Manual car owners: Do you leave car in gear or neutral when park?

J

JaCkaL829

it was my first time...
I kinda have two questions; one regarding my title and one a diagnosis...



Just as my title asks, i'm wondering if manual car owner's leave their car in gear when park or if they leave it in neutral? Is there any reason why I should pick one over the other? I know for steep hills it should be left in gear, but what about normal flat ground? Would leaving my car in gear cause any problems to it?



Reason I ask is, is for the past two weeks i've been consistenly leaving my car in first gear when I park. I usually would keep it in neutral when I parked at home, but i've just gotten into the habit of leaving it in gear. Anyway today I was driving to school and was gradually rolling down a hill in neutral as the light turned green was unable to get my car in first gear. It had like a tolerance, so I quickly threw it in 2nd and was OK. I just though I was going to fast to put it in first and kinda disregard it.



Then about 10 mins. later i'm at a red light, and the light turns green, I go to put my car in first and the same thing happens. It won't let me go into first. I quickly moved the shifter to 2nd then back into 1st, and it went in, but now i'm wondering what the hell is going on? It didn't seem that cold, I know we've definately had colder mornings; and this was about half way during my commute, so I think everything was warmed up by then. I also have had a similiar problem like this with reverse, it won't go into gear, had to move shifter in and out of gear, and finally it would go completely in gear. What do you guys think is wrong with my clutch? If this happens again, I think i'm going to bring it to the dealer, and hopefully they can fix it. I'm just dreading going there because who knows what scraches and swirls my car will have afterwards, not to mention the way they treat customer's cars isn't to impressive. :soscared:

I though it was kinda strange though that ever since I started parking my car in first, this happens; I do doubt this is the cause of problem though, but its what sparked my first question.
 
I always leave my car in gear when I park it. I always set the parking brake first. Then I put it in first gear, unless the car is pointed down a hill then I put it in reverse.



This should not create a problem with the transmission.



When I roll to a stop at a traffic light or stop sign, I shift into first before I stop then move the selector to neutral. It's easier to get it into gear when the car is moving. After the gears have meshed and the car is stopped, it is easy to get it back into gear.
 
I always leave my car in gear as an extra measure. I have also never had the problem that you seem to be having in a repeatable nature. It has happened on a few occasions but not common at all. I'd take it to the dealer and see if I could duplicate it for them.
 
Old Skoolers leave their car in gear ;) ...these days your parking brake will do just fine... I use just my parking brake....



-Justin
 
I and my 3 sons and my son in law all have and drive straight transmission cars. We all use the parking brake and leave the car in gear, usually 1st; and angle the wheels toward the curb (depending on whether the car is facing up hill or down).



What kind of car do you have? (and the engine type), My sons are all mechanical whizzes, and I'll bet one of them will have an explaination for your shifting problem.
 
Your first and reverse gears probably don't have synchromesh.



Synchro is what lets the gears connect together. The gearbox is a really simple box with two shafts - one from the engine and one connected to the wheels.



At your red light, the engine shaft was turning slowly, and the wheel shaft was not moving. Obviously, the shafts aren't connected together through any gears as you were in neutral. As you tried to put it in first, you were basically trying to connect together two shafts of differing speed. You don't have synchromesh on first, hence the problem.



Its normal, and not caused by your parking in first :)
 
HRP said:
I and my 3 sons and my son in law all have and drive straight transmission cars. We all use the parking brake and leave the car in gear, usually 1st; and angle the wheels toward the curb (depending on whether the car is facing up hill or down).



What kind of car do you have? (and the engine type), My sons are all mechanical whizzes, and I'll bet one of them will have an explaination for your shifting problem.
Click to expand...



I own a 2002 Acura RSX (base model, not Type S) the engine is 2.0L
 
Migraine said:
Your first and reverse gears probably don't have synchromesh.



Synchro is what lets the gears connect together. The gearbox is a really simple box with two shafts - one from the engine and one connected to the wheels.



At your red light, the engine shaft was turning slowly, and the wheel shaft was not moving. Obviously, the shafts aren't connected together through any gears as you were in neutral. As you tried to put it in first, you were basically trying to connect together two shafts of differing speed. You don't have synchromesh on first, hence the problem.



Its normal, and not caused by your parking in first :)
Click to expand...



It still seems wrong to me. I've shifted from neutral to 1st from a complete stop many times and never had this problem.
 
I do both. I leave it in gear with the parking brake engaged if I'm on an incline, but most of the time I leave it in neutral with the parking brake engaged.



I used to have that neutral-to-first problem with the Maxima when sitting at a stoplight. I haven't had the problem yet with the Protege. A couple times I'll be unable to shift it into reverse when I first turn it on in the morning, and all I have to do is let the clutch out, push it back in, and all is well. I had regular tranny fluid in the Max, and I have Valvoline SuperSyn in the Protege. I don't think that would make a difference though.
 
White95Max said:
I do both. I leave it in gear with the parking brake engaged if I'm on an incline, but most of the time I leave it in neutral with the parking brake engaged.



I used to have that neutral-to-first problem with the Maxima when sitting at a stoplight. I haven't had the problem yet with the Protege. A couple times I'll be unable to shift it into reverse when I first turn it on in the morning, and all I have to do is let the clutch out, push it back in, and all is well. I had regular tranny fluid in the Max, and I have Valvoline SuperSyn in the Protege. I don't think that would make a difference though.
Click to expand...



Yeah, that's what I have to do w/ my older car sometimes too. Release the clutch slightly, push it back in and then it goes into first gear easily.



Also, are you guys just too lazy to hold the clutch in and leave the car in first when stopped at a light? Sometimes I just do that instead of putting it in neutral. Usually go from 4 or 3rd gear to 2nd.. stop.. then put it into 1st and hold (unless I know I will be waiting long).
 
Quickstrike said:
Yeah, that's what I have to do w/ my older car sometimes too. Release the clutch slightly, push it back in and then it goes into first gear easily.



Also, are you guys just too lazy to hold the clutch in and leave the car in first when stopped at a light? Sometimes I just do that instead of putting it in neutral. Usually go from 4 or 3rd gear to 2nd.. stop.. then put it into 1st and hold (unless I know I will be waiting long).
Click to expand...



For some reason or another I always though it was bad to hold the clutch down, and riding the clutch. :nixweiss

I try keeping the clutch pressed down as little as possible. So usually if i'm slowing down for a red light or stop sign once I get to under 10 mph I shift into neutral and just roll to a stop. I know some people say to be careful because your not in gear, if you ever needed to make a quick manuever you'd have to put it in gear, but i'm a pretty cautious and slow driver, so I really don't see it as too much of a problem.



I've only been driving manual for 5 months, and still consider myself a n00b at it; so any other tips or techniques would be greatly appreciated.
 
JohnnyDaJackal said:
For some reason or another I always though it was bad to hold the clutch down, and riding the clutch. :nixweiss

I try keeping the clutch pressed down as little as possible. So usually if i'm slowing down for a red light or stop sign once I get to under 10 mph I shift into neutral and just roll to a stop. I know some people say to be careful because your not in gear, if you ever needed to make a quick manuever you'd have to put it in gear, but i'm a pretty cautious and slow driver, so I really don't see it as too much of a problem.



I've only been driving manual for 5 months, and still consider myself a n00b at it; so any other tips or techniques would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...



My father always tells me that holding the clutch to the floor is not considered "riding the clutch".. gears are completely disengaged, it is like you are in neutral. When you have the clutch engaged though that is really bad.. like holding the clutch at that stage while on a hill so you don't roll back :shocked.
 
In my Audi A4 (6sp manual) I always put the car into 1st when parked. I usually kill the engine and engage the parking brake first.



I also always come to a light in neutral and via the traffic lights for the other direction time my flooring the clutch and going into 1st so that when the light changes I'm set to go.



The Audi Manual says to always put the clutch to the floor. I think when you try to "slip it" you'll do more damage.
 
I believe your prognosis is 'welcome to the wonderful world of honda'. the issue of finding first and / or reverse existed with my 88 honda prelude si and 97 acura cl. you might note I typically tweak all my cars and don't recall if the acura did it without the short shifter - probably did but with that buffered acura feel. I recall reading an article somewhere and some years ago regarding hondas specifically and the synchro or lack thereof in those gears causing this behavior. I could probably find it if you're actually interested in the detail. suffice to say that aside from my current acura, all my cars have been manual trans for the last thirty years and only honda products behaved as you describe. others do as well, just none I've owned and otherwise can't recall specifics at the moment.



that said, I've also always left cars in gear to park. not necessarily first, I suppose sometimes reverse. it's just safer. I also always engage the parking brake. I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever, certainly if you engage the the parking brake and turn off the car before you release the brake pedal. even if you didn't, no incline you could park on would possibly cause more damage to your manual transmission than driving even once.



I suggest you go to acurazine and see what those folks have to say.



so what's that car like? I've not driven one. is it fun?
 
Quickstrike said:
My father always tells me that holding the clutch to the floor is not considered "riding the clutch".. gears are completely disengaged, it is like you are in neutral. When you have the clutch engaged though that is really bad.. like holding the clutch at that stage while on a hill so you don't roll back :shocked.
Click to expand...



I actually wrote that response a while ago before anyone had replied, but I've got to say, being able to balance a manual trans on a steep incline is sort of a rite of passage for the previously inexperienced. then again, I'm ancient and look for entertainment everywhere, like being poised at the stop at the top of the hill...
 
marko said:
...being able to balance a manual trans on a steep incline is sort of a rite of passage for the previously inexperienced. then again, I'm ancient and look for entertainment everywhere, like being poised at the stop at the top of the hill...
Click to expand...



I hear you on that one. The last time I drove a manual before buying my new car last year was over a decade ago. While it only took me a week or two in order to get things back together, hills are still my nemesis.



I guess it's cause Rochester is really flat with few and far between hills unless you go out into the sticks or up into the mountains.



Whenever I go home to NYC though there are stupid hills there and I stall sometimes.
 
Using the hand brake is great for starting on steep hills without rolling back. Some people say that it's a newbie technique, but I don't care because on steep hills, with a warmed up engine, particularly a small engine, simply slipping the clutch while you get your foot from the brake to the gas will NOT hold the car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top