Hi all. 

 

Had an odd one today.

 

I needed to move the car about 3 feet. Didn’t want to start the engine to move the car this short a distance. 

 

So so I figured I could turn the ignition on. Place in neutral. Release hand brake and then push the car. 

 

No dice. Wouldn’t budge. 

The car was even in a slight downhill grade. I had expected it to start rolling as soon as I lifted off the brake. It didn’t. 

So I tried to actively push the car. Still it wouldn’t move. I had to actually start the engine. Grr. 

 

Any idea why ? And how I can make it roll if I need to do this again ?

 

i hate starting a cold engine for such a short move. 

 

Jason. 

Got to be the brakes binding slightly. Either that or you need to do a bit of strength training.

Re strength training,  granted I’m not the strongest, but like I said, the car was on around a 2-3% downhill grade. 

 

Im wondering if the hill holder mechanism was holding the car somehow?

doubt its binding brakes. The car is less than 4 months old and less than 6000km..

 

Jason. 

Ahh! Hill hold mech. Didn't think of that, it's a possibilty.

When you did start the engine did you have to engage gear for it to roll, & did the brakes release with a clunk.  Or is it still parked there?

I had to engage drive then it went forward no issues. No unusual noises. 

Just odd that it had to actually start to move. 

 

Ive just looked in the owners manual and there’s no info on this either. 

i’ll have to ask the dealer next time I’m there I guess. 

 

Jason. 

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by Jason_M

1 hour ago, Jason_M said:

I had to engage drive then it went forward no issues.

 

Ah, you have an automatic? If so, I believe leaving the car in P will stop the car from moving (it'll roll onto the pawl and then stop).

OP says placed in neutral.  Manual or DSG should roll in Neutral if you get the DSG shifter from P to N.

Yeah. I moved it to N. 

 

Had and to turn ignition on to remove the lock as you can’t move the shifter with the ignition off. 

I didn’t start the engine (no foot on brake pedal when pushing the starter button). 

 

With the the DSG in Neutral and hand brake off, it wouldn’t move. 

Only when started and in drive did it move. 

 

Jason. 

 

 

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by Jason_M

Interesting! Does the same thing happen if you start the engine, shift to N, and then turn off the engine?

I’ll have to check that. Once I moved the car, I simply turned it off and locked it again. 

ill see what behaviors it exhibits tomorrow when I get home from work. 

 

Jason. 

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by Jason_M

14 hours ago, Jason_M said:

Hi all. 

 

Had an odd one today.

 

I needed to move the car about 3 feet. Didn’t want to start the engine to move the car this short a distance. 

 

So so I figured I could turn the ignition on. Place in neutral. Release hand brake and then push the car. 

 

No dice. Wouldn’t budge. 

The car was even in a slight downhill grade. I had expected it to start rolling as soon as I lifted off the brake. It didn’t. 

So I tried to actively push the car. Still it wouldn’t move. I had to actually start the engine. Grr. 

 

Any idea why ? And how I can make it roll if I need to do this again ?

 

i hate starting a cold engine for such a short move. 

 

Jason. 

I moved my car from one side of the road to the other and just turned the engine off. Next morning jumped into the car and it would not start sounded like only 2 cylinders firing total panick rang green flag guy came out within the hour 2 minets later he had the engine running asked how he fixed it he said the engine was flooded total embarassment i have been driving for 50 yrs . Problem caused by automatic choke been fully on and only moving the car a few feet. Fix put gas pedal to the floor turne the engine over a few times magic car starts. I have had my car since April 2015 first engine problem i have had Joe

 

If it is a DSG when you stopped, you would have pressed the foot brake pedal to move selector to P

 

Did you release the brake pedal before turning off.  If not you would have left it with all brake pads against the discs, and the hydraulic pressure cannot just leak off.  Only when you restarted it would the brake valve have been powered up to release and open, thus allowing the brake pistons to return to off position.

 

I suspect if you park in neutral, and brakes are off when you turn off, can push it easily (unless you are weak of course)

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 hours ago, Jason_M said:

Any idea why ? And how I can make it roll if I need to do this again ?

 

i hate starting a cold engine for such a short move.

 

I think it would be better if you just start the engine and manoeuvre the vehicle as it's meant to be, in a controlled manner. The few millilitres of petrol you're saving aren't worth the risk of a collision caused by an out-of-control car. (Braking and steering will be significantly heavier without servo and power-assistance.)

Edited 10 February, 20197 yr by ettlz

I tried again this morning when leaving for work, and this time it rolled as expected. 

So I have no real idea why it wouldn’t before. 

 

Also so it wasn’t about saving fuel. More that a cold start for 10 seconds or less then shut off. 

The vast majority of engine wear occurs when cold. So I have always tried to avoid unessesary cold starts. 

 

I have often moved cars this way, especially when needing to move them less then a meter or so. 

 

This is is the first time I’ve ever encountered this issue. 

Maybe there was some binding from sitting overnight the previous night, 

we did have loads of rain. Could have had some surface rust maybe. 

 

Jason.