Using the Parking/Emergency Brake with an Automatic

[texan1800]

Everyone around here uses the parking brake with our automatic transmission HILUX. It drives me nuts. Every time someone else has even touched the truck it's engaged and I try to drive away not noticing it. Luckily I haven't gone far yet before I notice the little red warning light. In my 41 years of driving I've never bothered with it and for that matter I don't know anyone else who does. I've never had one returned to me with the parking brake engaged after service, or repairs, or inspections or even after loaning it out . I see where most experts recommend always engaging it, but that's the first I've heard of it. Of course, since I got out of college and could afford a car with AT I've lived in the flatlands (Houston and New Orleans). The steepest hill I see is my driveway, but I always park in the garage. Once in a while traveling somewhere on vacation I've been stuck with parking on steep hills and might use the parking brake there.

Is this mostly a Thailand thing? We live in the flatlands here too.

The other part I'm having trouble understanding is that they don't use the parking brake with a manual transmission. They park it in gear and don't bother with the brake. That's just the opposite of what I do with manual transmission cars. I park in neutral with the brake engaged.

[KhunBENQ]

Complete lack of technical background and a nonexistent topic for driving license.

[giddyup]

I left an automatic in Drive instead of Park and no handbrake, at the top of a very steep driveway. Came out to see the car wedged up an embankment halfway down the driveway. Only my good fortune the car didn't roll into a busy road possibly hurting someone. More good luck, the car was totally undamaged. I use the parking brake automatically now, just to be sure.

Might add that this was years ago and I went from driving my 5 speed manual to a company car which was automatic, in the same day. Careless I know.

Edited May 4, 2016 by giddyup

[overherebc]

On similar lines I've been in cars with Thai drivers who have pushed the lever into P just before the car has come to a complete stop. Probably doing 3,4 or 5 KPH. Always gets automatic 'Jesus!!!!' out of me and strange looks from the driver.

Maybe they've seen too many American movies ?

[seedy]

Derogatory post Removed. Warning Issued

[pgrahmm]

Better safe than sorry....

I've chased down a car rolling backwards downhill into a gas station diving through the drivers side open window before it wiped out a few cars and gas pumps....

With our 2 automatics I rarely set if close to level....The m/t I use it all the time.....Safe to say most Thais learned to drive a m/t thus the habit......You're lucky there's not a 4 kilo rock wedged under the tires too......They seem to have a homing device for finding these rocks out of thin air.....

However - I do curb the wheels....Where I grew up the street MIGHT have had 1' (one degree) of slant ------ my Dad was out there reminding me every time I parked....He drove the San Francisco streets & schooled his son accordingly.....To this day I curb the wheels.....Thanks Dad.....

[johnatong]

The OP would fail a driving test in the UK !

http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/waiting-and-parking---parking-239-to-247.html

[questionsreplies]

i do not understand your problem

[Scouse Twoccer]

It's your car and your gearbox so if you want to use the gearbox as a handbrake the choice is yours.

[aussiebrian]

The OP would fail a driving test in the UK !

http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/waiting-and-parking---parking-239-to-247.html

And Australia too

In an automatic you should always put the handbrake first before putting it in park or you are putting strain on the pawl. (except in a Thai shopping centre where the road is level and you are parking in-front of other vehicles. Then select neutral with no handbrake and wheels pointing straight so it can be pushed)

Most vehicle manufacturers^[3] and auto mechanics^[4] do not recommend using the transmission's parking pawl as the sole means of securing a parked vehicle, instead recommending it should only be engaged after first applying the vehicle's parking brake. Constant use of only the parking pawl, especially when parking on a steep incline, means that driveline components, and transmission internals, are kept constantly under stress, and can cause wear and eventual failure of the parking pawl or transmission linkage. The pawl might also fail or break if the vehicle is pushed with sufficient force, if the parking brake is not firmly engaged.

DELETED

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_pawl

Edited May 4, 2016 by seedy
fair use

[seedy]

Post Edited - Fair Use. Forum Rule -

14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Parking_pawl&id=704076680

[cnx355]

I use to live in a Canadian province where a lot of salt or abrasive was use on the roads in winters.

I always used my hand brake in Manual or Automatic cars as over the winter the corrosion would seize the hand brake cable if you never use it.

And if you always use it, , if one day you forget to put the car in PARK then the car is safe. from moving.

And, as some mentioned before, in many country the rules of the road require to use the hand brake while the car in parked.

PS But note that in Thailand, if you have to park in an alley behind other cars....do not use the hand brake and you have to leave you car in NEUTRAL so people can push it and move from their parking space. Then parking attendant use bricks or rocks to immobilize the car if there is a small slope.in the parking space. Very strange to see that, the first time someone is parked behind your car and you do not know about this Thai style parking rule. . A new learning experience.

[Robert24]

I use the handbreak too when parking but I agree with Scouse Twoccer, it's your car, if you don't want to use it, don't use it. Up to you.

[Gonsalviz]

The worst part of it is most don't set it tight enough and you can easily drive away with it engaged and smoke your brakes.

[aussiebrian]

OP says Everyone around here uses the parking brake with our automatic transmission HILUX. It drives me nuts.

It reminds me of

A man walks into a bar with a steering wheel shoved down his pants. The barman looks at him curiously and says, ''Buddy, you know you got a steering wheel shoved down your pants?'' The man answers, ''Yeah, I know! It's been driving me nuts all day.''

Edited May 5, 2016 by aussiebrian

[cumgranosalum]

ears ago when driving in the States one thing that struck me in particular was how lazy driving was over there - this i guess is a symptom of that.

[IMHO]

Maybe the OP should make a poll asking if you use the parking brake in your AT car. That way the OP will know if all those people he knows that do are the odd ones or not

[mihalis]

Always use park brake with auto or manuals cars................ Transmission mechanic friend of mine, said i was doing the write thing................

[pgrahmm]

I use to live in a Canadian province where a lot of salt or abrasive was use on the roads in winters.

I always used my hand brake in Manual or Automatic cars as over the winter the corrosion would seize the hand brake cable if you never use it.

And if you always use it, , if one day you forget to put the car in PARK then the car is safe. from moving.

And, as some mentioned before, in many country the rules of the road require to use the hand brake while the car in parked.

PS But note that in Thailand, if you have to park in an alley behind other cars....do not use the hand brake and you have to leave you car in NEUTRAL so people can push it and move from their parking space. Then parking attendant use bricks or rocks to immobilize the car if there is a small slope.in the parking space. Very strange to see that, the first time someone is parked behind your car and you do not know about this Thai style parking rule. . A new learning experience.

In the Sierra's we were told never to set the hand/e brake after driving in snow & icey driving.....The water would freeze on the cables and leave them unable to slaken/release until someone got under with a heat source....Icicles would actually form....Salt was not allowed there....

Our door handles would freeze too....One time I had to pull a guy out from under his 4x4 in a parking lot....He got so pissed and pulled so hard on the door handle he slipped under the vehicle & partially wedged himself under the car on ice....I heard him yelling and kicking/thrashing about before I looked around to see what was going on......He was one mad s.o.b. by the time I pulled him out....

[SnakeDoctor]

OP is American, guaranteed.

[Sheryl]

So am I, but I always use the parking brake, regardless of type of car

So does everyone I know.

[SnakeDoctor]

So am I, but I always use the parking brake, regardless of type of car

So does everyone I know.

Nice, the only people i've ever known to not use them constantly are American, they also call them e-brakes.

Sorry Texan1800, that's 41 years of doing it wrong.

Edited May 5, 2016 by SnakeDoctor

[emilymat]

Habits can develop depending on what country you come from - and your age.!

I'm from the UK, and when I was in my teens and twenties, automatic cars were a rarity. (I'd love to know what the current statistics are in the UK, but certainly manual transmission is still very popular).

So, we've been brought up on using the handbrake quite regularly, at traffic lights etc. Even dare I add, double de-clutching when changing down in a manual!

I've had an automatic Vios for 5 years and still put the car in neutral at lights and engage the handbrake. (The lights in Patts usually have a long period between red and green and the seconds countdown gives plenty of time to engage drive and release the handbrake) I take the view that putting it in neutral releases any 'strain' however small by having the car in drive and holding it on the footbrake. (Maybe I'm wrong and some more technical person will correct me)

Now, posters from the US etc have had automatic cars for donkeys years and have developed different 'habits' maybe.

I agree with the OP that leaving a manual car in gear when parked is dangerous in some circumstances,

[Classic Ray]

I usually put the transmission in P and set the handbrake when I leave the car, especially if on a hill. The other thing I do is shift into neutral and put the handbrake on when stopped at lights or in heavy traffic. Mainly to avoid needing to keep my foot on the footbrake, and the slight risk of lurching forward if my foot slips off.

I don't think it eases much strain on the transmission, but I feel good about it, and don't blind the following motorist with my brake lights at night or in the wet. What a nice man I am!

[Artificerman]

Having been retired for a while now I really don't follow the thought that a 'pawl' is used for an AT parking brake. A pawl only works in one direction, as on a winch etc. and all the both large and small AT's I have worked on as opposed to automated manual transmission use epicyclics for the gear train and in those the parking locks (engages) 2 gears in the same epicyclic which as you know any 2 engaged means a locked train.

[buythisdashcam]

Anybody not turning wheels left or right when parked on a slope is a ....

[Canuk23]

Any good driver knows to always and I mean always put the handbrake on regardless of transmission,

it is there for security if you dont use it especially in a hill its your transmission that has to do the work

and it's not meant to do this, a little bump from another car and your car goes down the hill, another thing

on top of using handbrake is that on a hill always turn your wheels to the left so that the car goes toward

the curb not the street.

[Canuk23]

I usually put the transmission in P and set the handbrake when I leave the car, especially if on a hill. The other thing I do is shift into neutral and put the handbrake on when stopped at lights or in heavy traffic. Mainly to avoid needing to keep my foot on the footbrake, and the slight risk of lurching forward if my foot slips off.

I don't think it eases much strain on the transmission, but I feel good about it, and don't blind the following motorist with my brake lights at night or in the wet. What a nice man I am!

Actually its harder on you trany to always shift when you stop to put the handbrake on and the put back in drive, second are you serious your brake lights are

there to warn others that you are stoped especially in wet weather one day someone will ram you.

[paulbj2]

Anyone who is used to driving cars with manual gearboxes, which is most people who aren't American, will use the handbrake when parking except possibly in winter in very cold countries when the pads can freeze to the disks and can be difficult to unfreeze.

You would certainly fail the driving test in every country I know if you failed to use it. In fact the standard procedure when stopping at say traffic lights is bring the vehicle to a halt, take it out of gear and apply the hand brake. Likewise at a Stop sign.

Most modern cars sold in Europe now have a system whereby the engine cuts out when you stop at traffic lights then it restarts when you press the clutch to engage a gear but I'm not sure how that works on a vehicle with automatic transmission.

[swissbie]

The OP would fail a driving test in the UK !

http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/waiting-and-parking---parking-239-to-247.html

And Australia too

In an automatic you should always put the handbrake first before putting it in park or you are putting strain on the pawl. (except in a Thai shopping centre where the road is level and you are parking in-front of other vehicles. Then select neutral with no handbrake and wheels pointing straight so it can be pushed)

Most vehicle manufacturers^[3] and auto mechanics^[4] do not recommend using the transmission's parking pawl as the sole means of securing a parked vehicle, instead recommending it should only be engaged after first applying the vehicle's parking brake. Constant use of only the parking pawl, especially when parking on a steep incline, means that driveline components, and transmission internals, are kept constantly under stress, and can cause wear and eventual failure of the parking pawl or transmission linkage. The pawl might also fail or break if the vehicle is pushed with sufficient force, if the parking brake is not firmly engaged.

DELETED

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_pawl

I do agree with you, but times are changing. I've just bought a new civic and you can't turn off the engine without putting the gear into parking. To put it in neutral and have it loked safely, they admit an extra key inside the remote to enable the car be pushed aside (has electronic parking- and holding breaks).