Parking Brake with a mind of its own?

VarmintCong

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Oh why is that? I've been always parking in gear out of habit.
There must be a disconnect so the Civic isn't really in gear when the engine's off.

I don't think being in gear helps at all when parked. If the parking brake is off, it'll roll on even a slight incline.
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aethecarfanatic

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There must be a disconnect so the Civic isn't really in gear when the engine's off.

I don't think being in gear helps at all when parked. If the parking brake is off, it'll roll on even a slight incline.
I don't think it's disconnecting from the engine, that would mean there's something electronic essentially pushing the clutch in while the car is off. And if the clutch were actually disconnected, the car would REALLY roll if you parked it in gear.

That being said, I think it's just due to how small the L15 engine is, I know it's essentially forcing the car to move the pistons when you park in gear and this is a pretty small engine so maybe it doesn't need much force to turn it over. I'm speculating as I'm no engineer, but it would make sense.
 

VarmintCong

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I don't think it's disconnecting from the engine, that would mean there's something electronic essentially pushing the clutch in while the car is off. And if the clutch were actually disconnected, the car would REALLY roll if you parked it in gear.

That being said, I think it's just due to how small the L15 engine is, I know it's essentially forcing the car to move the pistons when you park in gear and this is a pretty small engine so maybe it doesn't need much force to turn it over. I'm speculating as I'm no engineer, but it would make sense.
Yeah maybe, it seems like there's some resistance to rolling, but I had a 1.6L Civic in the past, and you could leave it in gear on a hill and it wouldn't roll.
 

ltrinh

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The break hold will converted into parking brake if the car stops for too long. How long is too long? I don't know but this happens to me at the stop light sometimes.
 

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If it's like my car, the manual doesn't hold the car when in gear, it'll roll in gear if it's a slight incline, unlike any manual I've owned before. And the parking brake often doesn't engage on the first press, no matter what you do. So you probably pulled the switch, thought it was engaged but it didn't. That's why they added the light to the parking switch for 2020. (hopefully they also fixed the issue of the switch not working the first time).

After several rolling incidents, one that would have totalled my car if I didn't catch it in time, I've gotten used to listening for the brake engaging.
The 2019 Si has a red light on the ebrake switch to show it's engaged, just in case your ears aren't working. Once in a blue moon I'll have the switch not work the first time, but it's only if I press it down or pull up on it too quickly. It is nice to have the light as a visual indicator in those instances and surprised that the 2017-2018 didn't come with it.
 


lukasfotog

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I’ve never had that exact issue but I do agree that this parking brake has a mind of its own. Seems like it often turns itself on and maybe even turns it self off occasionally? Let’s just say there has been multiple times I’ve gotten out of car and it rolls into the parking stop. Not my proudest moment but this electronic brake is just not the same as a traditional parking brake.
 

Gotch

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The 2019 Si has a red light on the ebrake switch to show it's engaged, just in case your ears aren't working. Once in a blue moon I'll have the switch not work the first time, but it's only if I press it down or pull up on it too quickly. It is nice to have the light as a visual indicator in those instances and surprised that the 2017-2018 didn't come with it.
The 18 Si comes with it, at least in Canada. I’m quite sure the 17 is the same.
 

VarmintCong

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The 2019 Si has a red light on the ebrake switch to show it's engaged, just in case your ears aren't working. Once in a blue moon I'll have the switch not work the first time, but it's only if I press it down or pull up on it too quickly. It is nice to have the light as a visual indicator in those instances and surprised that the 2017-2018 didn't come with it.
I don't think the hatch got the light til 2020.

It's just a bad combination in my car - gear shift doesn't hold the car, parking brake has no light, and often takes two activations to turn on. I've never had it turn off though.
 

hicompb18c1

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Parking a 10th gen manual in gear does nothing, try it on a hill and you'll see.
??? Really? How is that mechanically possible... does something actually disengage when the motor isn't running, etc.?
 


saiko21

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The car should lock when it's in gear and engine is off right
 

abracadaniel_

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I would imagine you removed your seatbelt which cause the parking brake to engage if you have the brake hold function on.
 

JT Si

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??? Really? How is that mechanically possible... does something actually disengage when the motor isn't running, etc.?
........no.

The engine is so small and was designed with such little internal friction for efficiency that the mass of the vehicle is easily capable of turning the engine if on a sufficient incline.
 

hicompb18c1

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........no.

The engine is so small and was designed with such little internal friction for efficiency that the mass of the vehicle is easily capable of turning the engine if on a sufficient incline.
That's wild. Even my old Integras and RSX would hold on a hill in 1st gear alone (I used eBrake too but still).
Technically it's just the compression in the cylinders that holds the engine from moving when in gear and turned off, but I'm surprised this 1.5 doesn't really hold at all. :/
 

JT Si

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That's wild. Even my old Integras and RSX would hold on a hill in 1st gear alone (I used eBrake too but still).
Technically it's just the compression in the cylinders that holds the engine from moving when in gear and turned off, but I'm surprised this 1.5 doesn't really hold at all. :/
If you think about it, on a 4 cylinder 4 stroke engine you're practically guaranteed valves will be open on two of the cylinders at any point in engine rotation. As the engine turns only one cylinder is compressing at a time. It's a combination of that compression, the internal friction of the engine, and the rotational mass that stops the car from rolling.

Add up a combination of the small displacement, low friction internals, low viscosity oil, low friction driveline (hubs, axle bearings, etc) that makes this car very efficient and you hamper that ability to prevent rolling.
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