Aye, slamming car doors does it for me to. We're way off topic now? 
It's always a good idea to put the clutch down when starting the engine. It reduces the load on the starter because it's not turning the gearbox input shaft and connected bits in cold oil.
Robert G8RPI.
I've discovered that my HDI engined Citroen(Ulysee) won't hold in gear on anything more than a slight slope, some kind of decompression valve in the engine?
handbrake barely functions
afraid its full discs, not even heat related.Many engines these days don't seem to hold the car on hills. So a habit of many may well not prevent an issue.
If the rear brakes are drums, there is a technique to help the handbrake hold on hills. When braking a moving vehicle, pressure to the rear brakes is restricted, to prevent lockup. Once stopped, full pressure can be applied.
Stop the car normally. DO NOT apply the handbrake yet.
Now, press the footbrake hard. This will squeeze the rear brake shoes hard against the drums. You may hear them creak a little, confirming this.
With footbrake held hard, now apply the handbrake.
This technique uses the footbrake to push the shoes against the drums, by-passing any mechanical weaknesses in the design or operation of the handbrake mechanism. Let the footbrake do the work, and the handbrake just hold it there.
Small Fiats, esp. classic Panda, Seicento, and Corsa C are notorious for weak handbrakes. Using this technique I have safely parked all of those on some very steep hills.
afraid its full discs, not even heat related.
its a ford.Whatever it is on then, should be fine. Just needs fixing, back to as new condition.
its a ford.
at 10 years old had it fixed for about 6 months I guess the handbrake cables stretched again.Tbf my dad has a mk2 focus the handbrake was terrible from day one. It finally failed the mot on it year 7 and the garage who repaired it did a far better job than ford managed in the factory.
Does the rear disc focus use seperate drums for the handbrake like the Mazda 3 does or just nip the discs with the pads?
Depends on why it's being parked in gear, if a steep hill, I'll hold it on the brake, switch off, release clutch, then brake. If it's to stop handbrake sticking on when leaving a car for a while, I'll park in neutral, then engage a gear, but in that case I'll be parking on the flat anyway. Also use a choc.
I've discovered that my HDI engined Citroen(Ulysee) won't hold in gear on anything more than a slight slope, some kind of decompression valve in the engine?
Never got into the habit of depressing the clutch when starting, always foot on brake and select neutral. I guess too many years of driving hydraulic Citroens, where no pump pressure means no clutch...
I know some people park in 2nd on the flat and first or reverse on a hill. What is the reason/benefit parking in 2nd?
When parking in gear in the snow would it be better to leave the car in 2nd gear rather than 1st like you would moving off?
When parking in gear in the snow would it be better to leave the car in 2nd gear rather than 1st like you would moving off?
This was one of the first threads I followed when I started "lurking" around on the forum. I liked what I saw on the forum so registered in October last year. I've posted on a few other subjects and had very positive reaction and advice so thought I'd toss in my ha'penny worth on this subject.It's a habit that irritates me. But don't let me stop you.
Used to work in a large Rover dealer in Dorset 76-87. Workshop foreman always parked cars in gear. So we've had your car all day, put a blob of grease on the gearlever, relieved you of your life savings, and shown you we don't think the handbrake works. If we can't be confident of the handbrake following a service, how dare we take your money.
The handbrake should be capable of holding the car. If it is not, get it fixed.
Some modern cars will not hold themselves on engine compression. Corsa D 1.4 never did when we used them with BSM. Park on hill, Put into gear, release handbrake, car rolls to first compression, then slowly pushes over, onto the next, gradually gathering speed.
Current Fiesta 1.0 turbo won't hold on compression either.
DVSA advice says when facing uphill select 1st gear, when facing down, select reverse. That will turn the engine the wrong way. That advice frightens me. There's no evidence that compression would be greater in reverse. However, timing chain or belt will now be untensioned, as the tensioner will be operating on the slack side. Perhaps that's the reason for the advice, as it moves away down the hill, the belt or chain slips, piston hits valve, mechanical stop prevents car rolling.