I guess it's time to take her in. I went to park my car on about a 10% grade. After parking, I put the car in neutral, with my foot on the brake, and shut the engine off. Then I set the emergency brake, but when I took my foot off the brake the emergency pad groaned and the car started to coast down the hill. I tried re-setting the emergency brake but nothing doing. So I had to rely on the parking pawl (not a good thing to do) to keep her from rolling down the hill. Has anybody had this problem? I know it's minor, but it's still pain and unexpected on a car with only 13k miles. I wonder if I somehow stretch the cable since I use the emergency brake all the time when I park and maybe I've been using too much force to set it.

 

interesting.

they should make it less stiff to push down

 

Can someone tell me why the car was placed into neutral and not left in parking again??

 

Sounds like you need to have your parking brake adjusted.

 

You do this when you're parking on a hill to relieve stress/weight transfer onto the parking pawl.

The order of operation I use when parking on a grade after finding a parking spot is:

1) Turn wheel away from curb (uphill), turn into curb (Downhill)
1) Hold down brake
2) Engage parking brake firmly
3) Shift into Neutral
4) Slowly release brake
5) Shift into park
6) Shut off ignition

 

Oh ok. Thanks for the explanation.

 

well, i had the same problem
the car is still sliding around after the emergency park is engaged.
my frnd's 05GS has the same problem too.
just go back to dealer and complain about it
they should re-adjust it for u for free
my car is good now, no more sliding problem anymore
but still safer to turn ur wheel when parking up/down hills
just can never trust any machine

 

This is what I do, would it be alright?

1) Turn wheel
2) Hold down brake pedal
3) Shift into Park
4) Apply parking brake
5) Release brake pedal
6) Shut off ignition

 

I like Audi's new push button parking brakes.

 

The LS has one a step above. Auto engaging parking brakes with a "hold" feature. The hold feature works well if you're in D mode, stopped in traffic and you don't want to keep holding down the brake pedal. It will automatically engage the parking brakes after a few seconds. Once the gas pedal is depressed, it will auto release.

 

Not really. Using your method, the car could still move and put undue stress on the parking pawl. Always set the parking brake while in neutral then take your foot off the brake and let the car settle in (stop moving) before you put it in park. That way there will be no undue stress applied to the parking pawl.

 

Just bring it in and have your brake re-adjusted; mine toy was doing the same thing, now it fixed!!!
1. turn wheel;
2. shift into "N;"
3. apply foot brake;
4. release brake;
5. shift into "P;"
6. engine off.

 

Holy crap, all these years I've been parking automatic cars wrong!

What about these:
http://forums.automotive.com/70/6395...ing/index.html

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...6204839AAIn8wW

 

LOL I was thinking the same thing! I've been driving 36 years, owned countless cars, and never had a problem with a parking pawl. Just lucky I guess...