2002 Subaru WRX Car rolls in gear when parked on incline

TZINSKIS

MEMBER
2002 SUBARU WRX
4 CYL
AWD
MANUAL
130,000 MILES

My vehicle has recently started moving when I park on an incline in first gear. It will lunge, pause, lunge again, etc. The car has never done this before. I just had the clutch replaced with an aftermarket that can handle 400 ft-lbs of torque. The clutch has unreal clamping power, so it seems like it can't be that. The previous clutch was aftermarket, but the car did not have this problem. The trans was rebuilt at 40,000 miles with beefy STi gears. Don't know if that is important to know.

5 Replies

2CARPRO JACK

MECHANIC
11,533 POSTS

Depending on the amount of incline that is perfectly normal. The engine compression is all that is holding the vehicle from rolling. If it is a turbo, the natural compression is lower than a non-turbo, so it will be even easier to roll it in gear. This is basically what the emergency brake is for, especially with a manual trans. There is nothing that a clutch change would have to do with this, it is all engine holding the vehicle from rolling

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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 AT 8:19 AM

TZINSKIS

MEMBER
3 POSTS

It's just odd. I have been parking in my driveway (incline) for years, and never seen this behavior. Then I swap the clutch, and the car moves in gear. No one has been able to give me a legit answer as to why this is happening all of a sudden. All people say is use the E-brake. That's what its for. Well that's not an answer. There has to be something/ factor that is causing this.

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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 AT 1:00 PM

2CARPRO JACK

MECHANIC
11,533 POSTS

I explained to you that when in gear, the only thing holding it is the engine compression. Will it do this in every gear when parked?

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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 AT 8:32 AM

TZINSKIS

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Yes, I've tried every gear, facing the car up and down the hill. It's seems if there was a change in compression it would be very noticeable when the car was running, especially being a tuned force induced car.

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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 AT 3:36 PM

2CARPRO JACK

MECHANIC
11,533 POSTS

That is odd it does it now and not before. Im assuming its a turbo motor, which has even less compression than a normal one when its not up on the turbo. If it chugs (Moves a little then stops for a second) when it moves then it is definitly turning the engine over when parked in gear.