Automatic owners - do you also use parking brake?

[dad4geer]

A parking brake will not hold any car in gear if the throttle is applied.

For most of you...you need your parking brakes serviced. They can and do hold our cars on steep slopes.

True I did apply throttle so seems like all normal :bannana:

 

[219]

I have driven automatics for many, many years and always use the parking brake when parking. I may have been lucky, but have never had one freeze "on" in cold weather (why would this be different from a manual car's parking brake?).

It isn't - any drum brake can freeze on in cold weather .

 

[Teflonso]

In my home town as a kid there was a very well known car spares shop. The owner always parked his Jag on the steep hill behind, always with just the "P" setting on the gearbox, often supposedly engaged with a bone crunching clonk before he'd even got the car to a complete stop.

One of his blokes in the shop told me that one day the locking pawl in the gearbox had got so rounded and weedy that it popped it's cam after he'd got out of the car, which all but chased him down the hill until it crossed into the main road at the bottom and came to rest against a wall outside a news agent's shop.

Always use the parking brake on hills. Never use it in your own garage. Avoid using it on level ground if it is going to be freezing cold and drifting snow for a week. If you haven't owned the car from new, don't discount the possibility that the previous owner was a ham-fisted halfwit who once owned a motor factor.

Why on earth MB has to use the stupid design with the foot pedal defeats me.

.

 

[geraldrobins]

Of course you still do everything they taught you, no bad habits

Surely we should try though and do as we were taught.

 

[AMGeed]

There is a parking brake fitted for a reason.........so I use it every time

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Why on earth MB has to use the stupid design with the foot pedal defeats me.

.

I assume it's 100% aesthetics. As with the column mounted gear selector. I really like the clean looking central area this creates TBH. Later models are even better with the electric parking brake and no foot pedal.

I think it looks really dated now seeing a traditional handbrake & gear selector like you still see on the 3 series.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Genuine question for everyone. On an auto gearbox why is there a P if it's not sufficient?

Surely a D, R & a N is all that's needed if the park brake is so vital.

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Genuine question for everyone. On an auto gearbox why is there a P if it's not sufficient? Surely a D, R & a N is all that's needed if the park brake is so vital.

So that when you're at window three at McDonald's leaning towards the employee to grab your food, you don't end up leaning on the accelerator and ploughing into bay 1

 

[Deleted member 113659]

So that when you're at window three at McDonald's leaning towards the employee to grab your food, you don't end up leaning on the accelerator and ploughing into bay 1

Oh Ash!!! Please tell me you don't eat that rubbish???

Any how's, a N would suffice in that scenario.

 

[John]

I hardly ever used it on my previous car - except to exercise it or on a hill and that was a manual affair.

That was until where I work now which is a different unit to the one I was in before and there are inclines and declines in the car park so I started to use it in anger more which has carried on to the CL - an electric affair!

I've started using it in the garage too because the car is longer and therefore I park it in a certain position and want to hold it there so it is as far forward as possible so I have maximum room behind it.

So any hills at all and my garage I use it now.

I also think it is better to use these things to keep them operational than face a bill later on!

 

[TheFoX]

I always use the parking brake, even though the transmission locks the wheels.

 

[merc85]

I use it especially in public car parks, If someone hits your car whilst its in "Park" and doesn't have the foot brake applied it can damage the Gearbox aswell.

 

[markjay]

Test yourself here:

Free UK Driver Theory Questions | Driving Tests

 

[dad4geer]

Test yourself here:

Free UK Driver Theory Questions | Driving Tests

Yikes!

 

[iliria]

I was reading this thread and realised how much i dont have a clue about automatic cars. I have never used N in my car. And I thought that P was for parking when you finish the journey and apply it before you switch the car off.

When I am stationary at the lights on a slope I usually push the break pedal hard and "Hold" comes up on the screen. Am I not supposed to use this?

Can someone clarify for Dummies like me: what is P, Hold and handbrake used for please?

 

[John]

I was reading this thread and realised how much i dont have a clue about automatic cars. I have never used N in my car. And I thought that P was for parking when you finish the journey and apply it before you switch the car off.

When I am stationary at the lights on a slope I usually push the break pedal hard and "Hold" comes up on the screen. Am I not supposed to use this?

Can someone clarify for Dummies like me: what is P, Hold and handbrake used for please?

Your first and second lines are what you should do. Don't use hold if you intend to get out the car though!

Unless you are going to be held up for ages (like there has been a crash or similar), leave it in D and hold it on the brakes. If not, drop to N and hold on brakes or P and / or using the parking brake too. Switch the engine off to save fuel and cut down pollution if you want to.

P is when you are stopped and parked, hold is for exactly what you use it for and the parking brake (read handbrake except it is operated by the foot) is for when you are parked as well.

You are doing everything right IMO.

The issue with P is it simply locks the transmission using a small chunk of metal (called a pawl) and is not really strong enough to hold a car in most situations. Parking brake is designed to hold the car when parked (and stationary).

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I use it especially in public car parks, If someone hits your car whilst its in "Park" and doesn't have the foot brake applied it can damage the Gearbox aswell.

I agree. Using the parking brake (foot brake) reduces the risk of the pawl being damaged in the gearbox but doesn't eliminate it. However it also reduces the risk that the car can roll freely if the pawl fails, resulting in damage to the bodywork and nearby people/property.

I always use the parking brake (foot brake) and put the transmission in park, regardless of whether I'm parking on the level or not.

For those who've not seen a pawl, it's what the guy is pointing to in this photo, and it locks into the slots in the outter ring when you engage Park on your transmission. If another car hits your car, then this can shear and then the car is free to roll.

 

[GLK]

@iliria - two answers above is exactly what I do, and explain it perfectly; as to the N - I only ever use it in an American-style contactless car wash, with a transporter belt.



PS I learnt to drive in an automatic, never ever driven a manual in my life, and I'm 55 (well I will be in two weeks time). And yes, my UK Driving Licence is automatic only, although my Florida and Bahamas ones are just generic

 

[optimusprime]

Parking brake on my car is only used when i am out and about .Sitting on the drive its never on .,,i chock the wheels, and then select park. Then i dont use the parking brake . Standing in danp weather, the ferodo can bond to the inner drum.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I rarely use the handbrake and have driven autos for decades, not once has a pawl broken on my cats or anyone else that I know.
Reading the last post makes me feel very reckless for not putting chocks behind my wheels when parking up.