Do you use parking brake?

Something is wrong with your parking brake; take it to the dealer. There is a ratcheting mechanism on the parking brake that should hold it down on first depress. You might be able to hear or feel its clicking while depressing.

The gen4 had a recall early on because of the parking brake. Could the Prime's be affected?

 

I always use my parking brake, it's one way to know if they're still working.

 

Are the parking brake and regular brake pedals getting confused in this discussion? Just wondering. Regular brake pedal comes right back up as you lift off (obviously), but parking brake stays down with the first push, releases with the next. At least it should.

 

I know right, kinda makes me wonder if there's a bunch (not that that's bad) of first time drivers who need a primer on basic cabin control buttons, switches and pedals. Heaven forbid somebody starts saying the forbidden "E-brakes" term in the mix.


Anyways, I'm in the always use the Parking brake (the one on the far left lol) camp since I really don't like that 2-3 inch (or whatever) "parking prawl" roll/nudge whenever I take my foot of the brake pedal. A thousand or so of those nudges will wear on something at some point.

 

It's a brand new car with a defect. Happens. Have them fix it.

-Chap

 

Also, I've heard if you rarely if ever use the parking brake, it's cables start to go bad, get grit/rust, seize up.

I use the parking brake judicially, ie: in our garage, level slab, I applied it less forcefully, then say parked on a steep hill. In the latter situation, you should also follow angling the front wheel protocol, rolling the front or back of the wheel gently to the curb (where applicable).

 

They are following the manual instructions that have you depress the parking brake while also applying the brakes.

 

The problem is with the directions in the manual.

Clicking? This is the first time that I have had any knowledge that I am supposed to hear a "click" when pressing the parking brake pedal with my foot. The manual said NOTHING about a click.

So, I just tried pushing the parking brake pedal on the left down MUCH HARDER (e.g., "wicked hahd") with my left foot, and finally, I heard it click into place. Then it stayed there.

That "click" is NOT mentioned in the manual, and that is a big deal to me, because as I kept pressing, it wasn't working, I feared increasingly more that I was doing it wrong and breaking it if I kept pushing harder, despite following exactly what the directions said to do.

So, I want to get the word out, to clarify the directions in the manual: You need to keep pressing down with your left foot until you hear or feel a click.

No. As Trollbait just clarified above, you have to click it into place, or it won't stay down. Again, this was not stated in the manual.

I also want to ask: Why did Toyota move the parking brake down from an elbow-height convenient bar that you lift to an in-the-way-of-my-feet pedal?

With that being said, I personally would use the parking brake more if it was at elbow's height as with the Prius c, since it's such an easy reach and doesn't require dancing around with my feet. But with the brake on the Prime being where it is, I will use it less than in my c since this one is more of a PITA (and if I recall, is more of an old-car thing).

 

Maybe it is time I should test to see if my parking brake even works? Don't need it much here in the Midwest.

 

If you have to press "wicked hahd" before the ratchet engages, some overenthusiastic brake-cable-adjuster may have cranked it way too tight. I just moosh my pedal down moderately, there it stays, moosh it again, back up it comes.

-Chap

 

The gen2 had the foot parking brake pedal. So does our new Camry.

 

Not really. A parking pawl is very likely stronger than every other component in the drive line.

I've virtually never used the parking brake in my life, and I've never once had a car either get away on its own or break the parking lock system. We often use a pawl to lock out wind turbine rotation (the failure of which could kill people working in the rotor), and a wind turbine rotor can produce millions of foot-pounds of torque.

 

So, do these wind turbines also have a parking brake?

 

Yes...but it's not considered safe to enter the rotor with just the parking brake restraining the machine. You have to add the pawl.

To be clear, not all turbines use a pawl. Some use another mechanical locking approach. But all consider the brake unreliable and the pawl or other mechanical lock to be the reliable part - reliable enough to be put people's lives in the balance.

 

I'm just belts and braces: the transmission's Park gear is mandatory, but if I'm offered a second mechanism, the parking brake, I'm going to take advantage of it too.

On the flip side, maybe bad news to have parking brake on if there's a possibility you could be towed.

 

Plus that annoying roll-clunk-bounce.

Driver's Ed Guru makes some fairly plausible points. Just one of them is, under some strong impact such as a rear-ender while parallel parked (I've known it to happen!), if only the pawl is in place, and shears, the car rolls away freely. With the brake applied, it will roll a short distance, but stop.

-Chap

 

…if think if there's a possibility that your Prius might be towed, at any time would be worrying no matter what, and if the parking-brake were engaged or not would be the very least of my worries!

…and I only ever use the parking-brake if I think it necessary (i.e. edge of cliff, on a steep hill, next to a lake to name but 3 )

 

Which doesn't exist at all unless you park on a hill.

 

I don't consider the emergency brake a parking brake. I consider it an emergency brake - a brake to stop a rolling car if the hydraulic brakes fail, something the parking pawl cannot do. And constantly applying it needlessly definitely fatigues it, making it more likely to fail in an actual emergency.

 

The manufacturer, however, clearly considers it a parking brake, identifies and explains it as such, and does not provide the car with an "emergency" brake (though they do put a lot of work into the redundant, failsafe, antilock, stability controlled, assisted, features of the service brakes).

While you certainly can use the parking brake, if absolutely necessary, to stop the car in an emergency, it would be good to practice ahead of time on a skid pad. It only acts on the two wheels at the lightest end of the car, requires a strong push to have any useful effect, and is then devilish hard to modulate if you've overdone it, especially if the ratchet catches you, and you didn't start with a quick double-push to disengage it.

On Gen 1 and Gen 2 Prii (in the US, anyway; those models with rear drums and parking-strut-mounted adjusters), regular use of the parking brake is necessary to keep the rear lining clearances in adjustment. The Gen 3 (and presumably Gen 4) rear calipers don't have that requirement; they'll stay adjusted just fine whether you use the parking brake or not.

Interesting the idea of regular use fatiguing the mechanism and making it likely to fail. More often (I should say right up till just now) I've heard it suggested that lack of regular use is what's likely to lead to problems when needed (corrosion, generally). I have experienced that, and have had no experience or knowledge of a parking brake failing due to fatigue from regular normal use. Can you fill us in with your source?

-Chap