[mikeautherton]

I am concerned with the strange behaviour with parking brake of my 1 year old Punto Evo 1.3MJD Emotion. Yesterday I went to a nearby Groceries shop and on my return the car was nearly 20-25 feet ahead from the parked location on a slight down slope and kissed a parked Swift . The steering has rotated nearly 180 degrees. The terrain under with few fallen tree branches would have slowed it down. Thankfully the damage was limited to few scratches to the front bumper right of the number plate and a small dent caused by stone under the bottom left. Thank God there was no scratch on the Swift's bumper.

While I was sure that I engaged the Handbrake after parking, which I usually check before leaving the car. I convinced my self that it would have got pressed down accidentally while I got down the car. Thinking a little... I was relieved that things could have been worse.

Come today after doing small touch-ups to the scratches, I take him out and after a ride... park it again on a slight downward slope, Yes check for the Hand Brake and when I started buying Fruits, a look back after a couple of minutes.........The car has become autonomous again . It started moving ahead slowly.....I just ran and had enough time to unlock the door and engage the Handbrake. Got into the seat and the got going.

This makes me believe that there is some thing wrong with the handbrake. My vehicle was serviced as per schedule about 20 days ago. Could you guys help me understand the issue. What are the things that I should check. I probably should get used to leaving it in a gear(Is this the right way?). I am planning to take it to the service station again.

[ram87pune]

Looks like some malfunction in the handbrake. Just measure the notches the handbrake goes through when you pull it. One click sound is equal to one notch. AFAIK in Punto as per company standards there should be 7 notches at least. So do get it checked at the service center.

And yes you should always park the car in gear as an added safety measure. Generally when you park on an uphill you should park in a forward gear with your steering turned so that the tyres are facing away from the kerb and when you park on a downhill you should park your car in reverse gear with your steering turned so that your tyres are facing the kerb.

Hope this helps.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by mikeautherton

My vehicle was serviced as per schedule about 20 days ago.

Are you facing this issue after the last service or even before?

If the brakes were cleaned recently it may take some mileage for the brake shoes to settle down. Visit the FNG / A.S.S to check the mechanism otherwise.

[Thermodynamics]

You definitely need to check with service centre. The problem can be anywhere, Brake pads, hydraulics etc.,

It is a good practice to use gear while parking on inclines. The old fashioned wheel chocks (stones) also work really well.

[saket77]

Could be your handbrake cables have lost some tension. Parking brakes don't work on hydraulics, so the issue looks more like a more than required slack in the handbrake cable which is easy to correct.
As another member pointed out, it is better to also park in a gear rather than just believing in handbrakes. Preferably use the reverse gear or the 1st gear. Higher gears may slip easily.

Regards.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by ram87pune

And yes you should always park the car in gear as an added safety measure. Generally when you park on an uphill you should park in a forward gear with your steering turned so that the tyres are facing away from the kerb and when you park on a downhill you should park your car in reverse gear with your steering turned so that your tyres are facing the kerb.



.

I get the tyre/wheel position. But why would you be using different gears facing downhill from uphill?
Thanks
Jeroen

[pkrish]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I get the tyre/wheel position. But why would you be using different gears facing downhill from uphill?
Thanks
Jeroen

General rule of thumb is to leave the car in a gear which is opposite to what would happen if it moves on its own thanks to gravity depending on the terrain/slope. So if its parked in an incline, it's more likely to roll backwards, so one would keep it 1st gear / forward moving. Same way if parked in a slope facing the direction of the slope, car is likely to move forward on it's own, so you keep it in reverse to avoid it.

[ram87pune]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I get the tyre/wheel position. But why would you be using different gears facing downhill from uphill?
Thanks
Jeroen

This is applicable especially in older manual cars. Now suppose you have managed to switch off the engine but keep the car in ignition ON mode and step out of the car without engaging the handbrake. Now imagine if your car is in 1st gear and you are parked on a downhill slope then there are "slim" chances that your car may bump start if it starts rolling forward. But this won't happen if its parked in reverse as the reverse gear will try to turn the engine the wrong way. Also in some manual cars the reverse gear has a higher ratio than the 1st which means it provides the most retardation.

Off course this is a very rare scenario and not applicable to most modern cars hence you can park your car in first gear on any kind of slope with the handbrake engaged as a secondary source of retardation.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by pkrish

General rule of thumb is to leave the car in a gear which is opposite to what would happen if it moves on its own thanks to gravity depending on the terrain/slope. So if its parked in an incline, it's more likely to roll backwards, so one would keep it 1st gear / forward moving. Same way if parked in a slope facing the direction of the slope, car is likely to move forward on it's own, so you keep it in reverse to avoid it.

Well, I suggest an experiment:
1) Park the vehicle
2) Shift the stick to 1st
3) Try pushing the vehicle to get it moving
4) Now shift the stick to R
4) Again try pushing the vehicle to get it moving

In both cases you won't be able to move the vehicle.
And the reason is the sealed compression in the engine.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by pkrish

General rule of thumb is to leave the car in a gear which is opposite to what would happen if it moves on its own thanks to gravity depending on the terrain/slope. .

Thanks, but I was looking for the specifics. I do badly with general rules I do not understand.

Originally Posted by ram87pune

Off course this is a very rare scenario and not applicable to most modern cars hence you can park your car in first gear on any kind of slope with the handbrake engaged as a secondary source of retardation.

I would agree, You would be hard pressed to start a petrol car with no ignition.

Originally Posted by alpha1

In both cases you won't be able to move the vehicle.
And the reason is the sealed compression in the engine.

If this is true, it would work in any gear would it not? Compression is irrespective of gear.

Jeroen

[mikeautherton]

Hi Guys Thanks everyone for the replies.

I tried it on a slope by engaging the parking brake. I was in the car stationary for 3 minutes. There was no problem and I could not test it longer.

Still did not want to take risk, I actually started putting stones in front of wheels even on a flat ground. So took it to the service station. They checked it and found something to be slipping and changed the Handbrake assembly under warranty. Fiat Service till now looked good (touchwood).
I will be a little more careful during parking from now on.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Thanks, but I was looking for the specifics. I do badly with general rules I do not understand.



I would agree, You would be hard pressed to start a petrol car with no ignition.



If this is true, it would work in any gear would it not? Compression is irrespective of gear.

Jeroen

Yes compression at engine remain same for any gear slotted.
BUT the torque applicable on the wheel changes with gearing.

I have royal enfield with low compression. I can make the wheel move with some effort at higher gears, however at lower gears the wheel skids if I push too hard.

[Reinhard]

I suspect the press button that clears/locks the handbrake in place might have been malfunctioning. While the outer cap came out, the inner button remained with the latch disengaged.

In our conditions - its best with manual cars to make it a habit to engage 1st/ reverse gear depending on slope direction in addition to hand brakes as a back up. I had a similar issue with my Omni where the malfunctioning press button would cause the lever to slip a few notches a decade ago. Got a habit of engaging gear always since then. It stuck.

Glad the damage was minimal and seems to have been fixed now. Good luck.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Thanks, but I was looking for the specifics. I do badly with general rules I do not understand.

The older Indian diesel cars did not have a solenoid fuel shutoff. So if somehow the engine was turned over, it would start up. Also notoriously bad (make that almost nonexistent) handbrakes. So park the car in gear. Choose gear so that if it runs down an incline, engine will turn the wrong way, and wont start up.

Wheel direction when parking on an incline :- use common sense. Try to see that it will a) jam against the kerb, and b) not roll into traffic.

Regards
Sutripta