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| # | Post Title | Result Info | Date | User | Forum |
| Answer to: Question about parking brake/brakes | 24Relevance | 3 years ago | Chuck Tobias | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| Unless you're parking on a hill you can just leave the parking brake off until it's fixed. I've done that many times with no issues. You can add wheel chocks if that makes you feel more comfortable. | |||||
| Do I always need to use the parking brake | 24Relevance | 3 years ago | Patriotgirl33 | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| Dear Scotty, I just viewed ur video about the 5 things not to do with auto transmission. I heard somewhere that u should always use ur parking brake when parking , even on the flat for the good of ur trans. Is this accurate info? Love that u share ur knowledge- thank u from PA, 2019 tacoma trd off road w/auto transmission. | |||||
| Randomly displayed errors on dash, but no stored codes in ECU - 2006 Lexus GS430 | 30Relevance | 5 years ago | Dilemma1980 | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| Hello, I have a 2006 Lexus GS430 with 170,000 miles on the dash. Car runs like an absolute dream except for one thing: This is what happens: Sometimes when I start the car the brake light comes on, and sometimes it comes on while I'm driving. Most times it turns off by itself, but other times it turns into a much more severe issue. I'll start the car, the brake light will come on and then the issue will mature into the "Check VSC" & "Check ECB" messages on the dash. Along with that, the traction control light, and ABS lights will come on, with, of course, the brake light. I have a picture of the errors but couldn't figure out how to attach it to this question. The most concerning part though, is that when this event occurs the brake pedal goes soft and I have to push the brake pedal a lot harder to get the same stopping effect. After a minute or two (maybe a few seconds), the errors disappear, and everything goes back to normal (including the brake pedal stiffness). What has been done: I took the car to my local Pep Boys and they said the rear brake pads were low so they changed them. They also checked the charging system and said it was fine. They said they also checked the brake systems and couldn't find any issues. The only thing they observed was that for one of the rear brakes (driver side) one of the retainer pins (pin that the brake pads slide on) had detached from the retainer spring and was sticking out of the system. They installed a new spring and that side looks normal now. This is a link to the retainer pins and spring I'm referring to (). After the Pep Boys visit the issue kept happening. I brought it back to them but they couldn't replicate the issue and also could not figure out why it kept happening so they gave up and told me I can pick up the car. I then found a Lexus dealer nearby and brought the vehicle to them. They had the car for 3 days and could not replicate the issue. I thought this would happen as the issue was intermittent for me. They also said there were no stored codes. After the 3rd day I gave up and picked up the car. The issue still happens after the Lexus dealership visit. At this point I took to the internet. I went to the site http://www.justanswer.com (for $30) to see if anyone could answer my question about the issue. It was suggested that since I got the errors there should be stored codes in the computer. A buddy of mine has the Toyota Techstream software so I used it to run a full health check. The only stored code that came up was B2243 - Current Steering Angle Midpoint Unset. No other codes from any other ECU came up. Additional Info: The only non-stock things I changed on the vehicle are the lights and this USB module I installed. All the lights on the car are now LED. The reason I did this is because when I bought the car the HIDs started becoming unreliable. One side would go off randomly. It annoyed me so I bypassed the headlight ballast and converted the headlights to LEDs. No issues with the headlights since then. After that, whatever bulb wasn't already stock LED, I converted to LED. All lights work perfectly. I also changed the flasher unit (under the the dash on driver side) for good measure. I also installed a device that allows you to listen to music on a USB stick. I'm old school so I don't do streaming (which the vehicle does not support anyway). Basically, the module plugs into the back of the radio/navigation unit using a Y cable. The Y cable is necessary so that the navigation continues to work. So basically, the module acts as a DVD changer emulator. You can use the buttons on the steering wheel or head unit to skip to next or previous song and so on. The usb unit crashes sometimes, but it works fine most of the times. And by crash I mean that the song will stop playing and the head unit will either switch to radio, or mute and display "Radio off" (or something along those lines). To get it working again just requires me to unplug the USB module and plug back into the connector again. Here is a link to the USB module (). Personally I think the additional info is unrelated to the issue, but I figured you never know. Also, I do a lot of mechanical work myself, and will do it if It's something I feel comfortable doing. Please excuse any technical terms I used incorrectly though lol. Well, that's all the detail I could think of. Can you help me pinpoint this issue? | |||||
| Answer to: Should I always use the parking brake even on level ground? | 24Relevance | 3 years ago | nta98 | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| Its a great habit. Takes the weight of the car off the parking pawl. Its more important to do this when parked on a hill compared to a totally flat lot. However I do it on flat ground too. Not an old wives tale, continue to use the parking brake. | |||||
| Answer to: Parking Brake Argument | 24Relevance | 5 years ago | Elon Dusk | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| You should set the parking brake whenever you park your vehicle, complete flat surface or incline to protect the transmission. Plus, if anything hits your vehicle, it won't roll away or worse, break the parking prawl. | |||||
| Answer to: Parking Brake Argument | 24Relevance | 5 years ago | MountainManJoe | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| it prevents wear and tear on the park pawl when parking on an incline. This has been discussed here several times. | |||||
| Parking Brake Argument | 24Relevance | 5 years ago | Az2770 | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| Hey Scotty would you please settle an arguement between me, and a friend? So does engaging your parking brake when you park anywhere, flat surface or hill save your transmission from damage like the parking pin, and whatnot? Thank you for your time! | |||||
| Parking brake not working | 24Relevance | 5 years ago | Josh Rogers | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| I have a 2001 Mercedes ML320 with 173,000 miles. When I bought it, the parking brake didn't work. I tried looking for videos to fix it, but not many people drive em. When I push the pedal to engage the parking break, it goes down without any resistance. If I try disengaging it, it comes up with no problem. I've looked it up, but there's just to many "might be" in the reasons. Any ideas what could be causing it? And if so, do you recommend taking it somewhere to get it fixed, or can I fix it myself? | |||||
| Answer to: Brake Fluid Contaminated? | 28Relevance | 2 years ago | Justin Shepherd | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| That tire place was trying to rip you off. DOT 4 is an alcohol-based fluid and it will absorb water vapor if left exposed to the ambient air for too long (a matter of hours if you live in Ohio). Even bottles that have had their seals broken have a limited shelf life. That depends on where you live. In the enclosed space of a brake line, water vapor still slowly contaminates the brake fluid over many years, turning it from clear-amber to black if you're naughty and never change the brake fluid. Sealed brakes should last longer than three years, if you don't live in Cambodia or something. The whole idea of changing brake fluid periodically is because of the heat that is generated during braking. DOT 4 has a much higher boiling point than ordinary water, and if you ride the brake going down a long, steep hill, etc. you may notice the brakes will start to become mushy -that's the accumulated water that's boiled. This can lead to brake fade and your car will take a longer time to come to a stop vs uncontaminated brake fluid -unsafe. I think most brake lines are still steel, and they will start corroding from the inside if you're dedicated to doing as little maintenance as possible. In short, brake fluid doesn't need changing every 3 years. Take your moisture tester and test the brake fluid every 6 months to a year. That's very handy to have. | |||||
| RE: Should I buy a hybrid | 27Relevance | 4 years ago | Dan | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| To brake-even after 10-15 years, you need to average 17,600 miles a year*. - This includes: To break-even on purchase price differences you need to drive 100,000 miles**. To brake-even on a battery replacement this would require another 120,000 miles*** So after 220,000 miles, the unavoidable battery replacement would be offset. - Unless OP is planing to drive 300,000 miles, and assuming his car can go that far - Keeping a hybrid for the long term (over 10 years) makes no sense. - The Toyota RAV4 hybrid is just not efficient enough to offset the extra expenses that come with buying a battery hybrid electric vehicle. - * This is in mixed driving, if all of your driving is highway you won't break-even! ** The 100,000 mile figure was calculated by Kaizen in his post. *** The 120,000 mile figure was calculated at $6 per gallon. - - - calculations: -------------------------------------------- - REPLACEMENT BATTERY brake EVEN MILLAGE: (((gal/100miles delta)/100) * ($ per gallon)) * (brake even millage) = battery cost => brake even millage = (battery cost) / (((gal/100miles advantage)/100) * (price per gallon)) => brake even millage = 5,000 / (((3.2-2.5 [from fueleconomy.gov])/100)*($6 per gallon)) => brake even millage = 119,047 miles. -------------------------------------------- - AVERAGE YEARLY MILLAGE TO brake EVEN: (Purchase premium brake even millage + Battery replacement brake even millage)/ avg(10, 15) = yearly millage to brake even when the battery goes out (100,000 + 120,000) / 12.5 = 17,600 miles per year. -------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Answer to: How do I bleed the ABS system | 27Relevance | 4 years ago | jack62 | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| On a 1999 2wd Ranger you shouldn't need a scanner to bleed the brakes. Ford moved the RABS Valve around through the years but by 1999 on the Rangers I think they moved it onto the Driver's Side Fender so I found a picture of one mounted there and added some text to it. Here's a sketch that may be helpful The reason you don't need a scanner to bleed the brakes is because the Isolation Valve is "normally open" (allowing brake fluid to pass through the valve body from the master cylinder to the rear wheel cylinders) AND the Dump Valve is "normally closed" (preventing brake fluid from entering the Accumulator) between the master cylinder and the rear wheel cylinders). The Accumulator is a "reservoir" and let's say your rear wheels start to lock up. The RABS module will command the Isolation Valve shut to prevent any additional brake fluid pressure (as you mash down on the brake pedal) from getting to the rear wheel cylinders and locking up the rear wheels. BUT it still has a problem. There's already brake fluid under pressure back there on the wheel cylinders causing the rear wheels to lock up and closing the Isolation Valve didn't change that. It needs a place to "relieve" that brake fluid pressure so it temporarily "Dumps" that pressurized brake fluid (By commanding the Dump Solenoid Open) from the rear wheel cylinders into the Accumulator in the RABS Valve Body. And when the "event" is over the spring in the accumulator pushes the "collected" brake fluid in the Accumulator back into the master cylinder. So anyway, using any type of scanner there's nothing to command these solenoids to do. They're already doing it in their "((at rest)) normal positions". But enough with the "in a "perfect world" stuff. What if you tried bleeding the brakes without a scanner and you couldn't? Some of those RABS Valve bodies had a bleeder screw on them and you could bleed the brake fluid on the valve body before you started bleeding the brakes. But a lot of them didn't. In that case you could try (referring to the pic I added text to), unscrewing the Accumulator Spring Retaining Bolt, Pulling out the spring and trying to bleed the brakes. IF the Dump Valve isn't leaking, you won't get any brake fluid squirting out of there as you mash down on the brake pedal. If fluid does squirt out of there, you've found your problem | |||||
| Answer to: How Hard Should I Set My Parking Brake | 24Relevance | 5 years ago | Doc | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| Your owner's manual will tell you how many clicks the parking break is supposed to be adjusted to. As far as setting it, I always leave the vehicle in gear (manual trans) and set the parking brake to the upper end of clicks as recommended by the manufacturer. | |||||
| Question about parking brake/brakes | 24Relevance | 3 years ago | jdennah | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| My parking brake isn't adjusted correctly so I can't pull it otherwise it will get locked while enabled. I'm taking it in to get adjusted by until then will I cause damage to my brake system if I lean a dumbell on the brake while the automatic transmission is in park? Yes I live in a trailer park. | |||||
| RE: 2008 Mazda 3 with active parking brake light on console | 24Relevance | 4 years ago | aramos1053 | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| brake fluid level is perfect right now, no leaks found around indicating loss. brake pedal function is good with no spongy feeling or sinking to the floor. It recently had the full fluid checked/changed. I also don't hear dragging like the parking brake is partially engaged. It rolls freely. | |||||
| Answer to: I'm having some emergency brake problems on my 2008 E-150 cargo van. I'm replacing the rotors, pads, calipers and emergency brake shoes. (Ford has the disc brake rotors & calipers with shoes on the inside of the drum for the parking/ eme... | 23Relevance | 6 years ago | Inthedetails | Submit Your Question HERE | |
| Have you checked the e-brake cable to make sure it is not damaged resulting in it partially pulling the e-brake lever inside the shoe? I've seen something similar in the rust belt where cars get so rusty that the tolerances are out of whack. I would avoid milling parts because they are designed for an intended purpose. Is it possible you got the wrong size drums? | |||||