse is because of direction of travel, if your car will roll backwards, park in a forward moving gear. if you are parked on a downhill slope (rolling forwards) put it in reverse. always have the gear set to the opposite of direction of travel, and it theoretically shouldnt roll.

unless your clutch needs to be adjusted that is.....

I never leave it in any gear when parked, I only ever use the E-brake, No matter how steep an incline it's on, Never rolled an inch. Maybe you are not pulling it on hard enough!
Only problem I have is e-brake sticking sometimes when released (nice clunk as it comes off). Opposite gear to slope means the engine is running backwards, that should make things worse.

the gearing of the transmission keeps it from rolling backwards, to the best of my knowledge at least. i havent had problems with the ebrake, just the car rolling when it usually shouldnt be. i would just leave it in nuetral with the ebrake on, but i had another car where i did that on an incline, and the ebrake cable heated as the sun warmed it (live in arizona, about a 25 degree temp diff night and day sometimes) and stretched the cable far enough my car just rolled away, it ended up sitting high centered on a piece of barb wire fence, being held up in the air by the grace of god i think.... so i just dont have 100% faith in my trusty ebrake anymore.

e-brake isn't the only thing in that case. it's still a good idea to use e-brake plus leave the car in gear, plus turn your wheels into (or away from... if pointing uphill) the curb.