I left my car parked in 1st gear going up a hill with the ebrake engaged. I press the foot brake down and release the ebrake. Next I press the the clutch down. Before I even press the start button I realize im rolling backwards with the foot brake pressed in. So im thinking what the hell maybe i pressed the gas pedal (doubtful). So i quickly pump the brake and holy **** im still rolling with the brake pressed. I so i pump the brake again but this time i slam on the pedal and it STILL didnt stop the car. So next i pulled the e brake and managed to stop the car. This all happened while the car was off. Mind you this wasnt a major hill. It was a slight incline on an empty parking lot which was just enough to make the car roll off pretty quick.


What the heck was that? I have never experienced anything like this. After I started the car i tested the brakes and they worked fine. Any ideas on what that was?

 

Low brake fluid? Perhaps if it was low and if you were at the wrong angle it would prevent you from getting pressure?

Sounds scary, glad you and your G are ok.

 

So you parked on an uphill incline and left the car in 1st WITHOUT engaging the parking brake? Then returned to the car and pressed the brake and clutch and it rolled backward? The problem is in the driver seat, not the brake system.

Of course it rolled backward! There is no hydraulic pressure maintained in the brake system while the car is off! That's what the mechanical (as opposed to hydraulic) parking brake is for. For parking. Use it or next time you will roll back hit someone's car, or worse cause an accident. The brake system isn't pressurized until a couple of seconds after you start the car. As soon as you clutched and put the car in neutral, the transmission is no longer holding the weight of your car. BTW, you are screwing your transmission by putting it into a bind and forcing it to hold the weight of your car on a hill rather than having the brake engaged which it is designed for. Is this your first MT?

 

Oh Geez, what the heck did I do with that wet noodle? I know I had it just a minute ago...

 

What? The system is a closed loop and 100% holds pressure when the car is off. It would just take more force since it's not using the brake boosting. IF the brakes went to the floor, which I have read about in some cars having a leak in the system, it means something is 100% wrong with the car.

 

The car was parked with e brake and in gear. I just forgot to mention i took it off thinking I would be held up by pressing the footbrake. When i first started driving manual everyone said turn the wheel towards the curb put e brake on then throw it in gear. I will not leave a manual on a hill with just an ebrake. Seems retarded to me personally.

As for their being no pressure in the brakefluid when car is off.. I highly doubt that.

 

So you had the pedal go to the floor or did you just think that light pressure is going to provide enough force to stop the car? You would have to push pretty hard to get a car to stop on a pretty steep hill with out it on.

 

I pressed the brake 3 times all the way down... with the 3rd time i slammed on it and none of it worked.

As far as this being a steep hill... Not really i was in an empty parking lot and it was just a slight incline but not a major hill...

Im beginning to think it is a low brake fluid thing however dont we have a light for that? I will check it later when i get home since i dont take the g to work.

 

Wait was the motor on? Would powering brake pump low hydraulic pressure will make breaks very hard to apply.

 

My bad. You didn't say the parking brake was engaged in the first post, I presumed it wasn't.

So apparently your brake system is malfunctioning and your parking brake isn't holding either.

Scary stuff.

 

His parking is holding... His car was parked with the ebrake engaged. He got into his car, disengaged the ebrake then engaged the clutch and he applied the brake. This is when he realized the car was moving backwards and tried twice more to apply the brakes and it still didn't stop. Having then concluded that the brakes were not working, he reengaged the ebrake to stop the car.

 

I guess I'm kinda slow then. I didn't understand that the parking brake was engaged in the first place. Then I missed the part where he disengaged it on the incline before engaging a gear. I'm out because I'm not smart enough to follow the story.

Best of luck solving the issue.

 

lol no worries I had to read over the thread a couple of times to figure it all out!

 

Reminds me of when a buddy left his civic parked in a parking garage in 1st because his hand brake wasn't working. The car popped out of first somehow (maybe he left it in 3rd and thought it was 1st) and rolled back and love tapped another car. There was no damages but he did get a $20 parking ticket for being parked in the drive through.

 

I have read this before with older g/z and it was a leak in the brake boost.