Emergency Brake usage.

[Silverbrain]

Ive been told by friends that its important to use your ebrake when you park, regardless of level or hill as it keeps your car from rolling forward when you take your foot off the brake and damaging your transmission. Any truth to this?

Im the type that has the hardest time remembering i pulled the ebrake up and will take off until I realize the failure of memory. If it will help save repairs later on then ill figure out something to do.

:edit: Currently have a 98 Saturn SL2 Automatic.

[JStrider]

im no expert... but this is my understanding...
in manual transmissions your supposed to because if you leave it in neutral it will just roll away... and if you leave it in gear without it it will put stress on the engine...

in automatics its less important... they have a park gear...


i personally always use it... even if i drive an automatic... thats the way my dad taught me... and its just force of habit

[viper11885]

Using the e-brake does take the load off of your transmission. You should be using it for both automatic and manual transmission.

For me though, I always put e-brake on in a manual transmission car. On an automatic, usually not. Only time that I'll always put it on is when the e-brake is located beside the seat because it is easy to access. If the e-brake is located in the footwell, then I only use it if I have to.

[JusticeForPhat]

the only real reason of importance is in some cars with single piston floating calipers in the back. The e-brake helps to re-center the caliper on its guide pins so the brake acts evenly. This isnt true for every single piston floater but I have been told this is true for some makes.

edit: and it makes for good 180 degree turns.

[Peryn]

Ever notice what happens in an auto when ya park on a hill, and dont set teh E-brake? When ya go to start it up, and shift it outta park, you really gotta pull the hell outta the lever to get it to move. What happens is that in the transmission, when you put it in park, it pops out a tooth which locks the innards to the case. To get the car to roll in park, it you either hafta take out that tooth (and its pretty damn strong looking), take out the innards of your tranny, or rip up the transmission case. Either way, it will be very difficult to get your car to roll when its in park. By not putting the brake on, you force the weight of the car to fight that parking prawl and transmission case. This does put unnessecary force on your transmission. So putting the brakes on or off, probably wont make or break your car, but it will save some strain on your transmission.

[DEI37]

What he said. So true.

[MSD]

I'm one of the few people I know who uses it. I always tell everyone that I'm going to laugh my ass of when their park pin snaps off and their car rolls down a hill.

[usualsuspect]

Right on Peryn!

[Death_alive]

So I have a manual transmission, and I never used the ebreak, should I start using it?

I mean what you guys say is true, but is it really really really useful or it will stress the engine and in time waste my transmission and/or engine?

thanks

[Redjake]

One of the girls I worked with bumped into a stick shift sedan at my old workplace. The e-brake wasn't pulled, so the car came out of gear and rolled down a hill and hit a tree and then rolled onto the supporting cable on a power line, almost taking out the power line altogether. The damage on the car where it had been "bumped" by my coworker was non-existant, not even a scratch, but the car was on a hill so it was enough to knock it out of gear.

Pull the e-brake at all times if parked. It helps the transmission and won't let the above happen.

[89transam]

I forgot to put the ebrake on one time when I went into a restaraunt (manual tranny). It must have popped out of gear or I forgot to do that too, but it was in the middle of the parking lot when I returned (empty thank god).

[bookerV]

I currently do, and always have driven a manual. As a result i religiously pull the e-brake. now whenever i drive someone else's car and it's an auto i always put on the brake just out of habit. its a habit i hope i never lose. It takes SOOO little time and energy to use the e-brake that there really isnt any excuse not to do it. the benefits for something so small are really too much not to use it.

[Moonduck]

So I get this claim from an owner and the damage is listed as "water damage". Well, there hadn't been a flood in quite some time, so I was naturally curious (read "suspiscious") as to how water damage occurred. I called this guy up to find out that his little brother had left it parked behind the house with the transmission in Park and the E-brake off. Somehow it popped out of gear, rolled down the hill behind the house, across a road, through someone's yard, and down the bank into the Chesapeake Bay. Bloop!

Oddly enough, the car was totalled, but we paid less ont he car than we did on property damage (various flower beds, bushes, and fences it rolled through) and a truly horrific towbill (the city had to bring out a mobile crane to fish it out after four attempts with a variety of tow-trucks, and then another heavy duty towtruck to get the crane unstuck).

Emergency brakes are your friend.

[Sion]

Im really surprised, given the amount of automobile knowledge in this forum, that this thread has gone on so long without anyone mentioning that there is no such thing as an emergency brake. it is properly called a PARKING brake, and for a reason. sure, in the advent of a catastrophic brake failure, the parking brake CAN be used as an emergency brake. but its primary function is for parking.

most of the above posts have dealt with the common whys and wherefores of regular usage of the parking brake. however, there are a couple of other reasons to use it religiously.

first and foremost, you want to use it regularly to keep the cables from rusting and freezing up inside the liner/housing. sure wouldnt be much of an emergency brake if, on that rare occasion that you needed it, the sucker wouldnt move. if you dont use it regularly, there is a very strong probability that the cable will rust up solid in the liner. at that point (if the parking brake is not engaged) then the whole system is nothing more than useless, excess weight that you are carrying around, and consuming gas to do so. thats the best case scenario.

another possibility is that you have to park on a hill, so you decide to use the parking brake for the first time in years. great, it works and keeps the car in place. then it comes time for you to leave, and either it wont release, or wont release all the way. then you are either unable to drive and require a tow, or you are able to drive, but since the brakes are partially engaged, the vehicle is sluggish and your fuel economy goes into the shitter.

a final possibility was partially mentioned by JusticeForPhat: "in some cars with single piston floating calipers in the back. The e-brake helps to re-center the caliper on its guide pins so the brake acts evenly. This isnt true for every single piston floater but I have been told this is true for some makes." this is true of most rear disc systems (except those that incorporate a small drum within the rear rotors (these are mostly european cars) for the parking brake system). but what JFP failed to mention is that not only does it keep the caliper properly centered, but it also prevents the calipers from freezing up on the guide pins. the GM W-body models (Cutlass Supreme, Lumina and Lesabre, from 88 to 96 ? not 100% sure of the years) were NOTORIOUS in the auto repair and parts biz for having the rear calipers lock up on the pins. so much so that aftermarket pin repair kits were put out specifically to address the problem.

and to make matters worse, not only do the calipers freeze to the pins, but also that means that the rear brakes are not doing much, if any, of the braking work. that means longer stopping distances and more wear and tear on the fronts. and that means more $$ in repair/replacement to be borne by the owner.


so, in summation, the simple answer is this:

USE THE PARKING BRAKE REGULARLY, regardless of automatic or manual transmission. it is there for a reason.

[Scorps]

LOL I would use mine all the time....if it worked!

thats the problem I got with e-brakes they seize up

[DEI37]

If you use them, they won't seize up!

[Scorps]

Originally posted by DEI37
If you use them, they won't seize up!

Well when I lived in BC I used it all the time because that place is al hills, but now I live in Ontario and not much hills here!