Should you leave the footbrake on?????

[crammy69]

Quick question to the experienced, I leave the old Coupe pared up either on the drive or in the garage during the working week, and notice that when I come to drive it at weekends that the brakes make a bit of a racket when first moved.

Is it Ok / advisable to leave the footbrake off (the cars has an Auto box) when parked up?

Thanks

 

[Dieselman]

Why apply the parking brake at all, other than on a steepish incline.?

 

[Ian_Mac]

I never used to bother when mine was parked up in the garage.

 

[popuptoaster]

i make sure i use mine once a week so it dont seize up, but i never use it when the car is parked unless its on a really steep slope

 

[280gee]

Is it a good idea to rely on the pawl in the auto box when parked say in a supermarket car park?
e.g. a careless thump from the rear [ooh matron!] could punt the car into someone else's vehicle and damage your own transmission.

 

[BlackC55]

Its much tougher than that Dave.

 

[Dieselman]

And the pawl is designed to jump the teeth of the gear if the load is too great.

Too many people espouse fears about auto transmissions and parking pawls with out knowing anything about them.

 

[popuptoaster]

i have seen an ford C3 auto box with a chunk broken out of the casing when park was accidently engaged at 40mph. :S

 

[Smiley]

Its much tougher than that Dave.

The pawl spring went on mine - quite easy and cheap to replace but it did render the parking brake u/s. Of course it happened when we were in Cornwall

 

[Ade B]

I use mine all the time on the basis that the car and its bits thrive on use - and it makes a reassuring clang when disengaged


Ade

 

[GazCaff]

I use mine all the time on the basis that the car and its bits thrive on use - and it makes a reasuring clang when disengaged


Ade

I prefer to release it slowly by keeping the parking brake pedal under pressure with my foot while releasing the brake.

I only use mine once a week too, just to stop it seizing.

 

[Meldrew2]

As the reason I drive automatic cars is because of a bad left knee, I have to confess that I have never, ever used mine. Occasionally I get back to an airport "valet type" car park that have put it on, but that's all.

I've always used "Park".

No doubt the Stealership grease the moving bits when the car is serviced.....

 

[crammy69]

Many thanks for the replys, I would always use it in car parks (just habit) but will no longer use iot in the garage or on the drive then.

Cheers

 

[Sorry Pete]

If I'm parking the car, I only use mine if I'm on a steep incline, otherwise leave it in "Park", and gently ease off the brakes.

At the lights though, I just come to a stop and engage the footbrake, leaving it in "Drive", feet off the pedals, then clunk-off the brake when the lights change. (Sometimes I use the slow-release GazCaff method)

I'm sure I'm going to open a can of worms here, but I work on basis that:
a) A rear-end shunt could dislodge my foot off the brake pedal, and send me into traffic/car in front
b) Save the transmission from unnecessary shifting to neutral/park. This depends on how long the the wait is. (I used to automatically depress the footbrake and shift to Neutral, a la manual transmission)

Any ideas if there are any benefits to this? Either way? Or is the wear going to be negligible- the owners manual states to leave it in drive unless it's a long wait so I'm going with that.

 

[jdrrco]

I've had automatic cars for years and have never used the parking brake on any of them, hand- or foot-operated and dnever had any problem.

 

[219]

If leaving my cars on the drive or in a level parking space , I just use either 'park' with my automatics or in either first or reverse in manual cars .

I do sometimes use the handbrake if stopped in traffic or on a steep incline , and will certainly use it if leaving the car on an incline in addition to 'park' ( automatic ) or whichever low gear would cause the car to move uphill ( manual ) ; I also turn the front wheels so they would engage against the kerb in the unlikely event of both methods of securing the car failed and the car started to move .

I only take an automatic out of drive if I anticipate a lengthy wait ( a couple of minutes at the lights does no harm ) .

 

[welland99]

Does the parking brake work exactly the same on manual cars as with the autos? I have wondered if in a manual car it is quite difficult to let the parking brake off gently while doing a hill start?

 

[219]

If you are talking about the foot operated parking brake as used on W124 series , a few other models and most LHD models from the 'New Generation' onwards ... then , Yes .

The 'fly off' characteristic has to be synchronised with clutch engagement , but unless you're 'Jake the Peg , with an extra leg' to slowly let up the foot pedal as you hold the release button with one hand and let up the clutch and operate the accelerator with your 3rd foot , you don;t have much chance . This feature has been widely criticised by many for this reason .

 

[welland99]

This feature has been widely criticised by many for this reason .

I can understand why. Maybe this is one reason why MB don't sell many manuals.

 

[280gee]

Its much tougher than that Dave.

Thanks for the info Olly, that's reassuring.

FWIW
I use the parking brake when I deem that an incline requires it, like the ski slope near your workshop.