Driving with emergency brake on

[infoblues]

Hi,After driving for 15 miles on the highway today, I realized that my emergency brake was on. This surprised me because I had always assumed that it wouldnt let me drive in the first place with emergency brake engaged. Later, I tested in the parking lot and it seems that there is noticeable resistance while driving in Reverse with e-brake on but not so much in the regular driving mode.1. Is it really possible to drive with e-brake engaged and not have noticeable resistance? If not, then does it mean that my e-brakes are worn out and perhaps, that is why, I did not notice any resistance?2. What kind of damage should I expect after subjecting my Vibe to this? Just the brake pads? Or anything more? I did read some mention of "damage to rotors" and "heat damage" online, though could not get any details (speaking of which I did notice a faint burning smell after I got out of the car). It would also be nice to know how much the damage would translate in $$. I own an '04 Vibe FWD.Thanksinfoblues

[northvibe]

ive done it just not for 15 miles. was it all the way up? or just part way up. I think it would only do slight wear to the rear brakes...I wouldnt worry about it unless you hear some warping from the rear when you drive.

[ColonelPanic]

Heck, I drove around in my Malibu with a parking brake that wasn't fully releasing and by the time I found out it was broke I had added a couple thousand to the clock. Didn't do any damage, drove that clunker until 84,000 and never had to mess with the back brakes. I don't think 15 minutes is going to do much damage. As to not having resistance, is that with the lever all the way up? If so, sounds like the back brakes could be out of adjustment (if you have drums back there, which if it's not a GT you would.)

[Raven]

If you can drive with no resistance either the brake was not fully set, it needs to be adjusted or the pads need replacing. 15 miles with the ebrake on at highway speeds is not a good thing at all. If the brake will still hold then you didn't burn up too much of the pads.

[renate]

I did that once on my 74 vw bug.When I stopped, my back brakes were smoking hot! If yours weren't literally smoking, you are probably Ok but I would check,because I think the cable is linked to the back brakes.

[infoblues]

Thanks ColonelPanic... Yes.. the e-brake was all the way up.. I simply forgot to dis-engage them when I started the car.. and yes it is the automatic (and not the GT).

[infoblues]

Quote, originally posted by Raven »If you can drive with no resistance either the brake was not fully set, it needs to be adjusted or the pads need replacing. 15 miles with the ebrake on at highway speeds is not a good thing at all. If the brake will still hold then you didn't burn up too much of the pads.The brake was definitely fully set .. that means the latter two might be the possibilities (it needs to be adjusted or the pads need replacing) .. tomorrow I'll check if the "brakes still hold or not" on an incline in neutral (I guess that would be the way to check that) ..

[lovemyraffe]

It's not a good thing that you did that, but not the end of the world either. It probably took a little life off your brakes, and put a little stress on the drivetrain, but I would say not to worry about it unless you are having problems with it after that.

[infoblues]

Quote, originally posted by Raven »If you can drive with no resistance either the brake was not fully set, it needs to be adjusted or the pads need replacing. 15 miles with the ebrake on at highway speeds is not a good thing at all. If the brake will still hold then you didn't burn up too much of the pads.Another thing I found on here:http://www.familycar.com/brakes.htm"On cars with automatic transmissions, the parking brake is rarely used. This can cause a couple of problems. The biggest problem is that the brake cables tend to get corroded and eventually seize up causing the parking brake to become inoperative. By using the parking brake from time to time, the cables stay clean and functional. Another problem comes from the fact that the self adjusting mechanism on certain brake systems uses the parking brake actuation to adjust the brakes. If the parking brake is never used, then the brakes never get adjusted."This may be relevant in my context because I do not use the parking brake at all. This was the 3rd time I have used it in the past 7 months of owning this car (i.e. approx. 5k miles). I am wondering if my situation is a mix of 1) parking brake not being fully fnctional because of non-usage (and perhaps that is why little or no resistance while driving with the brake on) and 2) some burnout of the brake pads (the buning smell).The course of action seems to be to get a complete checkup of the brake system and specifically look for: 1) if the e-brake is working well or not and in case not then get it working, 2) the health of braking pads and get them replaced if they are not good..and 3) check for any malfunction in the "self adjusting mechanism" which may have resulted because of non-usage.Thanks for everybody's reponses. Please do let me know your comments if any.Another link worth a read for people with automatic transmissions and who do not use the parking brakes often like me:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_pawlLooks like using parking brakes is an essential that should be part of driving habits (and of course, releasing them when driving )infoblues

[jake75]

I learned something from that Wikipedia article. I did not know that you shoud not shift into park to stop a vehicle . I'll have to quit doing that! Maybe shifting into reverse would be a better way to slow the vehicle.[This would have been a better post for April 1st .]As for the emergency/parking brake - I don't think I have used that 5 times in 5 years. I'll have to see if it still works.

[zionzr2]

I for one have always used the parking brake when I park.

[lovemyraffe]

It does put less stress on your tranny if you use your parking brake. Quote, originally posted by jake75 »I learned something from that Wikipedia article. I did not know that you shoud not shift into park to stop a vehicle . I'll have to quit doing that! Maybe shifting into reverse would be a better way to slow the vehicle.Didn't MythBusters do something about that? If I remember correctly, and I could be wrong, but the car's computer will not put the tranny in reverse or park while at speed. You can move the shifter, but it will not engage. Anyone else see that one?

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by lovemyraffe »Didn't MythBusters do something about that? If I remember correctly, and I could be wrong, but the car's computer will not put the tranny in reverse or park while at speed. You can move the shifter, but it will not engage. Anyone else see that one?Probably true - I remember 30 years ago accidentally putting the auto trans in reverse when driving a 1978 Chevette on the freeway - I quickly moved it back to drive but scared the crap out of me for the moment. As for "park" - I'm not sure. Must be something besides a computer as I doubt a 1978 Chevette had a computer. Maybe I was just lucky.

[ClunkClunk]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Probably true - I remember 30 years ago accidentally putting the auto trans in reverse when driving a 1978 Chevette on the freeway - I quickly moved it back to drive but scared the crap out of me for the moment. As for "park" - I'm not sure. Must be something besides a computer as I doubt a 1978 Chevette had a computer. Maybe I was just lucky.It wasn't 30 years ago, probably 10, but I accidentally put my 1979 Buick Century Wagon in reverse while heading forward. I was moving around in my seat and whacked my knee on the gear lever. Unfortunately the gear lever was so worn that it jumped from drive past neutral and to reverse. The car shuddered for half a beat, then stalled. I quickly threw it in neutral, started it back up at speed, and everything was fine, as far as I could tell.As for the Vibe and the parking brake, I've almost done that a handful of times in my girl's Vibe. Every other GM car I've ever owned has an audible alert when the parking brake is on and you put it in drive, and I guess I rely on that a bit and am used to it reminding me. I wonder if the Vibe's Toyota roots are why it doesn't have an alert. Anyone familiar with other Toyotas parking brakes and alerts?

[waveresponder]

Quote, originally posted by zionzr2 »I for one have always used the parking brake when I park. same here...I guess it just how I was taught I suppose...if its there why not learn to use it?

[Houston]

Reminds me of a time back around 1958. We had just left McDonald's in Bay City and were heading north on Euclid in my buddy's 1952 Ford. About a half mile up the road the brakes came on and we found ourselves leaning against the windshield. Turns out he had left the emergency brake on, they'd heated up, and grabbed real quick.There was no permanant damage, as far as we could tell, but he was a fanatic about checking his ebrake after that.

[LOUROK]

my girl drove my Matrix with the e-brake on. She did not know what the red brake light on the dash was for. And then blame me for parking my car with the e-brake on.

[hskater26]

i remember when i was younger my mom did this with her jetta and didnt realize ittill my dad smelled something burning haha

[aradlaw]

I have noticed that the e-brake indicator light is not predominately placed in my 2005 Vibe, it is partially obscured by the steering wheel spoke, better front and center in the speedo area

[keithvibe]

They should make it so you can't shift out of park if the parking brake is on.

[stealth]

Quote, originally posted by aradlaw »the e-brake indicator light is not predominately placed in my 2005 Vibe, it is partially obscured by the steering wheel spoke, I have the same problem. Difficult to see the brake light. I have a manual trans so use the parking brake all the time. A couple times I started to drive before fully releasing the brake. Thank goodness I noticed quickly & didn't have a problem.Even when I drove cars that were automatic, I used the parking brake. Dad always said the transmission wasn't a kick stand!

[tribalman]

firstly a joke. i finally read the thread and i thought of this joke from Mitch Hedburg."i got a rental car and it has an emergency brake. but i didn't know it had one. so i drove down the highway with it on for 15 miles. that doesn't say much for me but it also doesn't say much for the EMERGENCY BRAKE. more like an Emergency Make the Car Funny Lever."if you find out about the lever readjusting the back, can you let us all know? i always use the parking brake cause i park on a hill, and after parking the family minivan on the same hill and not having the brake cause it was broke and having fun trying to shift into reverse, i decided i'm never forgetting to use the brake to park. it would still be good information to know. cause i thought the back brakes were adjusted by going in reverse and stopping, at least that's what my father told me happens, at least with older cars.

[THE VIBERATOR]

a good way to break in the emergency brake is to use it when you park, especially on hills. I do that myself, and i even have an automatic. I gotta train that cable for the winter Lots of drifting lol.