Bronco Free Rolls (Falls) Off Steep Hill!!

[illverado]

That is not true. I have tested mine at about 5-10 mph and it restarts itself.
Not sure about reverse though.

Clutch in, in gear? It very well could be only in reverse, that’s the only time I clearly remember it being like I say

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[Beach_Bum]

Yeah, I think I have started it before rolling, but I wonder if the grade and/or loss of vacuum pressure or something else in combination prevented it from starting. The more I see these comments, the more I think I screwed up and simply should have made a different decision and I simply did not and made, while not the worst decision, I didn't make the best decision as it all turns out. Based on comments and common knowledge, I doubt Ford will do anything.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Whether you admit or not, panic sets in and the best decision is only realized after the fact.

Independent of the actual stall/descent/crash. Your approach was all wrong with the initial line. When you high centered the first time, should have given you pause to rethink the approach and technique. You opted for the skinny pedal and hopped. At that moment the adrenaline was flowing. Opting to continue with the brute force of the skinny pedal on repeated attempts wasn't going to end well. The Hill could very well have claimed another tie rod.

Anyway, hope the insurance comes through for you and be thankful no one was hurt.

 

[MNBronc]

Clutch in, in gear? It very well could be only in reverse, that’s the only time I clearly remember it being like I say

Also questionable if restart would work if you are in a forward gear but rolling backward.

 

[FloridaBurgBronco]

Don't be too hard on yourself. Whether you admit or not, panic sets in and the best decision is only realized after the fact.

Independent of the actual stall/descent/crash. Your approach was all wrong with the initial line. When you high centered the first time, should have given you pause to rethink the approach and technique. You opted for the skinny pedal and hopped. At that moment the adrenaline was flowing. Opting to continue with the brute force of the skinny pedal on repeated attempts wasn't going to end well. The Hill could very well have claimed another tie rod.

Anyway, hope the insurance comes through for you and be thankful no one was hurt.

I agree the line was wrong, I backed up to try a different line, but the rock in the middle had to be overcome and although I'm not a fan of speed usually, momentum did get me over that spot last time and it was the only way I got over last time trying everything else first. Now obviously, in hindsight, it would have been awesome had I just backed down and throw the towel in, but pride sometimes gets the best of me especially since I had made it up there twice before. Certainly this will be a learning moment, call it Off Road Tuition if you will.

 

[FloridaBurgBronco]

Also questionable if restart would work if you are in a forward gear but rolling backward.

Yes, wondering if that was part of the problem.

 

[orion]

If you had the Bronco transmission in gear, why didn't you simply let the clutch out? The vehicle should have been stopped by the engine being stopped. I understand there was a lot going on in a short period of time, but I've had the same type of situation in a 1971 Bronco and stopped the vehicle rolling by just letting out the clutch.

The 2.3 has little compression and would not have stopped it. If in 4Lo, he was probably moving to fast to even get it into reverse. If in 4Hi, he maybe would have got it into reverse and possibly have slowed his descent.

To the OP: Did you try pumping the brakes while rolling backwards? If not, I think that may have been your problem. Like someone mentioned earlier, maybe the brake booster lost its vacuum and released the pressure on the brake lines right as all this happened and you had your foot on the brake. If you didn't pump the brakes, no pressure in the brake lines. The brakes should work no matter what, it will just be a stiffer pedal without the brake booster helping.

Just a thought...

 

[redone17]

I believe I’ve had this happen once before. Luckily, I was driving forward downhill and left enough space between me and the driver in front of me.

From what I can recollect -and I was still learning the system (and still am to this day) - but, I was in crawler gear, foot off the clutch - but, I hit the brake a bit too hard and it stalled. For a brief second a warning pops up on the screen if you want to “start in gear” and to press the start button. In every other gear it starts when you put your foot on the clutch and in the moment that’s what I did. It wouldn’t turn over, brakes were gone, power steering was gone. I got to the bottom of the hill, luckily without involving a tree or anyone else and hit the start button and was on my way. If I had attempted to descend that hill even a moment earlier, I would have plowed into the guy in front of me.

I’ve since learned how to use the crawler gear to my advantage - but, in hindsight it was because I came to a stop in crawler without pressing in the clutch. I’ve been meaning to test that again on flat ground. But, that was the only time I’ve seen that warning/suggestion pop up on the dash.

 

[hemiblas]

The 2.3 has little compression and would not have stopped it. If in 4Lo, he was probably moving to fast to even get it into reverse. If in 4Hi, he maybe would have got it into reverse and possibly have slowed his decent.

To the OP: Did you try pumping the brakes while rolling backwards? If not, I think that may have been your problem. Like someone mentioned earlier, maybe the brake booster lost its vacuum and released the pressure on the brake lines right as all this happened and you had your foot on the brake. If you didn't pump the brakes, no pressure in the brake lines. The brakes should work no matter what, it will just be a stiffer pedal without the brake booster helping.

Just a thought...

I think I agree. that is probably steeper than it looks in the video so even letting the clutch out would not have stopped it. OP had a split second to react and trying to restart had worked before so it seems logical to do it again.

Agreed on the tie rod comments. Broncos have a lower ground clearance than jeeps and getting over those rocks is not as easy. I dont think powering through over some of those rocks is a good idea.

I can't see Ford doing anything about it. Does the insurance cover trail damage? I've always wondered.

 

[climb2descend]

Sorry dude, it's the risk we take offroad, it looks like you made a mistake in that very particular situation and it bit you in the butt. Hard to react fast enough sometimes. Happens to us all, let insurance take care of it and you'll be back out there a little wiser next time.

 

[67BroncoG1]

Good driving to keep that from turning into a real disaster. Have you considered filing a report with NTSB? No power and no brakes is dangerous off road but imagine if that happens in a high traffic intersection. Whatever computer glitch resulted for the combination of inputs needs to be discovered and patched before someone dies.

Good luck on your repairs and damn good job mitigating the damage.

 

[Bmadda]

That is not true. I have tested mine at about 5-10 mph and it restarts itself.
Not sure about reverse though.

Huh. Mine will not crank the engine if it sees the wheels turn at all. Doesn't seem to matter what gear. I have several times on a very slight incline, held clutch and brake, and let go of brake when hitting the button, only to have it stop cranking as soon as the wheels start to turn. Level ground, no problem. Very annoying, and I think the OP's situation proves, somewhat of a safety defect! I don't understand why the driver cannot restart the engine if the wheels are turning...as long as the clutch is fully depressed, why would that cause a problem? Just one of many software bugs on this vehicle that they really need to fix!

 

[MNBronc]

Huh. Mine will not crank the engine if it sees the wheels turn at all. Doesn't seem to matter what gear. I have several times on a very slight incline, held clutch and brake, and let go of brake when hitting the button, only to have it stop cranking as soon as the wheels start to turn. Level ground, no problem. Very annoying, and I think the OP's situation proves, somewhat of a safety defect! I don't understand why the driver cannot restart the engine if the wheels are turning...as long as the clutch is fully depressed, why would that cause a problem? Just one of many software bugs on this vehicle that they really need to fix!

I think we are maybe talking two different things. I was referring to the automatic restart where the Bronco restarts itself if you kill it (and may not work in C or R). And you are referencing using start button that can not work if moving. Also you can't use the button to shut the Bronco off if moving.

 

[Bmadda]

Good driving to keep that from turning into a real disaster. Have you considered filing a report with NTSB? No power and no brakes is dangerous off road but imagine if that happens in a high traffic intersection. Whatever computer glitch resulted for the combination of inputs needs to be discovered and patched before someone dies.

Good luck on your repairs and damn good job mitigating the damage.

I agree, op should file a report! Had he been able to restart his engine, none of this likely would have happened. I mean sure there are things the op coulda done different that probably would have prevented it too, but if the engine were running he woulda regained control!

 

[Bmadda]

I think we are maybe talking two different things. I was referring to the automatic restart where the Bronco restarts itself if you kill it (and may not work in C or R). And you are referencing using start button that can not work if moving. Also you can't use the button to shut the Bronco off if moving.

We kinda are, but it also will not restart by pressing the clutch after stall if its rolling. Thats what happened to op, he expected a restart, and when he didn't get that he got confused. Add a rock hard brake pedal, cause he depleted the vacuum in the booster, and its a recipe for disaster!

 

[userdude]

I think you can knock the dents outta the back door... Hope they get you back up and running soon. Be interested to see what the computer recorded, maybe get to the bottom of that brake failure. Which isn't your fault.

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