Sometimes when i put my car into park, whether i am on a hill or not but its worse if i am on a hill, it doesnt seem to catch. the car will move forward or backwards depending on the road incline and the tranny makes loud thumping sounds. if i take it out of park and put it back in the problem goes away. what could this be? something i can fix at home?

 

My off the cuff guess is that the parking pawl inside the transmission isn't reliably engaging. Not sure if this is something repairable/adjustable without opening up the transmission.

Or....Perhaps just a shift cable adjustment?

Others will chime in.

CHeers
DD

 

I'll as usual agree with Doug.

You could try 'thumping' park home but I doubt if this will do it.

One of my observations over the years, is that US owners of automatic vehicles, seem to rely on the gearbox setting the stationery aspect of the car, rather than the much more sensible approach of applying the brakes. Handbrake would be good.

This then leads to premature wear on expensive mechanical components, cf gearbox, rather than a couple of handbrake pads.

So if this happens to be the history of your car, give the gearbox a chance, like a manual car, put it in Neutral, and apply the Parking Brake.

A whole lot cheaper to sort out than a rebuilt gearbox.

 

Right ! I always set the handbrake first then shift to "P"....on any car. Better to use the handbrake to hold the wieght of the car, not the parking pawl.

Plus.....if you're parked on a hill this prevents the hard-to-shift-out-of-park problem.

Plus.... doing so keeps the handbrake mechanism exercised and in good working order. Lack of use tends to allow the handbrake mechanism to seize up.

Cheers
DD

 

I have had many manual cars in the past so using the hand brake to me is second nature. However, admittedly i have stoppd using it as often unless i am on an incline. I have since begun to use it at all tmes not given the situation. thanks for the tips guys!