Do you use parking brake?

(I do not own a gen 4, but I have had a Gen 2 and a v)

The Pawl that is inserted into the gears when in Park has several degrees of slop. It is not a instant block, my SWAG would be 5 degrees of free range. (maybe 3 inches of for and aft movement, just once per Park)


I live in an extremely flat part of the country, I can travel 154 miles and only gain 90 feet, so I rarely use the parking brake unless I am away from home.

Looking at maps of Dover, I would avoid rolling into Delaware Bay.

 

Someone suggested to me that using the Parking Brake is a good idea in addition to switching to Park to reduce the wear on the Park gear. Not sure how true that is though.

 

Yes....it's a lot cheaper replace parking brake than this part inside of transmission....

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Cool Thanks

 

Prius do not have transmissions.

 

Mine do, in fact, it also contains a differential, so it is a transaxle as well.

"In British English, the term transmission refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive), differential, and final drive shafts. In American English, however, the term refers more specifically to the gearbox alone, and detailed usage differs" - Transmission (mechanics) - Wikipedia

So in British, the half shafts out to the wheels are part of the transmission, while in American, it is just the lump to the right of the engine. "In American English, a gearbox can be any housing containing a gear train, even just one pair of bevel gears; a transmission is a type of gearbox that is used to dynamically change the speed-torque ratio such as in a vehicle; and automatic transmissions are usually called by that name only, although manual transmissions are often called gearboxes."

"In the automotive field, a transaxle is a major mechanical component that combines the functionality of the transmission, the differential, and associated components of the driven axle into one integrated assembly." - Transaxle - Wikipedia

 

I also find it useful when arriving home and wanting to take shots of the operational screens. Many are inaccessible when in "P". So I leave the car in "D" and set the parking brake. Get the data I am interested and then put the car in "P".

Bob Wilson

 

The only time I may not use the parking brake is in humid/wet freezing weather, just in case the mechanism freezes up. I use it all other times, for the reasons cited above.

 

I have always used the parking brake when I'm parked.

Eons ago, when I was learning to drive (mostly on a manual transmission), I habitually parked it in neutral with parking brake on. Then again, that was in Houston, which is flat flat flat...

 

It's also good when you accidentally leave the car running and get out....

I've probably done this half a dozen times since buying the car in September.

From previous non-hybrid driving, I've carried over and now reinforced automatic habitual sequencing of pressing the parking brake when I stop the car for good, and it's saved me.

I think it's this: sometimes when I'm talking with my son before getting out of the car, I win't turn the car off because we need the hvac. We're in a hurry, plans change, we stop at the house to pick something up, that sort of thing. Then we do exit, and oops, I've left the car running, occasionally not even in park!! So, habitual use of the parking brake has been great, and critical.

Now that I've got that down, I think I need to start turning off the car..

 

When I drove a car with stick I always left in reverse and rarely used the parking brake unless on a hill.

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One thing I've come to like with our other car is opening the driver door automatically puts it in park and turns off the car. The only way to exit the car and leave it READY is to latch the seat-belt behind my back. But I've not really found a good reason for doing that.

A big advantage of our plug-in hybrids is they have all but eliminated the startup penalty.

Bob Wilson

 

I'm not sure the parking brake has ever been set on my 2004.

Setting the parking brake around here can result in it getting frozen in the on position so I never, ever set it on a car with an automatic. On a manual I will on a steep hill because there's no mechanical lock, just engine compression.

I take that back. I set it on my 2004 when I'm rotating the tires or when I have it on a jack for oil changes.

 

Yeah, any car we've had, always used the park brake. I want the car stopped, not sloshing around within the limits of the transmission's locking mechanism. I try to set it a bit lighter, in the garage, on the level.

 

It doesn't need to be applied on any ground, unless you think it's slippery enough that you need the traction of all four tires to prevent it from sliding.

I don't use it even on my driveway, which is a 10% grade.

 

Only when I'm parked on an incline or decline. Otherwise no.

 

I use mine all the time.


iPhone ?

 

i only use mine when the car feels like it's rolling fast when i let off the brake in neutral. it's more of a feel thing.
and in winter, i'm even more conservative.

 

I try and avoid leaving the engine running if I get out of the car. But if I do I always set the parking brake, even though it's already in park, just for that extra insurance. And I also set it if parked on a hill. But in a level parking lot or in my garage? Never. Except as Lee Jay said when rotating my tires or changing oil.

As for wearing out my transaxle by putting it in park without setting the parking brake, well I guess I am doubly guilty, because if I am at a stoplight for more than a minute I put it in park so that I can take my foot off the brake. Otherwise you have to hold firm pressure on the brake pedal to keep SOC from slowly leaking out, something I discovered with my ScanGauge. That's on my Gen 2 anyway not sure about later models.