Set parking brake properly....
 

If this saves someone a lot of grief, it's worth the post.

To set the corvette parking brake, have engine running,
push the brake pedal normally, while lifting the parking brake all
the way up.

I see many people just lift the lever, engine off and no brake pedal.
The brake pedal sets the brake tension.
Sorry for the boring thread.
....jerry

Not sure where you got this information, but not correct at all. The brake pedal/system in the C6 is not tied to the emergency brake in any way. Two independent systems.

The pedal puts pressure on the rear pads, the lever puts pressure
and holds the pads against the rotor.
Using the lever alone a woman would not get enough pressure to
hold the car.

...and it's NOT an emergency brake it's a parking brake.:willy:

Sorry, o/p is right, you are wrong. Read section 9-35 of the owners manual. It states exactly what the o/p has stated. http://www.chevrolet.com/assets/pdf/...ner_Manual.pdf

You don't understand how the "parking brake" works on the C6. There is a small set of actual "brake shoes" inside the rear rotors that are the parking brake. The actual pads have no connection to the parking brake itself. You should do a little research to educate yourself on the brake system of the C6.

And while driving, if your main brakes fail, you would be calling that an "emergency brake"!

That is to keep the car from moving while you are setting the parking brake. The two systems are independent.

From the Corvette C6 manual....

The parking brake lever is located
to the right of the center console.
To set the parking brake, hold the
brake pedal down. Pull the parking
brake lever up. If the ignition is on,
the brake system warning light will
come on.
To release the parking brake, hold
the brake pedal down. Then push
the release button in as you move
the parking brake lever all the
way down.

Can't you just go away?:ack:

That means nothing in trying to prove your point. Your just making a big assumption. Like I said, that is to keep the car from moving while you set the parking brake. Safety first. The same for when you release the parking brake. Hold the brake pedal down so the car does not roll when you release the parking brake. The two systems are not connected.

Here are the parts: http://store.gmpartshouse.com/partlo...layCatalogid=0

And no, I won't go away!

You're correct that this is what the manual says to do, but I don't think youre correct when you say "the brake pedal sets the brake tension". I appreciate you're wanting to warn people, but if you're giving them incorrect information, it's worse than not saying anything at all.

Why would you want someone to just go away when they're trying to correct the wrong info? Are you really trying to help people? If so, let's make sure it's the right info!

The manual also says you should park manual transmission vehicles in reverse... And then people go and say "it's to prevent DBS", when it's really just because it's safer to park with the tranny in reverse (especially with the weak parking brake!). :D

I believe the parking brake system is separate, and pushing the break pedal when setting the p-brake doesn't change the p-brake engagement at all. But I'm really happy to learn the facts! :lurk:

:thumbs:

If there is something here that I am wrong about, no problem admitting that. It's all about education.

That is my understanding also.

I believe the owners manual wins this one.

Explain why you think that.

Here is a good thread on the subject from 2007. Same braking system today.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...rake-work.html

You hold the brake pedal to hold the car in place while you set the parking brake. The parking brake is not tied to the regular brakes in any way. Two totally independent systems. And its not nice to tell someone to go away when they are correcting your mis-information. I believe an apology is in order.

:iagree: The C6 disc brake system and the parking / emergency brake are completely independent. The only common components are the rear brake rotors as the parking brake drums are integral with the rotors. Years ago there were many makes and models with 4 wheel disc brakes that did have the parking brake mechanism built into the caliper / pad / rotor assy. That system did not work very well , and now virtually all 4 wheel disc brake equipped cars and light trucks employ the separate system via integral drum. The owners manual does not imply otherwise. What it states is for the purpose of not abusing the drum portion of the system, I E , stop all motion / inertia with the hydraulic disc system, then hold the vehicle with the separate hand brake.

:iagree: I think the GM lawyers wrote that passage in the Owners Manual. I think we have all seen that with cars and other products over the past several decades. The corvette disc brake system since the early 60s has always used an independent set of drum shoes for the rear parking brake. I replaced my own on my 72 shark that I owned for 34 years.

I agree! :thumbs: For those who would like to understand the system, look at that thread, especially talon90's picture in post #6. And then look at dave pawlowski's explanation in post #28 (he has other good explanations in that same thread).

Forget the other bs about "feelings" and "this is what I remember about my 1980s car" and cut to the important posts. :thumbs:

:iagree:

I agree completely with what you have been saying. They are two separate systems. Holding your foot on the brake has nothing to do with the engagement of the e-brake.

I posted this because Lisa's ZR1 got away with the parking brake on,
she could have been killed.

My post is correct on 90% of newer vehicles...
However, the corvette C6 is an exception.
Mechanical brake shoes in a drum.

This would have been a good reply,
Swift jumped on me like I shot his dog.

"You are totally incorrect"
"You need an education"
"You don't know what your talking about"

I'm 65 years old, been around cars all my life but haven't had
the rotors off my C6 yet.
My apology for incorrect info, but my post couldn't hurt anyone
driving a C6, but is a must for other cars.
...jerry

:iagree:also
If you take out all the stuff the Legal Dept. requires for the owner's manual, it would be a much thinner book!

Examples:
Do not try to remove a roof panel while the vehicle is moving. Trying to remove the roof panel while the vehicle is moving could cause an accident. The panel could fall into the vehicle and cause you to lose control, or it could fly off and strike another vehicle. You or others could be injured. Remove the roof panel only when the vehicle is parked.

It can be dangerous to get out of the vehicle if the shift lever is not fully in P (Park) with the parking brake firmly set. The vehicle can roll. If you have left the engine running, the vehicle can move suddenly. You or others could be injured. To be sure the vehicle will not move, even when you are on fairly level ground, use the steps that follow.

Fans or other moving engine parts can injure you badly. Keep your hands away from moving parts once the engine is running.

Ad infinitum

Put in reverse if on down incline

Put in 1st if on up incline

Also turn wheels to toward curb, if near

People post incorrect information all the time. I have done so myself on more than one occasion and I have been corrected. That's not really the issue. But to tell someone to just go away because you "think" you are right is downright wrong. But hey, if you think by putting your foot through the floorboard before you set your parking brake is going to help hold your car in place then more power to you. No pun intended! :cheers:

In the first year of the C6(2005),it was mandatory to shut the car down in reverse to completely shut down the electrical system. Otherwise,it could kill the battery.

No wives tale....

100 % correct

You must be as much of a goof as the one that wrote the manual.

I would never have thought this issue of using the parking brake would ever have come up...:ack:

If on flat terrain just pull the lever.

If on incline or decline curb the tire, and use the lever. By the way on really steep hills, like in San Francisco I will leave the manual in gear too.
The city has some really nasty hills for parking on.

This is Driver's Ed 101.

Yup, correct. I meant to put that people still believe it on newer (2006 up) cars, as that's written in the manual. That's the fallacy. :thumbs:

I can see how you would have felt defensive. The one thing I was concerned about is you indicated that yours was the way to set the brake correctly, and it could easily have been understood as - stepping on the brake pedal is the important part to ensuring the p-brake is correctly engaged". That could easily have caused someone to not properly set the p-brake.

All of us C6 owners should know by now that the only correct way to set the p-brake is to pull all the way up, until the final click, and then pull again, just to make sure it's the final click. And then make sure the car is in reverse (if it's a manual transmission) because the p-brake sucks! (and that's the part of the manual that would really have prevented the accident yesterday). :cheers:

Never use my park brake, (actually, if I leave my car running and get out, yes I do use my parking brake, but not when I am shutting it off and done driving it) maybe someday I will have a thread about my car running away......but I bet not. :thumbs:

You are right. And those little parking brake shoes will have a hard time stopping the car in an emergency too.

But on the next page of the manual it tells you how to put it into park.
1) Hold the brake pedal down with your right foot and set the parking brake.
See Parking Brake on page 2-32 for more information.
2) Move the shifter lever into PARK (P) by holding in the button on the lever and pushing all the way forward of the vehicle.
3) Press the Acc. button (ignition switch) to turn the engine off.

It appears that GM assumes the driver is going to set the parking brake first and then put it into park. Just the opposite way I have ever done. The parking brake system on the Vette is a two separate pad system. Wait to you see how much those little pads cost if they ever need replaced. One of my old trainers would correct anyone who call it an emergency brake. "It is a parking brake, it won't stop dick".

Having done a complete BBK on my car I can confirm the above is correct. If the e-brake was tied to the calipers then it would probably hold better than it does with these "drum style" rings inside the rotor hub. Those are a joke, as so many have learned. :(

:lurk: No apology needed - this hasn't been a boring thread at all! :lurk:

And another decent thread turns into a pissing contest. :eek: Can't we all grow up on this forum? :yesnod:

Anyone who relies only on the "emergency" brake when they park their car, Corvette or otherwise, is in for a rude awakening one day. Leave it in gear. :thumbs:

The emergency brake is useful under loss of braking power in the normal system. When all else fails on the road, pull up on the handle and your car will slow to a stop. :yesnod:

Go to an empty parking lot at a mall some evening and try it out. You are correct stating it may have a hard time, but it WILL stop the car in a normal situation with loss of normal braking power. :cheers:

I am surprised this topic is even here, I learned how to use a parking brake even before I used to steal my parents car when I was 12.

Wait, that's a parking brake? I thought it was only there for power-sliding :thumbs: I can't imagine not leaving it in gear when parked...of course, I grew up driving MG's, so I was used to having a backup in case of mechanical failure :D

-AZschmeh

I leave all manual transmission cars in gear when parked.

I leave all automatic transmission cars in "P" when parked.

Why depend on the parking brake only when it can and will fail? The only time I depend on using the parking brake, is when I have to leave the engine running with the car parked.

Amen Tony. Some of these noobs know less than they think they know. :rofl: :lol:

:lol: You too? :rofl:

I did my internship in Healeys; same difference. :cheers:

Hopefully GM will go with the push button parking brake like the Audi's currently have on the C7.

I thought that lever was the line lock for drag racing. Never used it before and probably never will (hopefully).

Thanks for the information.

:iagree: Correct answer! Give this man a cigar. :thumbs:

Tom

a 7

I now use it all the time now as it cost me $4,400.00 because I didn't.

I remember from when I was a kid how the Corvette E Brake never worked all that well because it was just small regular brake pads inside a small diameter brake drum.
Regardless of that, I have always set the parking brake when I park, out of habit.
1. simply because it's there and it holds the vehicle from moving. And in the case of a Corvette, it helps even if it does not totally hold it.
2. to keep the cable and pads from becoming frozen from not being used.

As far as what the Owners Manual says, I never read it until this thread.

But, I always step on the brake pedal with the vehicle in Neutral before applying the E Brake and then put the vehicle in Park or in gear afterwards.
My reason for doing that is so the gears in the transmission, whether a Manual or Auto, are not supporting the weight of the vehicle.
When ready to drive the vehicle, I don't release the E Brake until the vehicle is running and in gear ready to drive off.

Anyway, just some info and take it for what it's worth :cheers:

I meant C7 as in the next Corvette, sorry for not being more clear.

I always use the parking brake on the C6 just so the exit mode on the power seats work; I have a narrow garage and narrow parking spaces at work. I also leave it in gear since I don't really trust the brake.

Just for fun I tried to use the parking brake to slow the car at speed and I barely felt it slow down. I've driven cars where a brake hose burst dumping most of the fluid (front line, shared reservoir) and I could still stop far better. I would not depend on it for anything.

Well...
 

My C3 and C5 (never had a C4) and my C6 has all been the same for the E Brake... OLD TIME Shoes, INSIDE the Rotor... and Yes I have Pulled up on the E brake, hold the button in, and YES it will slow you down...It is really only ment to hold when you are stopped, but it is Shoes in a Drum... so the harder you PULL the more it stops. :thumbs:

No. Just the opposite. You want the car to work against the compression of the cylinders.

Are you actually saying the motor turns a different way depending on whether you're going forward or reverse?

Only on my 1956 80HP Mercury outboard motor and a few other 2stroke motors..

No gears, no neutral, the engine starts and turns one way for forward and rotates the opposite direction for reverse.

Got to love 2 strokes. No cams, no valves and will run in whatever rotation you start them.

Hahahahahahaah!!! What he said!!

The reason car manufacturers suggest leaving standard transmissions in
reverse, is because it's the lowest gear.

I get the compression / lowest gear bit

But, how is a car going to roll backward in 1st gear or fwd in reverse?

:toetap:

Gotta agree with the O.P..........the other day I was rushing it and forgot to apply pedal pressure and my car rolled forward about 5 inches once I opened the door........it almost wreaked havoc on my front fascia.......got a small, white paint smudge (which buffed out) from contacting the garage door.

Because the engine ALWAYS rotates in the same direction.

This thread is a bunch of :bs

The e-brake (parking brake) is cable operated and uses shoes in a drum. It is a completely separate system from the service brakes which are hydraulic and discs. The best way to set the parking brake is to yank the handle up, not pull it steadily. Shoes in a drum (old fashioned drum brakes) are better for holding a car that is already stopped, disc brakes are better at stopping a car that is moving.:thumbs:

It really doesn't matter. An engine is basically an air-pump and will have compression whether it is spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise. If you've ever tried to crank an engine over by hand (with a ratchet) when timing cams or whatever, you'd find there to be Resistance in either direction.

A 4-stroke engine has an intake, compression, power and exhaust stroke. When spun in reverse direction, the engine would build compression during the power stroke. The valves would both be shut and the piston would be traveling from BDC to TDC.

So it really doesn't matter what gear it's in - except that reverse is a deeper gear and should hold the car better.

A 4 stroke engine only turns one way, either clockwise or counter clockwise. One or the other.

Trans gears determine which way the wheels turn, not which way the engine turns.

So it turns two ways, one way or the other way...:D

I'm the OP and yes applying pedal pressure while setting the parking
brake is correct on cars using the rear disc brakes as parking brake.
BUT, ...as Swift pointed out to me, our C6's have auxillary shoes and
drums for the PB.
I didn't know this.
To set the PB on C6's .....just YANK it up.
...jerry

:thumbs:

Glad you gained a bit of knowledge from this discussion. :cheers:

When it's not running (i.e. parked) the engine can be turned either direction.
This discussion has gotten too silly.

I believe this is what Dave is referring to:

"Reverse Gear

What about reverse gear? As you can see in Figure 2, the reverse gear is slightly different from the other gears. Instead of the blue gear meshing directly with the red gear, these two gears are separated by a third gear, called the idler, which reverses the direction of rotation.

When a gear turns, its teeth push against the teeth of the meshed gear, turning this gear in the opposite direction. If the red gears are turning counter-clockwise, then the blue gears will be turning clockwise. However, in the case of the reverse gear, the idler gear will be turning clockwise; the blue gear will then be turning counter-clockwise, in the opposite direction from the other blue gears (remember this is possible because none of the blue gears are fixed to the blue shaft.)"

Which comes from this explanation of manual transmissions (Understanding YOur Transmission, Manual or Standard Transmission):

http://defdriving.wordpress.com/2010...transmissions/

Yep, that's what it's all about. I thought you were giving me the
business, I believe it was you're 4th post you mentioned rear brake
shoes and that's when I got it.
thanks ...jerry

Yes, a 4-stroke engine will only run in one direction. But, when the engine is off, it can be cranked either direction by mechanical force. Park on a steep enough hill (pointing up the slope) in first gear, and the engine can and will crank backward if forced to.

And if during this same scenario (parked on very steep hill pointing up the hill) the transmission was in reverse, the engine would be forced to turn it's regular direction of rotation by mechanical force. Make sense?

Thank you

What have we learned? The parking brake is sometimes called an emergency brake that doesn't work too well in an emergency. The parking brake system is independent of the main brake system. Hold car with main brake system prior to setting parking brake to hold car from moving while transitioning between brake systems. Always use park, auto transmission or place manual transmission in reverse, in addition to parking brake, when parking vehicle.

Oh is that what I'm doing wrong? .... Perhaps that explains why the E-brake in these cars suck so bad.

I have been on aggressive slopes before and I had to shut down engine and leave in-gear (manual) just to exit car momentarily.

I'm on my 3rd C6 and will never get over that the stupid handle will not go all the way flat.

Poor engineering on this part of the car the e-brake is.

5th sign the Apocalypse is upon us.....
 

4 pages about the parking brake. :crazy2:

that statement was so funny!!! and dumb... if a person doesn't have enough strength to pull the parking brake they probably can't turn the steering wheel either! LOL

thanks for a great laugh, that was way worth the click ;)

It happened to Lisa this week, did $5,000 damage to her ZR1
and she was really hurt too!
Didn't you read her thread?:crazy:

Just carry a brick in the car like I did in the 50s.

Will this cause damage?
 

This makes perfect sense. However will forcing a 4 stroke to turn in the opposite of the "run" direction cause any undue stress or harm to the engine? Out of fear of causing engine damage by turning it in the wrong direction I would always park in reverse if facing up a steep incline and 1st if facing down a steep incline. Should reverse always be the gear of choice regardless?

:: Unsubscribing ::

This. thread. is. ridiculous. Get wheel chocks.

Can't somebody post the pages from the GM service manuals and get it over with.

I've always left my manual cars in first gear, just a habit I guess. But no, the engine in our C6s will not be damaged by being cranked in reverse rotation. The crank and pistons don't care. The only difference would be that air would be sucked in from the exhaust and pushed out the intake. Without the engine running, this won't hurt a thing.

For what it's worth, some engines can be damaged from being cranked in reverse rotation. The BMW M5 V10 has a variable camshaft timing system (vanos) that does get damaged if the engine is cranked the wrong way by hand. The instructors at my M5 training class made sure to emphasize this to us. As far as I know, this is not a common scenario with other engine types.

In the end, put your C6 manual transmission in first or reverse when parked. It will be fine either way.