3 Reasons Why Your Parking Brake Isn't Working

 

Throughout its lifespan, the ordinary car is likely to encounter a variety of technical faults, many of which might be alarming to drivers. Few mechanical problems are as annoying as those involving a vehicle's brakes, which are the most critical piece of vehicle safety equipment.

While most people think of a lack of stopping force as the most serious of all brake problems, you might also have brakes that are locked or seized. More precisely, despite efforts to the contrary, a vehicle's parking brake or emergency brake might freeze, leaving such safety equipment applied.

Many car owners and drivers are unaware that one of the most common reasons for a MOT test failure is a faulty parking brake. Complete a MOT history check online to confirm if this was ever the case with your vehicle.

Parking brakes stick significantly more frequently than most people think, especially with specific makes and models of vehicles. This is a challenging situation in which one must figure out just how to proceed.

If you check MOT history online or go through your previous MOT certificates, you will most likely establish that a faulty parking brake was a reason for a MOT failure.

The Reasons for a Stuck Parking Brake

There are a variety of reasons for a vehicle's parking brake to stick, each of which can be equally frustrating in the moment. Some of the most common reasons of a jammed parking brake are listed below:

1.      Corrosion - The most common reason of a jammed parking brake is corrosion. Rust can destroy a vehicle's parking brake cable, mechanism, or linkage over time, leaving it unusable. This is especially frequent in automobiles that have spent a significant amount of time in colder regions, when road salt is applied on a regular basis. When a vehicle's parking brake isn't utilised very often, these issues get even worse. Search online for garages in Reading and book in your car with a mechanic to repair this issue before it gets worse.

2.      Rigid Application - Admit it or not, applying too much effort to your parking brake, whether on a foot pedal or a hand lever, might cause it to jam. For a safe parking brake application, just modest power is necessary. Anything more than this can extend a vehicle's parking brake cable or jam the terminal connection of a parking brake, both of which can be problematic. When completing car services in Reading, request the mechanic to adjust the parking brake cables if required.

3.      Extreme Cold Weather - Extreme cold conditions can create a variety of braking difficulties. If left set overnight or for a lengthy period in many northern regions, a vehicle's parking brake can actually freeze in the applied position. This is especially likely if the car was driven in rainy conditions and then parked with the emergency brake engaged. Before going, one must first discover a technique to defrost their frozen brake connection.

What exactly is a parking brake?

A parking brake is an additional braking device that can prevent a vehicle from driving forward or backward even if the car's regular brakes are not used. In other words when you have not applied pressure on the brake pedal.

An e-brake is another name for a parking brake. To lock the wheels in place, the emergency brake works by bypassing your vehicle's hydraulic braking system. The emergency brake lever is connected to wires in this mechanical arrangement. When drum brakes are engaged, the cables pull another lever that applies pressure to the brake shoes or brake pads to hold the vehicle in place.

Parking brakes are nearly usually cable-operated by design, requiring the depressing of a particular pedal or the sweeping of a handbrake lever, depending on the vehicle. This form of application pulls a vehicle's parking brake wire, putting pressure on a tensioning mechanism.

By disengaging a vehicle's parking brake pedal or raising a handbrake lever back to its neutral position, pressure is relieved on this braking system. If you don't do it before driving away, your vehicle's emergency brakes will drag, which might be dangerous.

Different Types of Parking Brakes

Parking brakes come in a variety of styles and are used on today's roads. The type of parking brake that comes standard on a car differs depending on the manufacturer and model.

The most prevalent types of parking brakes in use today are listed below.

1.      Drum-Style Parking Brake - Vehicles with drum brakes use an unique cable-driven lever to engage the assembly's brake shoes, which are wedged against the brake drum's inner diameter. This occurs without the wheel cylinder of the assembly being actuated, as is usual in hydraulic braking applications.

2.      Disc/Drum Hybrid Parking Brake - A separate drum-style parking brake system is now placed within the hat of a rear brake disc on many cars with 4-wheel disc brakes. This cable-driven system works in the same way as regular drum brake-equipped automobiles do. Internally mounted brake shoes touch the inside surface of the discs hat when the parking brake line is tensioned, indicating friction.

3.      Modified Disc Parking Brake - A handful of recent vehicles with 4-wheel disc brakes have a modified disc brake design that applies the brakes through the vehicle's rear calipers. This type of parking brake relies on a cable-driven lever to pull the brake piston of a caliper outward. This is in stark contrast to a service brake application, which is finished via hydraulic force delivery.

4.      Electronic Parking Brake - A number of automobiles have begun to adopt electrically activated parking brakes in recent years. The electrical mechanism is built into the rear brake callipers of a car. An electric motor drives the piston of a brake calliper outward when a switch or button is pressed, forcing the associated brake pads to contact the disc.