Parking brake

[Mr Lew]

Hello 

 

It's me the noob again

Sadly my lovely car was involved in a minor accident back in June, some plonker ploughed into the back of me. The damage was cosmetic thankfully.

Months of arguing with insurers the 3rd party accepted liability. Fast forward to now the cars came out the garage and the parking brake I can distinctively remember when I disengaged the parking brake or applied the parking brake I could hear the motor for it. Since it's returned from the garage it's not making the noise, should I be concerned or over reacting and just forget it.

 

Thank you

[Cyker]

Are you actually push/pulling the EPB button or just putting the drive selector into P?

 

[Mr Lew]

@Cyker hi cyker. Just shifting from Park into reverse. Or from drive into park....... But now you mention it there is another switch I've never touched. I assume the people in the garage may have twiddled something. I'm such a noob and never even considered to check it. I'm going to assume that is what has caused this. So thank you 1000x 

[Cyker]

Ah, in that case I suspect the auto-EPB engagement when you put it into P(ark) has been disabled, probably so they could turn the car off without the brakes going on so they could get at the back wheels.

If you put the car in P, then pull and hold the EPB rocker button (It's near the drive mode shifter, has a (P) in a circle), it should eventually flash up a message on the dash saying something like "EPB Shift Interlock Activated" - That should put it back to the expected behaviour, where putting the car into P(ark) engages the parking brake, and taking it out of P disengages it.

(If you want to turn off that function, you do the opposite, i.e. push and hold the EPB button until it says the interlock is deactivated)

HTH!

 

[CPN]

Just out of interest, am I the only one who has never used the EPB since the car was new (with the interlock permanently disabled)?

[anchorman]

1 hour ago, CPN said:

Just out of interest, am I the only one who has never used the EPB since the car was new (with the interlock permanently disabled)?

You might be Colin!  I love the auto park brake and auto hold!

[CPN]

2 hours ago, anchorman said:

You might be Colin!  I love the auto park brake and auto hold!

lol! At least I have the fattest rear brake pads on a 3-year-old car you have ever seen! 😉😁

[Mr Lew]

Thanks all -- I rarely swing by here but the community is always helpful.

[Mr Lew]

10 hours ago, Cyker said:

Ah, in that case I suspect the auto-EPB engagement when you put it into P(ark) has been disabled, probably so they could turn the car off without the brakes going on so they could get at the back wheels.

If you put the car in P, then pull and hold the EPB rocker button (It's near the drive mode shifter, has a (P) in a circle), it should eventually flash up a message on the dash saying something like "EPB Shift Interlock Activated" - That should put it back to the expected behaviour, where putting the car into P(ark) engages the parking brake, and taking it out of P disengages it.

(If you want to turn off that function, you do the opposite, i.e. push and hold the EPB button until it says the interlock is deactivated)

HTH!

 

You are a champion - thank you so much 

[Cyker]

9 hours ago, CPN said:

lol! At least I have the fattest rear brake pads on a 3-year-old car you have ever seen! 😉😁

You're doing better than me! I'm somehow wearing out my rears faster than my fronts!!   

 

[Benzowner]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

You're doing better than me! I'm somehow wearing out my rears faster than my fronts!!   

 

Handbrake turns will do that 🤣😂

[Rhymes with Paris]

Too many doughnuts and j turns at the Sunday night Staines massif car meets.

[flash22]

18 minutes ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Too many doughnuts and j turns at the Sunday night Staines massif car meets.

Old codgers night up the Ace Cafe more like it 🙃 😉

[CPN]

12 minutes ago, flash22 said:

Old codgers night up the Ace Cafe more like it 🙃 😉

... those were the days! 😀 

[Rhymes with Paris]

And free Horlicks for us pensioners.

[CPN]

13 hours ago, CPN said:

lol! At least I have the fattest rear brake pads on a 3-year-old car you have ever seen! 😉😁

(I just checked - 6mm of material left on both sides, both pads on the rears...) 😁🤩

Edited October 27, 2023 by CPN
Forgot to mention that we've only done 12,064 miles...

[Serban]

So it seems that the benefit of NOT using the EPB is to save rear pads material, to last longer. What are the disadvantages? 

[Cyker]

Nah, in all seriousness using the EPB or not won't have any effect on rear pad wear - It only engages when the car is stationary (Unless you use it in an emergency), so there'd be practically no wear regardless.

The main reason to NOT use the EPB when parked is to stop it getting stuck to the rear discs - A semi-common problem in winter or if it's rained a lot and you live near the sea or some other rust-prone area. A few people have broken them because they were rust-welded to the disc and tried to unwind, which overheated the motor. This was mainly on much earlier cars tho', e.g. the Avensis; They seem to be much more reliable and robust on newer models.

But on balance it's usually better to use it as it takes some of the load off the parking pawl, which had a reputation for getting snapped off in rear end collisions in the Mk2 Prius on here, and it works the screw mechanism and moves the lubricant around, so hopefully there's less chance the screws get crusty and seize up.

I only use it for parking, not while driving, as it's much slower to engage/disengage compared to hydraulic brakes+brake hold. The exception is when I'm stuck still for ages, e.g. on the M25 because the Smart Motorway operators decide to shut the whole motorway because of a goose or something.

 

[anchorman]

Having an EPB and not using it is an extension of having a car and walking!

[bathtub tom]

13 hours ago, anchorman said:

Having an EPB and not using it is an extension of having a car and walking!

But how do you get around when you get out of the car?🛴

[anchorman]

3 hours ago, bathtub tom said:

But how do you get around when you get out of the car?🛴

That’s option B.  😉

[Gren]

Intersting discussion.  If you park the car in the garage, should it be left in P or N?  I have never left the brake on in the garage with any manual car I've had in the past.

[Graham47]

1 hour ago, Gren said:

Intersting discussion.  If you park the car in the garage, should it be left in P or N?  I have never left the brake on in the garage with any manual car I've had in the past.

P.

car will not let you switch off until you move gear selector to “P”.

[CPN]

On 11/3/2023 at 2:39 PM, Gren said:

Interesting discussion.  If you park the car in the garage, should it be left in P or N?  I have never left the brake on in the garage with any manual car I've had in the past.

As Graham has already pointed out, you need to be in "P" anyway to be able to switch off but I definitely wouldn't leave the parking brake on as the Yaris (Mk3 or 4) seems to have a penchant for gluing its pads to the rear discs after a few days of sitting idle! (if you leave it on)

[Cyker]

I think it depends on what sort of environment where you live - I've never had issues with my Mk4's EPB getting stuck, and even with my other cars I've only had the handbrake get stuck on once, and that was on my 2nd Mk1 D4D during that super cold winter. Thankfully diesel torque was able to overcome it easily and it let go with a thud  

I park on a slope and I wouldn't want to risk damaging the parking pawl by having the whole weight of the car rest on it (Esp. as they have a reputation for being easily damaged in the older HSDs), and since I can't leave it parked in 1st gear like I could in a manual, EPB it is!