Parking Brake Comes on Intermittently?

WPJoe

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I have recently noticed that sometimes I start my car, start to drive and then feel a strong jerking motion because the parking brake is on.
I NEVER turn on the parking brake.
For some reason (some setting?) it is sometimes just on and activated when I get in the car to drive.
Its really annoying - anyone have ideas of why this may be happening?

Thanks.
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macchiaz-o

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I have recently noticed that sometimes I start my car, start to drive and then feel a strong jerking motion because the parking brake is on.
I NEVER turn on the parking brake.
For some reason (some setting?) it is sometimes just on and activated when I get in the car to drive.
Its really annoying - anyone have ideas of why this may be happening?
I think it's a bug in the vehicle software. The car wants to put on the parking brake if it's in Park gear and it detects rocking or too much inclination/declination on the road surface. In your case, whatever module makes this decision seems to be detecting rocking and isn't aware of the fact that the vehicle's no longer in Park. It's finding out too late. OR, it does want to set the parking brake but whatever module receives this message has some logic issue causing its reaction to be delayed until after you switch back to drive. I don't know which, but it sucks either way.

I've had this happen to me maybe 3 or 4 times. Every time it was in this specific situation and I imagine your situation (at the step where you set it back to Drive) is similar.

I stop at my community mailbox on the way home... To get my mail, I place the vehicle in park and I typically don't set the parking brake. Then I get out, leaving the door open while I get my mail, then get back in, close the door, and put the vehicle back in Drive. On the rare occasions (like I said, maybe 3 or 4 times in 15 months), the vehicle activates the parking brake just after I begin driving. I've moved maybe 3 feet at most when this happens, and it is alarming and completely unexpected.

Even though the road next to the community mailboxes is nice and level, the car is rocking on the parking pawl just from the action of my getting out of the driver seat. Yet, sometimes it will set the parking brake and sometimes it doesn't.

My workaround is to set the parking brake every time I get out of the car (if I remember to do so). I don't release it until my foot is on the brake pedal, to minimize any rocking.
 
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WPJoe

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thanks - I think for me its different. it doesnt come on while I am driving. it just sometimes comes on when I have parked the car, so that when I next get in the car, if I dont realize its on and release it (which I usually dont), when I accelerate the car it comes to a jerky halt...
 

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Both @Neil4Real and @macchiaz-o are correct. The car will automatically put it on in certain circumstances, normally when opening a door while in drive, but there's also some vehicles that are bugged where it happens when you turn off the car.

Either way, you don't have to manually disengage it every time. Just depress the accelerator and it will automatically disengage the parking brake.

Before I get a thousand grumpy old men telling me that the aforementioned is "bad" for the car, the owners manual says it's perfectly fine to do!

Ford Mustang Mach-E Parking Brake Comes on Intermittently? 1656269766638
 


macchiaz-o

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thanks - I think for me its different. it doesnt come on while I am driving. it just sometimes comes on when I have parked the car, so that when I next get in the car, if I dont realize its on and release it (which I usually dont), when I accelerate the car it comes to a jerky halt...
When you get back in the car and begin driving normally, it should release the parking brake automatically. You'll probably notice the slight resistance when this happens, like a brief little hiccup but it should be nothing more.

If your parking brake stays engaged, or if it engages while you're driving, then either of those is a bad situation.

For myself, I was describing that last situation: it engages while I'm driving, albeit within the first second or two of being in Drive.
 

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thanks - I think for me its different. it doesnt come on while I am driving. it just sometimes comes on when I have parked the car, so that when I next get in the car, if I dont realize its on and release it (which I usually dont), when I accelerate the car it comes to a jerky halt...
Yeah, that is kinda normal. Like the others have mentioned.....the car will set the brake automatically when you park depending on conditions. It isn't super consistent though so I usually press the button manually each time. It is just a habit since I have several different personal vehicles and a large number of fleet vehicles. So I am in the habit of always using the parking brake before exiting the cabin.

The MME should also release it automatically when you shift into D, R or L and apply some pressure on the accelerator pedal. Alternatively, you can get into the habit of looking for the green "Ready" text in the instrument cluster before driving off and the red "Brake" is right next to it. If you see "Brake" displayed then just slide your hand over to press down on the release after you have rotated the dial to select whatever gear you are using. It has become a habit for me now. Rotate the dial right and push down on the parking brake switch. When parking, I rotate left and pull up on the switch.
 
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WPJoe

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Thanks for all the feedback.
I think maybe I have a bigger problem than the fact that its kicking in to the parking brake seemingly randomly...
Because I dont think when I start driving it is automatically releasing (I did see that written in the manual when I was looking into this myself). When I start driving I feel a pretty strong jolt - and then I am pretty sure it is staying on until I disengage it myself.

I will pay close attention next time it happens, but I definitely feel a strong jolt, not a small "hiccup"
 

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Thanks for all the feedback.
I think maybe I have a bigger problem than the fact that its kicking in to the parking brake seemingly randomly...
Because I dont think when I start driving it is automatically releasing (I did see that written in the manual when I was looking into this myself). When I start driving I feel a pretty strong jolt - and then I am pretty sure it is staying on until I disengage it myself.

I will pay close attention next time it happens, but I definitely feel a strong jolt, not a small "hiccup"
What’s the build date on your car? Do you notice this more after your car is wet (rain, car wash, driving through puddles, etc.)? You could have your brake pads sticking, which is an entirely separate issue and one the dealers can fix by replacing the pads and resurfacing the rotors.
 

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What’s the build date on your car? Do you notice this more after your car is wet (rain, car wash, driving through puddles, etc.)? You could have your brake pads sticking, which is an entirely separate issue and one the dealers can fix by replacing the pads and resurfacing the rotors.
Indeed. You have to check for corrosion on your pads every couple weeks if you use one pedal braking. If you do it correctly you’ll barely use your physical pads and they will build up corrosion and dust from the road use. I made a point to quickblast them with a power washer and blow them dry with a lawn blower every month or so. It’s a one pedal Thing and it might be part of the problem
Jes sayin
 

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Indeed. You have to check for corrosion on your pads every couple weeks if you use one pedal braking. If you do it correctly you’ll barely use your physical pads and they will build up corrosion and dust from the road use. I made a point to quickblast them with a power washer and blow them dry with a lawn blower every month or so. It’s a one pedal Thing and it might be part of the problem
Jes sayin
say what????

I use 1pd exclusively and have never had to blast them...

"jes sayin"
 
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Indeed. You have to check for corrosion on your pads every couple weeks if you use one pedal braking. If you do it correctly you’ll barely use your physical pads and they will build up corrosion and dust from the road use. I made a point to quickblast them with a power washer and blow them dry with a lawn blower every month or so. It’s a one pedal Thing and it might be part of the problem
Jes sayin
This sounds like a bad thing to do. All you need to do is do some hard braking on whisper every now and then and they are all good
 
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WPJoe

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... And would this result in parking brake coming in and not releasing? Or just jolting braking?
Because I'm actually having the brake light on and not release, which seems like a different issue?
 

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I have recently noticed that sometimes I start my car, start to drive and then feel a strong jerking motion because the parking brake is on.
I NEVER turn on the parking brake.
For some reason (some setting?) it is sometimes just on and activated when I get in the car to drive.
Its really annoying - anyone have ideas of why this may be happening?

Thanks.
I had the same problem until I turned off auto hold.
 

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Thanks for all the feedback.
I think maybe I have a bigger problem than the fact that its kicking in to the parking brake seemingly randomly...
Because I dont think when I start driving it is automatically releasing (I did see that written in the manual when I was looking into this myself). When I start driving I feel a pretty strong jolt - and then I am pretty sure it is staying on until I disengage it myself.

I will pay close attention next time it happens, but I definitely feel a strong jolt, not a small "hiccup"
When it releases automatically, there is a small bit of resistance so what you describe sounds kinda normal. I don't really like it either so I choose to disengage the parking brake myself so I avoid the jolt. Probably no harm done either way though....
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