I just bought a 2002 EB Z06 Friday.

On Saturday I went for a short ride and parked the car on my slanted driveway. Woke up to find my car in the ditch across the street. At first I was freaked out(still freaked out) and thought that I had forgotten to pull the parking brake. When I got into the car I found that I had pulled the parking brake. The car rolled dispite the parking brake being engaged...

Today I did a little test to find out if I could recreat the same situation. I pulled the brake and got out of the car, pushed on the rear tire and the car rolled without a whole lot of effort.

I found that if I muscled the brake handle up another two clicks, it would hold.

Unfortunately, my "6000 mile never been in rain Z06" had to go into the ditch for me to find this out.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to get this fixed? The dealership is being helpful but they act as though this is my fault and I, in some way feel responsible but at the same time don't. Who would have known that I need to pull my arm out of socket to get the parking brake to hold a day after I bought the car???????

The exhaust is damaged/bent and the fiber glass between/behind the exhaust tips is cracked and damaged. I haven't taken it into the dealership yet...

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Nick

 

Sadly, if you search the archives you'll find you are not alone. This particular design is prone to this behavior. Mine is in the shop today for this very problem. There are lots of threads on how to adjust the brake so it holds better, but I think you'll find that the problem will return.

 

Why would you leave a car parked out of gear? The E brake on these things has never been reliable.

 

The park brake on my 03 is hopeless. I am taking it in for a service this week and will get it adjusted.

 

I've been parking manual transmission vehicles with only the parking brake for years. Never had any problems. This is my first Corvette so I wasn't aware of the reliability issue. The question as to why would I leave a car parked out of gear is a little late. I'd have left the car in gear and blocked the tires had I known the, "Parking Brake" (per my owners manual) was unreliable...

How do I present this issue to the dealership without having to come out of pocket for repairs or go to my insurance company to cover it? If there is an issue with the parking brake, why isn't there a related TSB or other documentation to support it? Again, any help is greatly appreciated!

 

Parking brake?

Oh is that what that thingy is, I thought it was just there as a decoration cause,

THE DAMN THING DOES NOT WORK!!!!!

PUT IT IN GEAR OR SOMEDAY IT WILL BE DOWN THE BLOCK!!!!

 

20,000 miles on my '03 z and 252,000 on my 66, and nary a single prob w/ the E brake. i always leave the car in gear and set the E brake with exuberance

 

The parking brake is easily adjustable IF corrosion hasn't set in on the adjustment mechanism already. To adjust, drive backwards about 15 ft, pull up moderately on the parking brake to engage and stop the car. Do this several times until the parking brake will hold the car with about 3 clicks of the parking brake engaged. If it doesn't adjust and hold, then you will have to have the parking brake adjustment made manually by removing the disk, clean and adjusting the mechanism, reinstall the disk and you should have a working parking brake again.
Never trust the parking brake alone to hold a vehicle, many do, and find their vehicles in places other than where they left them. It isn't limited to Corvettes, the lesson is just more expensive in a Vette.

zo6vettepilot

 

oh how true! just yesterday, a friend with a mini cooper s trusted the E brake, ran into the house and back out to find the car across the street, stuck in the back end of a brand new pickup... looked obscene...

 

That's the reason why you should make it a habit of always putting it in GEAR....