Car rolled backward and almost hit another car
 

I was at a stoplight (red light) sloped uphill last night. The car was in drive and I had my foot on the brake. All of a sudden the car started rolling backwards!! I tried slamming on the brakes but nothing happened and the car kept rolling back. The car behind be backed up as I pulled the e-brake which took a few seconds to kick in.

I don't get it. I then gave the car some gas, with the e-brake still on and then it started driving fine like nothing had happened. The engine never shut down.

It was really scary and I have no idea what caused it to happen. My tranny has shown no sighn of slipping and the girl who sold me the car said she recently had a $500 brake job done. I just don't get it or know what to do. I guess I just hope it never happens again?? (The car went on to have no problems the rest of the way home, but I don't feel all that safe now)

Would appreciate any input. Thanks!

Re: Car rolled backward and almost hit another car
 

That is major scary, Scott. I'd find out where the girl took the car for the brake job. I'd also like to see the receipt for the work to find out what they did/did not replace. It sounds to me like they left some air in the system, and, if that's the case, you'll run into the problem again one day. Take it out on some hills and test it again (with nobody around, of course) -- of course, even with the brake failure, the car shouldn't have rolled backwards while engaged in D -- Just thinking out loud and scratching my head -- sheesh, dunno what to tell ya. Anybody else???

How steep of a hill was it?

If the hill wasn't that steep, Aredub's right, the car shouldn't roll. If it does, you've got a tranny problem as well.

I don't know whether air in the brake lines would cause your situation. If air was in the lines, it would give you spongy brakes, but if you had already stopped, the air would have been compressed at that point anyways, and should make no additional difference once you have stopped.

I would suspect you have a brake fluid leak somewhere, such as at the pistons, in the lines, at the booster, or at the master cylinder. If fluid was leaking, pedal would continue to sink after you have stopped, as you would continue to push fluid out of the system, to the point where your pedal hits bottom and you have no brakes, such as in your case.

When you brake, with even pressure, the car should slow at an even pace. If you require ever more pressure to slow the car down at the same rate, you've got a leak somewhere. Check your brake fluid level as well, because if you have a leak big enough to cause the problem you have mentioned, you're probably low on brake fluid by now anyways.

It's something very serious. For safety's sake, have someone check it out tomorrow or if you work on your own car, look at it ASAP.

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