How does your e-brake work?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
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From: Never take a girl out for a cup of coffee, the last thing you want her to be is alert and focused. Tampa, FL
St. Jude Donor '05
How does your e-brake work?
I slowly lifted my e-brake while driving around 50MPH and shifting in neutral. The e-brake hardly did anything. I felt it brake a little bit but even when i pulled up hard on it and made sure it was fully up, the car would only slow down a very small amount. Tell me that's not how it's supposed to work. I didn't want to experiment to see if maybe a fast lifting motion made a difference in stopping power.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 27,420
Likes: 64
From: San Clemente CA
The right way to test it is to park on a hill and set the brake and see if it holds. At fifty miles per hour I am surprised you felt anything. The emergency brakes and not the disk brakes but small shoe brakes inside a drum on the rear rotors. The service manual page 5-107 show's illustration's and tell's how it works. 
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 53,520
Likes: 77
From: Arizona
There have been complaints that it doesn't hold well.
I actually sustained minor front end damage as a result. The e-brake was on, and I still rolled forward. I was idling in neutral, and the garage surface was almost imperceptibly sloping downward. I've learned to crank it on forcibly now.
I actually sustained minor front end damage as a result. The e-brake was on, and I still rolled forward. I was idling in neutral, and the garage surface was almost imperceptibly sloping downward. I've learned to crank it on forcibly now.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 967
Likes: 1
From: / California
I wonder if this is a breakdown in terminology. Years ago, this brake was called the 'Emergency Brake' and Yes, it would bring the car to a stop from speed, with unpredictable control, but it would stop. In more recent years, this brake is called the 'Parking Brake'. There is a difference. The C6 brake is a Parking Brake, not an Emergency Brake. Cars for many years now have been equiped with Parking Brakes. This may have been guided by the government so that drivers wouldn't use the Emergency Brake to stop their cars in other than emergencies.
Sometime this brake is referred to as the "Hand Brake" but that just indicates the way the brake is applied.
The bottom line is that the Parking Brake in the C6 is just that, a brake the hold the car in place when parked. My driveway has a slope to it and my parking brake will hold my car in place.
Sometime this brake is referred to as the "Hand Brake" but that just indicates the way the brake is applied.
The bottom line is that the Parking Brake in the C6 is just that, a brake the hold the car in place when parked. My driveway has a slope to it and my parking brake will hold my car in place.
Last edited by quickride; Nov 11, 2005 at 12:51 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 199
Likes: 1
mine was the same way.... i had to really yank it all the way to even hold a little.... i did take the car in for service for that and other things and they were able to adjust the brake to hold and with only a slight pull now Hope this helps
Night Race Blue 427
Joined: Feb 1999
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From: Muncie, Indiana ...... Can I buy an amplifier on time ... I ani't got no money now but I'll pay you before I die
It's a parking brake not an emergency brake. It's not meant to be used when moving.
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 53,520
Likes: 77
From: Arizona
Originally Posted by Corvette Junkie
It's a parking brake not an emergency brake. It's not meant to be used when moving.
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Team Owner
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From: YOU SEE ... I'M NOT CRAZY ...I'M JUST AHEAD OF THE CURVE
St. Jude Donor '09-'10
if it is constructed like on the C5 - it's simply a very small drum assembly inside the rear end wheel housing unit ... very small.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,611
Likes: 5
From: Thousand Oaks California
Originally Posted by C6Monty
Wow...if it won't work while moving I hope anyone with a real emergency is sitting still!! 
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,044
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From: Never take a girl out for a cup of coffee, the last thing you want her to be is alert and focused. Tampa, FL
St. Jude Donor '05
Good to know, I'll be sure to remember that it's a parking brake when my normal brakes don't work. 
I guess my IS300 has an e-brake since that car will actually stop when it is pulled. It's interesting that the automatics have a parking brake when they have P(for Park). 
I guess my IS300 has an e-brake since that car will actually stop when it is pulled. It's interesting that the automatics have a parking brake when they have P(for Park).
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 10,115
Likes: 0
From: I am Jack's out-dated Fight Club reference. MD
Originally Posted by quickride
I wonder if this is a breakdown in terminology. Years ago, this brake was called the 'Emergency Brake' and Yes, it would bring the car to a stop from speed, with unpredictable control, but it would stop. In more recent years, this brake is called the 'Parking Brake'. There is a difference. The C6 brake is a Parking Brake, not an Emergency Brake. Cars for many years now have been equiped with Parking Brakes. This may have been guided by the government so that drivers wouldn't use the Emergency Brake to stop their cars in other than emergencies.
Sometime this brake is referred to as the "Hand Brake" but that just indicates the way the brake is applied.
The bottom line is that the Parking Brake in the C6 is just that, a brake the hold the car in place when parked. My driveway has a slope to it and my parking brake will hold my car in place.
Sometime this brake is referred to as the "Hand Brake" but that just indicates the way the brake is applied.
The bottom line is that the Parking Brake in the C6 is just that, a brake the hold the car in place when parked. My driveway has a slope to it and my parking brake will hold my car in place.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 967
Likes: 1
From: / California
Originally Posted by VIPERxGTx2000
Good to know, I'll be sure to remember that it's a parking brake when my normal brakes don't work. I guess my IS300 has an e-brake since that car will actually stop when it is pulled. It's interesting that the automatics have a parking brake when they have P(for Park).
I guess my IS300 has an e-brake since that car will actually stop when it is pulled. It's interesting that the automatics have a parking brake when they have P(for Park). 
Racer
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 312
Likes: 0
From: Northern VA near DC
Originally Posted by quickride
You should be aware that the Park position on an automatic transmission is a little misleading. Yes, it is the position used when the car is parked BUT it is more of getting the car out of gear than it is to actually hold the car in a parked postition. It is true that Park will hold a car BUT I'm pretty sure that the only thing actually holding the weight of the car is a small pin maybe a quarter inch in diameter. This pin doesn't have the mass of the gear set within a manual transmission that you engage when you leave it in gear when parked. IMO, it's a bad idea to use the Park position on an automatic to hold the car in place without using the parking brake even on level ground.
Chevy's had e-brakes as recently as the late 90s though, for sure - my 96 Cavalier plus a smartass in the backseat equaled fun-with-ebrake once. NOT FUN. Luckily I got the lever back down before we hit anything. I almost kicked his ***, but I was too shaken up.
Last edited by jammadave; Nov 15, 2005 at 09:40 AM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 947
Likes: 46
From: Saint Cloud Florida
Mine works pretty good for what I use it for, to keep the car from rolling off when parked. I had C2's and C3's for years which received a lot of flack re the parking brake, but they were also adequate when used properly. It is just not good to drive with it on.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,284
Likes: 3
From: Southwest Florida
Originally Posted by VET4LES
The right way to test it is to park on a hill and set the brake and see if it holds. At fifty miles per hour I am surprised you felt anything. The emergency brakes and not the disk brakes but small shoe brakes inside a drum on the rear rotors. The service manual page 5-107 show's illustration's and tell's how it works.
Seriously, my parking brake will hold the car very well on some pretty ridiculous inclines. Can't say the same for my C5 even though I took the wheels off every once in a while to adjust the drums manually.
Mike
