Yikes! I feel so bad.

I parked my MCS on the side of my slightly sloped driveway, pulled the parking brake, and left it for the night. I came out the next morning and saw that it had rolled straight back into a bush I parked in front of. It left a few scratches on the rear plastic bumper. I washed and waxed, but the scratches from the bush are still there! I wonder what it costs to replace/fix?

I know that I should have parked it in gear, but too late for that now. Has anybody else experienced a weak parking brake?? Or do I just not pull it hard enough???


MCS Chili Red-on-Chili Red, Premium, Sport, Cold Weather with Panther Black Leather and 17" Dunlop run flats.

 

I have not taken delivery of my MCS, but my experience with other european small cars is that they do not have amazing parking brakes, especially if you only pull the handle a couple clicks.

Typically, the parking brake operates the rear brakes only, and I am sure that you will never park without being in gear again

Must have been un-nerving to find your baby somewhere other than where you left it.

 

Two clicks is where I'm at with my brake, and it holds fine. I always put it in gear though, so for an overnight test...I don't know. :smile:

 

I took mine through the car wash the
other day and watched the kid drive off
the car pusher thing with the rear wheels
locked. He only went a few feet before
realizing he was a complete f*%$#@g moron!!!

 

I think the parking brake is pretty tight compared to most. It actually slows the car down. Now, the brake on a VW New Beetle, THAT is a pitiful brake. Or on our E-Type... I don't think that one counts, lol. Sorry about the scratches! Take it to a detailing shop and see if they can buff 'em out with a powerbuffer, it can do a good 20x what you can do by hand.

 

I was waiting at the Burger King drive-through the other evening. I was on a fairly steep incline just before the window. The truck in front of me was taking a long time to get their order, so I pulled up on the e-brake (2 clicks), put the car in neutral and waited. After a couple of minutes, I started to roll backwards. I hit the brake pedal long before anything bad happened, so no harm done. But yeah, I'd beware of the e-brake when parking on a hill. Three clicks and in gear, wheels turned towards the curb (assuming there is one)

 

I'm reviving this thread because this afternoon a similar thing happened to my wife. (I know I shouldn't let her take the car but since I'm watching the kid during the day, I need the station wagon, especially since we don't have a stroller that fits in the MINI!)

She ran out to the mall during lunch with a co-worker. When they came back they found that the car had rolled out of it's parking space and stopped in the aisle, 90 degrees from the direction it had been left. While it was blocking in two other cars luckily it didn't hit anything.

The odd thing about it is that the car didn't budge when the left it, and the car didn't budge when they found it. The brake was still engaged, and the car was locked with no sign that somebody tried to get in. So we can't figure out what happened.

MINI of Sterling is going to take the car in tomorrow and they will check it out.

 

I have never had any problems with the hand brake on my MCS. However, if I am parking on any kind of a slope I put the car in gear in conjunction with the hand brake when I park it.

 

the parking brake should ALWAYS be used in conjuntion with the transmission engaged ...on a hill always turn your wheels out so that if it does start to roll the the curb will stop you...check the owners manual... also the car has clearcoat...you NEVER buff clearcoat...check the owners manual....this looks like a good op to get the rear aerokit! for your birthday!

 

also the parking brake is actually there to assist the transmission...it helps by keeing pressure off the transmission thus reducing wear! you'll find plenty of cars now that have " lockouts" that completely disengage the transmission just for this purpose

 

Heheh this is what happens if the parking break isnt working properly...

:smile:

 

I might add to my story that my hubby told....the car wasn't parked on any noticable hill. Yes, it wasn't completely flat; but not by any stretch of the imgination would you call it a hill. It was a parking lot at the mall.

Oh well, I will know more tomorrow when I get the mini a check-up tomorrow.

Thanks,
PB

 

This is a good topic to bump so people get made aware. The MINI uses the rear disk brake as the parking brake. When driving and using the brake, the brake rotors and pads get quite hot, especially during stop-and-go driving. Once you park the car and set the brakes with the brakes hot, it's holding until the rotors and pads cool, and contract. If the parking brake is not set tightly, the now cold pads and rotors lose some of the grip they had when they were initially set. This is not a problem on a flat surface, but on a hill the car can creep unless it is also left in a low gear or reverse as well.

Remember this especially if you park after doing a bit of 'spirited' driving and park with the brakes stinking hot.

 

>>This is a good topic to bump so people get made aware. The MINI uses the rear disk brake as the parking brake. When driving and using the brake, the brake rotors and pads get quite hot, especially during stop-and-go driving. Once you park the car and set the brakes with the brakes hot, it's holding until the rotors and pads cool, and contract. If the parking brake is not set tightly, the now cold pads and rotors lose some of the grip they had when they were initially set. This is not a problem on a flat surface, but on a hill the car can creep unless it is also left in a low gear or reverse as well.
>>
>>Remember this especially if you park after doing a bit of 'spirited' driving and park with the brakes stinking hot.
>>
>>

Greatbear:

This explaination had the lightbulb go off above my head as making AWESOME sense. It perfectly answers how my issue happened...what it doesn't explain is why we weren't able to move the car after it was stopped. Got any thoughts on that part?

Thanks,
PB

 

My 2c: Now that I have a (good) copy of The Italian Job at home, I noticed watching tonight that in the movie they were using the parking brake to stop quickly. (Ya know, into those great sideways slides.) Is this pure fiction, or might this be done? When stealing bars of gold?

God speed.

 

>>Greatbear:
>>
>>This explaination had the lightbulb go off above my head as making AWESOME sense. It perfectly answers how my issue happened...what it doesn't explain is why we weren't able to move the car after it was stopped. Got any thoughts on that part?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>PB

Depending on how steep the hill is, the car can have quite a bit of potential rolling force compared to how much force one can create by pushing. I do notice with my car if I try to push it out of curiosity, I can get it to move if I just clicked the brake up lightly when I am parked at home at the garage. If I park anywhere else, I leave it in gear and give a good yank on the handle.

As for being able to lock up the rear wheel with the parking brake, yes it can be done, but it takes a good deal of upward pull on the handle. I can do it easily with mine, it's the same maneuver the stunt drivers use in the TIJ. You can try it in an open area. Some feel as though they are going to break the cables or the handle on the parking brake doing this, but it's unlikely. If you are applying the foot brake when you attempt this maneuver, the ABS will kick in to try and stop the rear wheels from skidding. You just have to pull up harder on the handle to totally lock them up (I estimate it takes at least 30 pounds of force) because the foot brake force adds to the handbrake force applied to the rear wheels. The handbrake force must be enough to lock up the wheels by itself when using the foot brake as well so the ABS doesnt hold you back from drifting, spinning joy. The ABS cannot 'release' the handbrake force no matter how much it tries, it only controls the hydraulic system. The handbrake is a direct, mechanical linkage from the handle to the rear caliper.

There is no separate parking brake drum in the rear rotor hat section like some believe, unlike many larger cars. This also explains why some people have had runaway MINIs compared to others as well. A parking brake drum is an entirely separate braking system, unlike the MINI system that 'shares' the rear caliper. The caliper system has the potential for greater stopping force by far, but is prone to the cooldown reduction in braking force. The drum brake system actually tightens slightly as it cools, because the hat section of the rotor (the drum) cools and 'shrinks' tighter against the shoes pushing outward against it.

Moral of this story: Pull the handle tightly, and leave the car in gear preferably with the wheels pointed towards the curb in the direction of the potential rollaway.

 

Well as a follow up, MINI of Sterling looked at the car and tightened the brakes. They had in fact loosened up a bit. I'm a little baffled by that, it's very noticeable if you try and drive with the brake on. I'm pretty sure that neither of us have gotten more than 2 or 3 feet if we have tried to pull off with the brake on.

Plus it seems kinda weird since the car is only 8 months old with 12K miles on it, for the brakes to get that loose in such a short amount of time seems odd to me. Then again we're both used to automatics, so maybe it's a manual transmission thing?

As a side note, I've been watching all the neat stuff you've been doing to your car GB, you're not that far away from us, wanna put some of those things in my car!!

 

Final note on what happened to our "MINIvan".

Seems that the rear brakes can wear and will need to be tightened every so often. This is what happened...add to that the explaination of Greatbear and I can thank the invisible 6 inch bumper around my car that nothing was touched or hurt.

To answer the other disagreement my hubby and I had was the order of putting the brakes on and leaving the car in gear. I was told to put the car in neutral and put on the brake. Wait for the car to catch THEN put the car in gear so that you use the gears as a back-up system and not have the car resting on the brakes.

Amazingly enough no one at the service center laughed at my run away MINI!

So, that's that. Car is fine. Mystery nearly solved...and I'll be thanking my Irish luck that I have no damage to pay for.

PB

 

>>Well as a follow up, MINI of Sterling looked at the car and tightened the brakes. They had in fact loosened up a bit. I'm a little baffled by that, it's very noticeable if you try and drive with the brake on. I'm pretty sure that neither of us have gotten more than 2 or 3 feet if we have tried to pull off with the brake on.
>>
>>Plus it seems kinda weird since the car is only 8 months old with 12K miles on it, for the brakes to get that loose in such a short amount of time seems odd to me. Then again we're both used to automatics, so maybe it's a manual transmission thing?
>>


Some initial 'loosening' is bound to happen. The cables stretch a bit, the self-adjusting parking brake actuators find their setting, and in general everything loosens up a bit, this is normal. Since most people who drive automatics rarely use their parking brake, it sees more use (and gets noticed a lot more) in manual trans cars. I have tried to drive off with the brake set on occasions, and depending on how tight I pull it, I can get a bit of distance sometimes, or if I gave it a good heave, I'm not going anywhere. Since I can curl more than 50 pounds one-armed, it's usually the latter.


>>As a side note, I've been watching all the neat stuff you've been doing to your car GB, you're not that far away from us, wanna put some of those things in my car!!
>>

Hey, it'd be my pleasure. Whatcha interested in?

 

>>I took mine through the car wash the
>>other day and watched the kid drive off
>>the car pusher thing with the rear wheels
>>locked. He only went a few feet before
>>realizing he was a complete f*%$#@g moron!!!