Potential Disaster Tonight--Manual Trans Users READ

[DkknightX]

This experience is really open to all those that drive manual transmission vehicles of any make or model. I almost crapped my pants tonight. Why? I thought you'd never ask.

I stopped at a clients house this evening and didn't think I'd be that long, so I parked my Cobalt SS/SC in front of their house, left my car running and pulled up the parking brake as high and tight as I could with the engine running. I was talking to the client for a few minutes while something caught my eye. I glanced over to the window and noticed my car's headlights moving backwards. I'm like, "Who the hell is driving my car?" Once I realized what was happening, I darted out the door like SSOOCH being discovered by C5 members at a Camaro whore house, and managed to catch my car! (Sorry SSOOCH. Just a joke and I'll remove the simile if you request it. You know I love you man and you are funny as hell!)

The decline wasn't horrible but still, my car wouldn't stay put. This happening after I complained about the 5th Gen Camaro having a lousy parking brake (which is does), and at the same time I praised the parking brake in my Cobalt. Ever have that vision in your head as a kid when one of your friends took your bike and "ghost rode" it near your parents' brand new car? This is what it felt like for me, only with my car and people could have been hurt or killed had I not gotten there in time, not to mention my car could have been destroyed. Man, did I luck out.

If you have to park on even a slight incline/decline, please, please, PUHLEASE do not get out of your car if you drive a manual without turning your car off and put it in gear, pull the parking brake up and then turn the car off. I'll never make this mistake again. Man, did I get lucky!

[1CAMSS]

So when you got in your car to stop
it from rolling back was the parking brake
lever all the way up? I would take it to
the dealer to get that checked out. It should
not happen.

[Rtoups]

I had one scary moment with the Camaro where I pulled the brake up and I had my foot halfway out the door when I felt it rolling. Now I always make sure it's nice and secure. The parking brake in the Camaro is my least favorite design feature. It's on the wrong side and it's not great.

[SleepWarz]

Get your e brake adjusted plz.

[RichieRich]

Yea sounds like it needs a brake adjustment, and don't leave it running someone could attempt to steal it.

[skuttduck]

I noticed that it is easy to not pull the parking brake up all the way in the camaro. So I follow the Owners Manual and park the car in Reverse, with the emergency brake engaged.

I had one incident with my old car that I forgot to pull the ebrake and it rolled into someone at a parking lot. Whoops..

[ljustin293]

I always park mine in 1st gear...I don't know why the brake won't hold

[PAUL SS]

On an incline always turn your front wheels so the car will roll to the curb if it moves at all. Leaving a car running an unattended is never a good idea.

I am happy to hear disaster was averted.

[fp115]

This is why you should always engage the vehicle in reverse with the parking brake all the way up.

Yet I see almost everyone park their manual cars in neutral, which is a No-no.

[Easy Go]

You're sitting rather low relative to the parking brake so you don't have very good leverage when engaging it. I learned that giving the brake a quick firm pull was better than engaging it gradually. Also, I noticed that over time it engaged better so I think there is some breaking-in involved. Engaging the e-brake lightly with the car in motion a few times can also help set up the pads for better contact - takes a little of the crown off. This isn't something you need to do once a month or anything - just once as a brake-break-in.

So there are some simple things you can do on your own to improve matters - but if you still have troubles, take it to a dealer.

[TheCaptain]

Seems to be some people always have problems with the Cobalt's e brake. I owned mine for 3 years and never had a problem with the e brake... mind you i didn't use it much.

[DkknightX]

Originally Posted by coolman

With all the complaining you've been doing about manual transmissions lately, I think you need to stick to automatics or have someone teach you the proper way to handle a car with a manual transmission. NO offence, but you seem to have a lot of trouble with manuals from past posts I've read of yours.

I've been driving my Cobalt for about 4 years now, constantly, every day for work. This was clearly my fault. I've never made a bone-headed mistake like this before in my life driving manual cars. When I park, it is always in "Reverse" when the engine is off and then I pull the e-Brake ALL the way up, nice and tight.

Please don't patronize me, coolman. It was an honest to goodness error on my part; a brain fart of sorts. You know damn well that I'm not spending almost $100,000.00 in manual vehicles because I don't know what I'm doing. Come on now man.

The 2010 Camaro has had a pretty consistent history with the poor workmanship, flimsy handle and lousy lever, that clearly supports my position on the matter. To top it off, the brake itself is not safe. Members here have tried to get it adjusted with nominal success. Fortunately, when I'm in my Camaro, I stop and think very carefully about what my next move is so I can keep my wife and I, as well as the car, as safe as I can. When I'm in my Cobalt bouncing around from job to job, I have WAY too many things running through my head non-car related which invites mental errors like this.

I'm more busy with work than I am inept to drive a manual car.

For your information, the "skip shift" post you are referring to is about a manual transmission being electronically controlled to activate an unnatural lockout of second gear to conserve fuel. The key word is "unnatural." The lockout still occurs regardless of who the driver is or their experience if the conditions are met. This is not my error so please get that out of your head and stop insulting me. I don't treat you like this and would never say anything about you unless I was professional and I had all the facts. Reading between the lines will help you better understand where I'm coming from and maybe next time you won't be so quick to condemn me.

I'm also documenting my experiences as opposed to complaining. I know what was going on in my experiences with manual vehicles, I'm just relaying to C5 so others can look back and say, "Yeah, I've had that happen, how annoying" and then they would reply with their experience. People here want to know what is going on and I'm just doing my part here. If people can say, "You know, I've done the same thing you did and if you didn't tell me there was a real danger in idling on a slight decline with the eBrake up and the car is idling in neutral, I could have caused a major accident that could have seriously injured others and mangled my car in the process. Thank you for making me aware of this because I never thought about how dangerous this was." My informing C5 of what I went through was totally worth it.

[SleepWarz]

Just get it adjusted at the dealer. I was unhappy that I had to pull it all the way up to engage. Mentioned it to my dealer service rep. Now it comes half way up and its ON.

[Sterling]

I had mine roll on me when I was at an ATM. I always put it in neutral and set the e-brake incase my foot slips while I'm fiddling with the buttons on the ATM. At least I was still in the car and could hit the brake quickly...