Setting the parking brake July 20, 2018, 02:54:53 pm The "reducing the stress on the parking pawl" comments suggested that it might be useful to remind drivers of automatic transmission vehicles (I believe that the information applies to all auto transmissions, but, if in doubt, consult the owner's manual for your particular vehicle) of the sequence of setting the parking brake before shifting the vehicle into "Park". This is the sequence that I follow with any of my vehicles with (a manual or an) automatic transmission; YMMV, as always.Stop: Stop the vehicle, then depress the brake pedal and shift into Neutral. Set the parking brake. Take your foot off brake pedal; vehicle “settles”/comes to rest. Depress the brake pedal and shift into "Park". Go: Start engine. Depress brake pedal. Shift from "Park" into "Neutral". Release parking brake. Depress brake pedal. Select appropriate gear. Go. 2 Likes
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #1 – July 20, 2018, 03:22:45 pm I try to remember to do this. However, I don't think the parking brake is used often by those in the flatter areas of the country. We once hopelessly confused my wife's cousin in Chicago when Nancy returned her Jeep. She couldn't get it going, because the parking brake was on. It was a feature with which she was not acquainted...Steve
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #2 – July 20, 2018, 03:49:27 pm Being a “Flat Lander”, I’ve never followed Joan’s procedure mostly because I was never told to do so. I actually drove manual transmissioned vehicles until 1987 when I purchased my first Ford TBird. Until just recently, I’d never heard of a “parking pawl”. Shows what I know. I have no doubt Joan is accurate about the correct procedure for setting the transmission into park, but a more foreign practice I have never experienced.In my ignorance, I was curious about the parking pawl. Here is a quick YouTube on its workings up close and personal. https://youtu.be/eh988eSAPc8Very interesting...https://youtu.be/krD4hdGvGHMKent 2 Likes
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #3 – July 20, 2018, 04:26:52 pm The sequence/procedure becomes rote pretty quickly! 😉 Setting the parking brake before shifting into “Park” allows the parking brake to “hold” the weight of the vehicle, taking the stress off the parking pawl, and prevents the pawl from becoming stuck and the shift lever from locking up in “Park”. I had one “brain blip” with not disengaging the parking brake before driving; backed up about 50’ before I came to! 😳 No damage, but the spectre of very expensive transmission repairs made me a good deal more attentive!On edit: I know that at least a few people have installed an alarm to warn them when the parking brake is on when they start to drive off.
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #4 – July 20, 2018, 04:29:56 pm "Being a "Flat Lander", I've never..."Not sure if I fall into that nitch but I hardly ever use the parking (emergency?) brake in my CRV. But in the LD, where it's required before I can deploy the levelers, it's a matter of routine. That being said, I am already in 'Park' when that action occurs. Is this harmful in any way? Regarding the CRV and my non-use of the parking brake I note however that Lazybones 2 makes a habit of it, much to the consternation of her father. But then who was it that taught her to drive??
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #5 – July 20, 2018, 05:22:23 pm “Regarding the CRV and my non-use of the parking brake I note however that Lazybones 2 makes a habit of it, much to the consternation of her father. But then who was it that taught her to drive??”And who Chauffeurs you around town? If I’m driving I’m setting in the parking brake, like wearing seatbelts its a habit. 😁 2 Likes
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #6 – July 20, 2018, 05:41:56 pm I've tried for forty years to get my wife to follow this parking brake procedure. No luck yet.Winter is an issue where I live though. If you set your brake your brakes may freeze together and the next morning you aren't going anywhere so sometimes it's just put it in park and hope for the best.
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #7 – July 20, 2018, 05:56:27 pm “...like wearing seatbelts its a habit...”Seatbelts are like buttoning my jeans...I feel naked without them. 🙀 Plus there ain’t nothin’ like a sealtbelt to hold you in the seat when heading round those mountain bends in the LD goin’ 70. 🤪 “Button up and buckle down” I always say. Now I just need to remember to put on the brakes.Kent 1 Likes
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #8 – July 20, 2018, 06:02:48 pm I’ve followed the procedure outlined by Joan for the last 50 years. Don’t know where I learned it, but it always seemed intuitive to make the parking brake do its work rather than the tranny. It’s one of the first things I impressed on each of my sons when I taught them to drive, followed by the threat, “if you screw up my transmission . . .” 🤨 From my observation when visiting them in hilly San Francisco, the dire threat stuck. — Jon 1 Likes
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #9 – July 21, 2018, 01:05:26 am Curious about the parking brake and the transmission parking pawl, I found a short article on line discussing the need to engage the parking/hand brake prior to putting the automatic transmission in “Park”.Why You Should Always Set the Parking Brake | YourMechanic AdviceI remember “back in the day” that I was admonished to NOT set the parking brake to avoid warping the brake drum. Then years later I remember hearing that was an old “wives tale”. Oh come on...Make up your mind.Oh my...Kent
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #10 – July 21, 2018, 09:22:55 am I only set the parking brake on hills or if I leave the vehicle with the engine running. That's 60 years of driving, including in three E350/450 motorhomes (total 270,000 miles). Never had a "pawl" problem, nor do I recall any of my many vehicles manuals exhorting me to do otherwise to protect it. Perhaps I'm not reading carefully enough, but even Click and Clack never mentioned it while I was listening to them And since the regular brakes immobilize the driveshaft, how can the parking brake make a difference?
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #11 – July 21, 2018, 09:33:24 am Cut and pasted from 2017-E-Series-Owners-Manual-version-1_om_EN-US_04_2016.pdfAUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONAlways set the parking brake fully and make sure the transmission is latched in park (P). Turn the ignitionoff and remove the key whenever you leave your vehicle.Putting your vehicle in or out of gear:1. Fully press down the brake pedal.2. Move the gearshift lever into the desired gear.3. Come to a complete stop.4. Move the gearshift lever and securely latch it in park (P).
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #12 – July 21, 2018, 09:38:41 am Quote from: Eric Greenwell - July 21, 2018, 09:22:55 amI only set the parking brake on hills or if I leave the vehicle with the engine running. That's 60 years of driving, including in three E350/450 motorhomes (total 270,000 miles). Never had a "pawl" problem, nor do I recall any of my many vehicles manuals exhorting me to do otherwise to protect it. Perhaps I'm not reading carefully enough, but even Click and Clack never mentioned it while I was listening to them And since the regular brakes immobilize the driveshaft, how can the parking brake make a difference?As an all around safety measure and to minimize wear and tear on the parking pawl, using the parking brake makes sense. But I'm with you, Eric, I've never used the parking brake on the LD or other vehicle except on hills. Probably because I was raised and learned to drive in central Indiana, about as flat as you can find anywhere. ChrisSaveSave
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #13 – July 21, 2018, 10:28:14 am Never lived where the parking brake might freeze. Grew up on a hillside where there were not flat spots to park. Using the parking brake seems as natural as the seat belt to me. Putting the trans in neutral before park is a new one on me. Only had manual trans vehicles until I was in my 30's. 1 Likes
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #14 – July 21, 2018, 11:21:13 am Hi Eric. Your 'regular brakes' only 'immobilize the drive shaft' when you are there pushing on the brake pedal, and the power assist is only when the engine is running. If someone were to run into your motorhome while it was parked, snap off the pawl inside the transmission, Then it would be free to roll off until it hit something substantial enough to stop it. In San Diego, there aren't many level places, so most drivers do use the parking brakes. At a place I used to work (in San Diego) a co-worker would jam his Volvo into park when he was still moving a bit, and some of us would comment that that was really hard on the transmission. He dismissed that as ***untrue***, and he never used the parking brake either, even though the parking lot, while almost level at the closest to our building, trailed off at a good slope further away. (Sneaky for the company to encourage early arrival to reduce the effort required to walk in from farther away.) Before there were surveilance cameras, we surmise someone bumped his car, and it went rolling away, glanced off a few cars, and picked up speed until it hit the retaining wall at the far end of the parking lot. He would never tell any of us how much that all cost. No one volunteered to take the blame. RonB
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #15 – July 21, 2018, 12:05:59 pm A point that has been ignored in the discussion so far is redundancy issue. I apply the parking brake first while in neutral, then take my foot off the brake to make certain the brake is actually holding. Sometimes it does not, on a hill, and I need to push harder. The park 'pawl' has been known to fail in unusual cases, and without the parking brake properly engaged...Steve
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #16 – July 21, 2018, 03:21:44 pm Interesting info. I have been a flat lander despite living more rural, though I have visited cities with hills at times. In San Francisco having the wheels turned into then curb and letting the car come to a full stop before engaging the parking brake / putting the car into park seemed much more effective than relying on the parking brake. I don't remember hearing anything about this but I have always owned a manual transmission until just a few years ago. [I was taught real car owners didn't own automatics as manual transmissions worked much better - maybe that was true way back then, I don't know.]With manual transmissions the parking break seemed more necessary as the car could easily move with a small push - though I would leave it in first when parked to prevent this (seemed more secure than just the parking brake).I admit with the automatic transmission CRV we now have, the park gear holds it so firmly in place I quit using the parking brake. Also because the step on to engage, step on again to disengage felt awkward to me (and what if it got stuck on) when I was used to pulling up in the stick next to the seat.I am guessing with no pawl on manual transmissions there was no need for the above described sequence. Is that true?JaneP.S. You know you are getting old when you are telling a story about your young adult life and instead of saying years ago you are saying decades ago. 1 Likes
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #17 – July 21, 2018, 09:53:09 pm Quote from: JandS2 - July 21, 2018, 03:21:44 pmJaneP.S. You know you are getting old when you are telling a story about your young adult life and instead of saying years ago you are saying decades ago.Or preface it with "Back in the last millennium..." 1 Likes
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #18 – July 22, 2018, 08:02:05 pm ?Has any one had parking pawl get nicked?You have to push the car up hill to get it out of park!
Re: Setting the parking brake Reply #19 – July 23, 2018, 12:42:19 am E450s (2008 and earlier) are unusual in having a driveshaft parking brake.Normally it doesn't matter if the brake is used before or after shifting into park since the parking brake locks up both of the rear wheels, the parking brake is part of the rear brake assembly . There is little or no stress the parking paw.A drive shaft parking brake locks the driveline up at the rear of the transmission, so when setting the brake on a slope, the rig will roll a couple inches before all the play is taken out of the rear differential and driveshaft slip-joints.With this system, setting the parking brake first, when on a good slope, eliminates the parking paw from holding the full weigh of the vehicle. I have forgot to to do this on steep hills before and had to yank hard on the shift lever to get it out of Park.In 2008, Ford dropped the drive shaft parking brake and changed to a rear axle that included rear parking brakes.Parking paws are designed to be tough to withstand accidental engagement when the vehicle has not come to a full stop first.If you try putting most transmissions into Park, while still moving too fast, the paw will bounce across the top of the detents, while making a rapid clicking noise, ending in a clunk and a shuttering stop. Try not to do this. Parking paws can break, resulting in a very expensive repair.Larry
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