standard guys... do you leave it in 1st when parked? or neutral + ebrake?

[burpod]

it's just one wire... it's been years since i've had to press in the clutch to start any of my cars best thing since sliced bread. just make sure it's in neutral if there's any chance of a spouse etc starting your car lol

 

[burpod]

push to break. you can just jump it if thats all you want

 

[str8t six]

If you disable the clutch switch interlock, yes.

oh ok

it's just one wire... it's been years since i've had to press in the clutch to start any of my cars best thing since sliced bread. just make sure it's in neutral if there's any chance of a spouse etc starting your car lol

i would worry i would mess it up after changing it lol.

 

[fxk]

I do appreciate old diesels shouldn't be parked in gear, since as two of you said, it could bump start and motor itself away. That was a real possibility back then.

I think C&C are pretty much on the button with "modern" cars/diesels. (I agree because that's how I do it!) Actually I just use first, but I had not thought of the tow issue.

Any manual I drive, be it car, truck or motorcycle, I'm in the habit of starting it with clutch disengaged. Old school says clutch in means less rotating mass, and less oil drag in the tranny, means less draw on battery/starter. Plus you'll never be surprised if the car jumps when you turn the key. And with modern cars with starter lockout with clutch out, that just reinforced it over the years.

Finally, ebrakes on cars I've owned never seemed to have held all that well. I just hate it when the car creeps down the hill. (kind of like the poster above putting it in 5th.) Gave me a good chuckle.

frank

 

[kcunniff]

Neutral and e-brake only for me. No hills in south Florida.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Click and Clack, the tappet brothers, always said that you should leave it in gear with the parking/emergency brake off, unless parked on a steep hill, where the brake is actually needed. They ALSO said that the choice of first or reverse is a function of whether the car is front wheel drive or rear wheel drive. Their reasoning was that in either gear, it isn't going to roll away by itself, but in the event the car gets towed, if it is a front wheel drive vehicle and you left it nosed into the space from which it is towed, you want the lazy ass truck driver who just grabs and runs to NOT run the engine backward as it gets dragged down the street. So front wheel drive cars get left in reverse, rear wheel drive cars get left in first.

They also said that the reason they do not recommend leaving it parked with the brake on is that most of them are cable operated, and should there be a bit of water in the cable and it freezes or rusts, you don't want the e-brake unable to release.

Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.

Click and Clack are (were) also very anti-TDI, so I don't typically place a whole lot of stock in their opinions, despite being an avid listener for years growing up.

 

[whitedog]

Right now the tally stands at 7 that just put it in gear.

19 that put it in gear and set the Parking brake

12 that put it in neutral and set the parking brake (you guys rock!)

And a few that waffle more than a politician. Yes, no, sometimes I do this, sometimes, that. I did not have sex with that woman, now new taxes, I committed adultery in my heart, I'm not a crook. We begin bombing in five minutes.

 

[Bob_Fout]

In-gear, either first or reverse, and e-brake on.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Right now the tally stands at 7 that just put it in gear.

19 that put it in gear and set the Parking brake

12 that put it in neutral and set the parking brake (you guys rock!)

And a few that waffle more than a politician. Yes, no, sometimes I do this, sometimes, that. I did not have sex with that woman, now new taxes, I committed adultery in my heart, I'm not a crook. We begin bombing in five minutes.

LMAO. Well done.

 

[Chris]

If in gear without the brake be sure to set the brake before removing glow plugs or injectors.

 

[Bob_Fout]

If in gear without the brake be sure to set the brake before removing glow plugs or injectors.

Just in case anyone asks why: removing these allows the magic smoke to escape. [compression]

 

[AtlsNBP]

If I'm uphill I put it in 1st

If Downhill, I put in R.

Only use the e brake on steep inclines, in addition to above.

 

[str8t six]

i usually keep mine in first, no parking brake cuz im too lazy

 

[burpod]

unless you're on a hill, or if it's freezing rain your car is going to be in for hours on end, i see no reason to simply use the parking brake and neutral. too many paranoid freaks here

 

[JDSwan87]

Parking brake and reverse here... I used to be in the parking brake only club... That was until the cable on my old Ranger snapped while my truck was parked in a off street parking spot on the tinyest incline... My truck rolled into the middle of the road (ever so slowly) and a passerby stopped, slammed it into gear and came into the building asking who owned the blue Ranger outside...

 

[burpod]

i don't know about rangers, but a vw has two cables. they would both have to snap at the same time to have the car "run away". i've never had a vw parking brake failure in 10 yrs of owning.

 

[[486]]

i don't know about rangers, but a vw has two cables. they would both have to snap at the same time to have the car "run away". i've never had a vw parking brake failure in 10 yrs of owning.

even if "only" one breaks the equalizer mechanism will cause the other to lose tension until you yank the lever up further (and probably run out of lever travel)

 

[[486]]

Oh, and just ran into one yesterday where the cables had rusted up enough that the brakes were dragging and you could tell they'd been HOT as the rust had gained that brighter tinge to it.

If in gear without the brake be sure to set the brake before removing glow plugs or injectors.

If your engine is developing compression while parked that means it is slowly rolling away.

Meaning, it wasn't going to stay where it was parked even with the cylinders sealed.
The "usable" holding power of the engine is all friction. Rings and plain bearings.

 

[Digital Corpus]

Right now the tally stands at 7 that just put it in gear.

19 that put it in gear and set the Parking brake

12 that put it in neutral and set the parking brake (you guys rock!)

And a few that waffle more than a politician. Yes, no, sometimes I do this, sometimes, that. I did not have sex with that woman, now new taxes, I committed adultery in my heart, I'm not a crook. We begin bombing in five minutes.

Make that 13. I use neutral and parking brake too.

 

[Chris]

If your engine is developing compression while parked that means it is slowly rolling away.

Meaning, it wasn't going to stay where it was parked even with the cylinders sealed.
The "usable" holding power of the engine is all friction. Rings and plain bearings.

It's the sum of them.

I guarantee that with no compression the static friction of rings and bearings won't hold on much of a slope.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

If I'm uphill I put it in 1st
If Downhill, I put in R.
Only use the e brake on steep inclines, in addition to above.

That is the opposite of what you should be doing. You want to be in the gear that supports the direction in which the vehicle will roll in order to avoid turning the engine backwards if the compression/brake can't hold it. If you're in first gear facing up hill and the vehicle rolls backwards, it will turn the engine in the wrong direction, which is not good for the timing belt tensioner.

If the vehicle will roll back, park in R. If the vehicle will roll forward, park in 1st.

 

[whitedog]

If the vehicle will roll, set the parking brake.

 

[turbocharged798]

I usually always set 1st and ebrake. Reverse is the weakest gear on the 02J so I never use that for parking.

 

[whitedog]

This is something that oilhammer has mentioned in regards to automatic transmissions, and I think it may be the same here.

On an automatic, he said to come to a stop and hold the car with the foot brake. Put the transmission in Park, then - while still holding the foot brake - set the park brake. This puts the holding power on the brakes rather than the parking pawl in the transmission.

So, to equate that to manual transmissions: stop and hold with the foot brake, put it in gear, set the brake, release the foot brake. This puts the load on the brake again.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it doesn't matter. It probably won't change anyones habits. I know that he is right about doing that on the automatics, but I still almost never use the park brake unless I realize I am going to be putting a big load on the parking pawl. And that realization comes when I go to move it again and it's difficult to move the lever out of park because so much weight is on the parking pawl.

 

[[486]]

It's the sum of them.
I guarantee that with no compression the static friction of rings and bearings won't hold on much of a slope.

your cylinders are not sealed well at all
if there is pressurized air in there it is slowly leaking out and then your crank is turning, it might be 1/100 RPM, but leave it there any length of time and your car will be a foot or more further downhill

 

[TDI smile]

Set the Parking Brake and put in 1. or 2., whatever goes without using the clutch....
Worked all my driving life

 

[maybe368]

If the vehicle will roll, set the parking brake.

I am now in the habit of always using the e-brake and reverse or 1st because a few years ago I parked in front of a little store in Mexico. When I came out, my truck was gone, I thought somebody stole it. I found it about 300 feet down a completely non-discernible hill, where it must have traveled veeeery slowly. With a lot of luck. it didn't hit anyone or anything. Another reason is that the Cadillac calipers in my truck are adjusted by the use of the e-brake...Mark

 

[hooville]

I'm in the hand brake/neutral camp also, unless I'm parking on a slope and then I set the parking brake, check it and then put her in gear as a backup: first if nose down and reverse if her nose is up! At least the engine will spin in the right direction if it has to move!

 

[temporaptor]

I guess I'm the only one who puts it in 3rd gear and set the Parking brake. Why 3rd? I'm not sure, just a old habit.

 

[[486]]

Pull out the shift interlocks, put individual shifters on each rail, and stick it in two gears at once.

Now there's a parking brake.