Car won't start when on incline

[andyman32]

Whenever I change the oil, I put my car up on ramps. The front wheels are about 12" off the ground. However, once I'm done and I want to take it back down, the car won't start. I have to get someone to push it off while i press the brakes.

It's not a problem with the starter or anything; it just doesn't turn over at all (same behavior as when you try and start it when the alarm has been tripped). Once it's on level ground it starts as usual. The car has power and everything.

Any ideas? Is this some kind of security feature, or is my car just a real weirdo?

TIA!

[Jr ///M5]

If I'm not mistaken, one of the features of some car alarms is an anti-towing device that disables the ignition when the "tilt" mechanism has been activated.

It's the only thing I can think of at the moment, maybe check the literature on your alarm to see if this is correct. It wouldn't make sense that the car would start after it was leveled out. Maybe the switch clears itself, but what good is that? What happens if you park it on a steep incline?????

[andyman32]

Well, since it gets power but doesn't crank, it seemed intuitive to me that it was a feature of the alarm. However, I reached the same conclusion: the inclination of the car when on the ramps is one that would be feasible if you were to park your car on a steep driveway or something. I'll have a look at the owners' manual; I almost HOPE that it's some kind of tilt sensor. I can't imagine what else would cause this.

[Jr ///M5]

When I was helping a friend find a BMW alarm for his new E46 M3 convertible, some of the web pages showed a "tilt" sensor that was installed in the trunk area on that model. It disabled the ignition when the car was tilted as if it was being towed off and the alarm was supposed to sound.

Maybe something isn't connected properly. Is it a factory alarm? You might do a Google search to find out more about it's functions and options. It still doesn't make any sense that it would activate after pulling the car up on ramps.