Trouble getting into reverse if parked on a hill...

Ghaleon64

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Noticed a weird problem, I have a V8 selectshift. If I park on a hill with the nose facing the incline the car won't shift into reverse. I gave it a little gas the first time and it jerked VIOLENTLY into reverse. Second time I played with it and after going into drive and pulling forward a few inches it then went into reverse OK. Any tips? Is this a weird safety feature?
 
If you find yourself in that situation again, place the e-brake on before you let off the brakes and put it into park. Then just do the opposite when you are ready to leave.
 
If you find yourself in that situation again, place the e-brake on before you let off the brakes and put it into park. Then just do the opposite when you are ready to leave.

+1

You are binding up the parking awl in the transmission. What I do is come to a stop, hold the brakes, shift to neutral, set the e-brake, let off the brakes so the rear-end isn't torqued, and put it in park.

And when you leave you just shift out of park and release the brake (done automatically for us Gen2 guys). No more violent clank/bang from the parking awl releasing :)
 
For most automatics, yes.
You should always use the parking brake.

Here in florida things are pretty flat. So much so that most people never use the parking brake and the cables rust from all the high humidity and salt water in the air. Very common to buy a car with non-functional e-brakes down here.
 
I use park brake when I park and I don't let it roll backwards before applying... and mine still sometimes doesn't catch into reverse. This is a very rare occurrence though.

I cringe when people pull into an incline, put it in park and the vehicle slams backwards when they let off the brake and get out. The action just does not seem healthy for the transmission.
 
I use park brake when I park and I don't let it roll backwards before applying... and mine still sometimes doesn't catch into reverse. This is a very rare occurrence though.

I cringe when people pull into an incline, put it in park and the vehicle slams backwards when they let off the brake and get out. The action just does not seem healthy for the transmission.

Here is what the parking brake in a transmission does:
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It's just a toothed plate that a big latch swings into. They used to have problems on some transmissions where the boss in the transmission was too small or the pawl or plate too weak and they would bend/brake if slammed into engagement. Would have to take the tailshaft off and fix them. That's why you should use the e-brake when possible :)
 
Cool, nice diagram. It makes sense. I always like to use the E-brake when parking. The LS makes this even easier with the electronic park brake.
 
I do the same thing you do Kumba lol. If I have someone riding with me, they look at me like I'm crazy for shifting to park that way
 
Here in florida things are pretty flat. So much so that most people never use the parking brake and the cables rust from all the high humidity and salt water in the air. Very common to buy a car with non-functional e-brakes down here.

I live in Key West. Whats a "parking brake"?"
 
Hmm, well thanks fellas! I'm glad to see that I'm not just having transmission issues! Although I've never had this problem on a car before... Seems like an issue that could have been resolved in engineering as opposed to the driver taking extra steps to make it not happen. These weren't huge inclines by any means.
 
Sounds more like the Tranny fluid is low and the incline is causing it not to pull fluid.
 
That's a problem with a lot of drivers who were never taught to us the parking brake when stopping the car. Remember that it can also be used to stop your car/truck if you loose the function of your brakes. Hence the name emergency brake back in the day. You should always use the parking brake, even on flat ground.
 
That's a problem with a lot of drivers who were never taught to us the parking brake when stopping the car. Remember that it can also be used to stop your car/truck if you loose the function of your brakes. Hence the name emergency brake back in the day. You should always use the parking brake, even on flat ground.

+1,000,000 I always use my parking brake. It is a habit now that I do no matter what car I am driving.
 
+1,000,000 I always use my parking brake. It is a habit now that I do no matter what car I am driving.

Nothing will teach you to use the parking brake like a manual tranny. The first time you get out of the car and close the door and it starts rolling away from you you'll learn :)
 
Actually I don't think on the Gen2 it will let you apply the park brake while not in neutral or park - with the brake pedal down. Never tried it while moving though.... Lol
 
Now that I think about it, you may only need to press the brake pedal when disengaging the park brake.
 
Actually I don't think on the Gen2 it will let you apply the park brake while not in neutral or park - with the brake pedal down. Never tried it while moving though.... Lol

You can apply the parking/e-brake at any time on the gen2. If you are not stopped (like less then 1mph), you will have to pull and hold the lever while it beeps like hell for 10 seconds until it engages them. You can also disengage the parking/e-brake by tapping the gas pedal while in gear. If you want to try it I would suggest a stretch of lonely road at 5mph. Not exactly sure I want to lock the rear wheels up 40mph :)
 
You can also disengage the parking/e-brake by tapping the gas pedal while in gear. If you want to try it I would suggest a stretch of lonely road at 5mph. Not exactly sure I want to lock the rear wheels up 40mph :)

That's correct. It got scary when I found out about that.

I always put the car into N and engage the parking brake when I'm at a long stop light.
 
Sounds more like the Tranny fluid is low and the incline is causing it not to pull fluid.

+1

Just found out my LS wont engage reverse, At all. This is parked on a completely level surface. The only way to get it to go into reverse is to tap the throttle a bit, at which point, as noted before, it violently engages reverse.

Haven't checked the tranny fluid in 7 years.
 

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