Hi Scotti
Bought a 2021 Sorento last year. When I was shopping I noticed a lot of cars now have motorized emergency brakes. Here is my question. How do the car companies get away with making the emergency brake electric? Isn't the emergency brake supposed to be functional no matter what goes wrong with the car? What happens if there is an electrical system failure? Wouldn't that render the emergency brake useless? Is this the way all cars are going? Is that why they now call them parking brakes vs emergency brakes.
Just don't tell my wife. {black}:sweaty:
Yes, these days they're not considered emergency brakes, they're just parking brakes.
They can be used in emergencies , provided they get electrical power.
supposed to be functional no matter what goes wrong with the car
No. Mechanical brakes can fail too.
electrical system failure? Wouldn't that render the emergency brake useless?
it would render the entire vehicle useless
Yeah. They suck. The one in my BMW broke (it would t disengage). Even the manual backup system in the truck wouldn’t disengage it. Had to go to a professional mechanic to get it fixed.
Kia wants 6 thousand dollar for their scan tool to replace the brake pads with these new motorized parking brakes. They consist of a motorized drive screw inside the rear caliper pistons. The scan tool has the function of retracting the drive screws. Some kid in Brazil put up a video with a 12 volt gel cell and clip leads. You unplug the connector on the caliper. Attach the clip leads and the motor retracts. Do the reverse when the new pads are installed. The kid narrates in Portuguese but you get what he is doing. When I was 12 I rewound the alternator of my mom's 64 Pymouth Belvedere with wire from a old vacuum cleaner. Ah to have that spare time now.
Yep, but you can get non-OEM scanners that do the same thing for way cheaper (in some cases under $100) - with a much lesser risk of destroying the electric motor inside of the EPB caliper.