(Probably) an irrational fear...

[guy gadbois]

OK, ever since dadsbee had that happen to him, I have been afraid to let my car sit idling in Park. Has anyone else ever had a problem like dadsbee? Anyone?
My friend AJ had a friend back in the day whose new Cobra started itself and drove into a staircase at the apartments where he resided - but that was different thing; that car had a wire that wasn't routed correctly that got hot, melted the insulation and grounded against the frame. That caused the starter to crank, and as the car was in first it just drove into the stairs. But that deal of Dadsbee's has sorta freaked me out...

[Cobra pre accident...]

 

[Dave6T4]

You can double up with emergency brake. Occasional use keeps cables and other parts from seizing up.

 

[eldubb440]

battery disconnect?

 

[guy gadbois]

battery disconnect?

Wasn't Mr dadsbee's car running? Maybe I'm remembering it wrong...
When I get nervous is when I have pulled the car out and its sitting 'warming up' while I do something in the garage/putting the door down/going to the mailbox or whatever.

 

[gdrill]

No fear. Ensure linkages are tight.

 

[eldubb440]

Wasn't Mr dadsbee's car running? Maybe I'm remembering it wrong...
When I get nervous is when I have pulled the car out and its sitting 'warming up' while I do something in the garage/putting the door down/going to the mailbox or whatever.

gotcha....... I pulled my bronco into the shop years ago, threw it in park running and jumped out....... only it never made it to park, and it backed itself through the roll up door

 

[XS22J8R]

Quite some time back a friend was visiting and when he went to leave, his battery was dead. I was sort of paranoid about using my late model car to jump him thinking it might fry a computer or something, so pulled my Challenger vert out of the garage and used it instead.
We were successful and after disconnecting the jumper cables, we stood there chatting for a few minutes while our cars idled. Suddenly my car started rolling off down the road in reverse. I jumped in and hit the brakes, and all was good.
It’d been sitting there idling probably 10 minutes before it went into reverse by itself.
That was probably close to 25 years ago. It’s never done that again, but every time I pull it out of the garage and have it sitting there in my driveway idling while I put the top down and get the boot in place, I think about that time, and am primed to jump in and hit the brakes if it ever happens again.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

This goes back a few years.. Around 89-90, working at a Lincoln/Mercury/Honda dealer... A 75 Town car had been towed in... The tech working on it was told it wouldn't start... Nothing more.. He'd tried a few things & since the car was outside & it was raining, he decided to jump the starter relay & drive it in.... He got it started, being cold it fired up & immediately hit high idle.... He slammed the hood & was getting ready to jump in & drive it when the old hard seals in the C6 suddenly caught pressure & it slid into gear... The high idle & no brakes meant it was accelerating pretty quickly, As it was rolling past he he dove in the window & tried throwing the shifter in park... Accept it was already in park.... As he's trying to get control of the car it slams into a brand new black Honda Accord, the Accord flys three feet up & sideways into a new Prelude... So the Accord which had been parked by a salesman after a test drive was in the process of being sold now needs two quarter panels... The Prelude needs a quarter panel & a door...

The Lincoln Town Car Shift collar was broken so the shifter was in the park position but the trans was in drive which is why the car wouldn't start...

There was a small scuff on the Town Car's bumper...

 

[RR Fan Dan]

There was a small scuff on the Town Car's bumper...

 

[Dutchrebuild]

Had a 64 300 Chrysler idling in front of my garage door in neutral, as I was topping off trany fluid. Suddenly it started moving forward...I tried pushing against it, but it kept coming, gaining speed, and I danced out of its way just in time for it to slam into the front of my 65 Coronet 500 convertible... luckily no major damage to cars or me. 300 had a sloppy console shifter.

 

[1967coronet]

We had a 68 ford in our shop that took a short drive by itself when sitting at idle.
Later found out Ford had some ongoing problems with that in the 60s and 70s.
Never had a Mopar or Gm repeat that or for that matter that was the only Ford for us. Dadsbee cars are top condition if it can happen to his it can happen to any of these restored cars.
As suggested up the line and good working parking brake put to use is a option along with having linkage ect in good order.
But then I just toss mine in park and get out like everyone else.

 

[1STMP]

Cop cars had a sticker that advised
not to idle in park for any length of
time (727 trans). Don't know if this
may be related.

 

[dadsbee]

Why's everyone picking on me...

 

[vance.dykes]

Wasn't Mr dadsbee's car running? Maybe I'm remembering it wrong...
When I get nervous is when I have pulled the car out and its sitting 'warming up' while I do something in the garage/putting the door down/going to the mailbox or whatever.

use wheel chocks.

 

[themechanic]

One thing to consider is setting the detent on the automatic shifter correctly; to loose and it could pop out of park.

 

[toolmanmike]

gotcha....... I pulled my bronco into the shop years ago, threw it in park running and jumped out....... only it never made it to park, and it backed itself through the roll up door

Ford colums are good for that.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Can't top this list of horrors.