hondadreamer5

Occasionally, when I start my cold engine car with my foot on the brake and the car in park, it feels like the car lurches forward. Sometimes the lurch feels stronger than at other times. I'm not entirely sure whether the car is physically moving, but I've started setting the parking brake to prevent the lurching from putting undue pressure on the parking pawl. Any ideas as to what's causing this?

schreps

broken motor mount or sloppy cv joint? codes? clunking noise? have a look.

ColeCooper90

Do you turn the heater to defrost when it's cold. If so, it automatically turns the ac on. I bet that's what is causing it. Whenever there's an electrical draw or I turn the ac on, my accord tends to lung forward.

hondadreamer5

Thank you both for commenting. My original post wasn't entirely clear. When I start my car in the morning and evening (before/after work), the engine is cold, of course. I don't actually have my foot on the brake when I initially start my car. Sometimes it feels like the car lunges/lurches forward. The severity of this varies, too. It's difficult for me to tell if the car is actually moving, but I'd guess no. The car drives well otherwise. I am wondering if it could be the transmission. And like I mentioned; to keep undue force on the parking pawl, I try to remember to set the parking brake. I can also feel a lunge/lurch to a lesser degree even when the parking brake is on. Love my Honda at 152K miles. Thanks again!

Slow&Steady

'02 Honda Accord SE with just 152,000 miles? YOUNG 'EN THERE! LOL

Mine is an '02 SE with 182,000 miles.

You probably know this but many people do not.

Parking;

1). Stop.
2). Put foot onto brake to hold car in position.
3). Shift into neutral.
4). Pull parking brake just a few clicks.
5). Ease off foot brake.
6a). If car does not move, you have enough parking brake.
6b). If car moves, use foot brake to hold and pull parking brake another click.
6c). Repeat until your car is holding with the minimum amount of parking brake clicks (smallest setting).
7). Shift into park, shut off engine, and get out.

This is the best way to protect the transmission and keep from over-stretching the parking brake cable.

Leaving:

1). Foot onto foot brake.
2). Start car.
3). Shift into drive or reverse.
4). (With foot on brake holding car) let parking brake off.
5). Drive away.

The numbers of people that do not know to properly park must be close to 99.99999 percent! Most people also don't keep cars forever like we do.

*Hopefully your car's tranny isn't damaged but seeing has how old it is and the fact that most owners downright abuse their trannies, it's certainly possible. I wish my car was a manual shift so I didn't have to worry about my auto tranny going out!