marc777

Got a surprise today when caught in traffic on a very steep hill. On trying to pull away - a hill start - the car rolled backwards and I was in Drive.

I don't remember this ever happening on my 2000 E class - is it normal? It gave the guy behind a shock ! I just booted it and it took off - nonetheless went back 3 feet before I, and the car, was able to react.

Is it normal?

Marc

jim256

I'd say it's physics

I've had some cars that rolled back quickly in D on my steep drive entrance, some did not. Lots of nameplates. It's probably a function of transmission stall speed, weight, slope, and gearing.

jswedberg

Sure - there is is some torque converter slippage or else you couldn't stay in Drive while stopped. It would depens on the steepness of the hill.

One thing I've liked about our MBs is that they don't move forward much when releasing the brake from a stop.

mrsingh

my car does.
My garage is at a slope and in order to get in, i have to move 35 degrees upwards. After stopping, and b4 acceleration..the cars slips down.
My other benz does the same. So i wld not worry about it, Marc

EmMtEe

here is the solution: when on a steep hill, press the w/s button to activate winter mode. that should stop it from rolling backwards.

jswedberg

Really? I didn't know that was a feature of the W setting!
Cool!

EmMtEe

i just found out that from our regional training rep. i thought it was cool because i lost a deal 3 months ago because of that factor. but now i know the right answer.

estercole

Trying to pull out of my driveway this a.m., everything seemed fine. Put the car in drive; then stopped because I was at the steep top of the driveway. When I let off the brakes, and pushed the gas pedal and in "D," I rolled back about 10 feet until I pressed on the brakes. I tried again...releasing the brake pedal and pressing on gas pedal....same thing, I rolled about 9-10 more feet. I was about to crash into my house. I put the car in "P," and the "D," and did not stop for traffic at the top of the hill on my driveway. Then, everything seemed to be ok. Then, I remembered, when I tried to back out of our almost steep driveway, the more I pushed on the gas, the more it sounded like the engine was going to blow. I've never had a car that could not make it out of the driveway without these scaring problems. I've owned 4 different Volvos without any "hill" problems. What do I need to do to fix this?

vettdvr

1) IF the fluid is low you can roll back.


2) It is possible the seal in the torque converter is worn and you park with the front of the car elevated air might enter into the system through the seal and allow oil to drain from the converter into the sump. If this happens with air in the converter you will not have much forward torque until you put it in drive and accelerate and force the air out of the converter.

Doesn't mean you have any of these conditions. Try the same hill after the car has been driven to see if it still rolls back. If it does then the system might just be normal. If it does not you may have one of the two above.

texasjam

In mine, it will roll back a bit in Comfort mode, but not in Sport mode.

jimbo1763

+1.

The Thomas J

I haven't experienced this yet. But it reminds me of way WAAAAAAY back in the day when I drove Cadillac's I owned a 1990 Coupe DeVille that used to roll backwards in park until something would catch and it would come to a violent stop. It had to be bad for the drive shaft and transmission. It was also very dangerous. The car would roll from a few inches to 10 feet. I don't know what caused it but apparently I wasn't the only person who had this issue. I always made sure to put the parking brake on.

Ichabod

Back in the late '50s, Ramblers had a "Hill-Holder" trick in their brake system so that if you stepped on the brake once when stopping on a steep hill, the brakes would stay applied until you engaged the clutch, allowing you to use your two feet for throttle and clutch and not have to jump the right foot from brake to throttle hastily. Our old Subaru (FWD only) had the same system. Apparently they had never heard of "heeling and toeing".

kafklatsch

I don’t understand. I have my foot on the brake whenever my car is ON but I am not not moving while in gear...am I missing something... what is the scenario where I’m am in DRIVE and not moving where I would not be on the brake?

are your cars moving while on the brake?

if I am in drive and not moving my foot is on the brake...... the brake holds the car in the exact spot.. it only takes a microsecond to switch to the gas.. the car doesn’t have time to roll back... I have to be missing something very basic here..