Friend drove with the parking brake engaged, how screwed is my car?

Posted by mintymonstera@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 47 comments

Unfortunately this wasn't just a quick 20 footer "oh no" driving with the brake engaged.

Automatic transmission, if it makes any difference at all. 2004 Nissan Pathfinder so not a new or expensive car but dang I love that car.

Swapped cars with a friend, I always use the parking brake, never in 100 years would have occured to me to warn an intelligent person that the parking brake is on. Anyway when I got it back he did let me know he realized the parking brake was engaged, but before then it's because he'd already driven UP 3000ft+ on steep dirt mountain roads and halfway down again, his wife noticed the ((!)) light and asked about it (somehow he didn't notice how bad the car felt or the light until then...).

It felt okay at first, then on the highway it started acting up, shifting issues, max speed issues, once i got into the city it was more apparent accelerating and all shifting is messy. The brakes feel bad too. I've learned a valuable lesson this weekend and will never loan/swap cars ever again.

I'm pretty positive I know the answer and that my car is cooked, but...

Yeah how bad is this? :( any chance it's just the transmission and we can replace it, or is it likely the engine got fried as well considering the length of time, elevation, and hill grade?

We have an appt Friday for a mechanic to look at it but I'm emotionally preparing myself.

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godlords@reddit

Rear brakes aren't good for anything anyway.

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supern8ural@reddit

Probably your rear brakes are cooked, hopefully it's just pads, rotors, and a fluid flush.

Transmission *could* be bad, have to see what the mechanic says.

I doubt you hurt the engine at all.

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SkeletorsAlt@reddit

I would love to know how hot that transmission fluid got. I’ve seen some alarming numbers while towing with my Sequoia, and I’d imagine cruising around with the parking brake on might be similar to towing heavy.

Only saving grace for the transmission is that the drag from the parking brake probably declined as the parking brake system slowly turned to molten metal.

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mintymonstera@reddit (OP)

Your interpretation is correct! My friends live up on a mountain road and only drove a few miles but it was a 3000ft elevation gain (5500 to about 8500) in those few miles.

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RedditAddict6942O@reddit

Parking brake engages rear brakes. In a car that old, probably weak drum brakes that overheat and become ineffective within a minute.

Rear brakes and rotors might need changing and a bleed. But I doubt this would cause transmission issues.

It's a 20 year old Nissan and they're known for crap transmissions.

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supern8ural@reddit

I interpreted it the same as you.

I know that I once adjusted the drums on an Xterra to try to improve pedal feel and apparently got them too tight because they adjusted themselves tighter as I drove home. The brakes smelled a little but the transmission was fine. probably drove 5 miles or so with excessive drag.

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Hot-Gap-7553@reddit

transmission is not bad, stfu if you don’t know. brakes are messed up or partially locked is all.

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supern8ural@reddit

from the OP's post: "It felt okay at first, then on the highway it started acting up, shifting issues, max speed issues, once i got into the city it was more apparent accelerating and all shifting is messy."

so it sounds like OP is having some symptoms, unless the brakes are still dragging, I don't know what else could cause him to say that other than transmission issues. Could just be burned fluid, could be something more, who knows? Gotta get it checked out.

as for your response, disagreeing is one thing, but would you talk to me like that to my face? No? Then why the fuck is it acceptable on the internet? (it isn't.)

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Hot-Gap-7553@reddit

i would absolutely laugh and tell you this to your face. max speed? lol how would he know unless he’s going over 100mph, most cars governor is around 120mph… how can it be burned fluid besides the brakes. i guarantee you’ve never touch a bolt on your car yourself.

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InsomniacEspresso@reddit

If it has transmission issues, it's because it's a Nissan not because of the e brake

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New_Line4049@reddit

Tyres are worth a look too, they could be fucked if the parking brake was decent and they've been dragged some way without turning.

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Skips-T@reddit

Unless he was in 4WD, if the tires didn't move, the truck wouldn't move.

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New_Line4049@reddit

^^ Valid point. I've personally only ever owned/driven front wheel drives so didn't consider that, also true of RWD I'd guess.

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AutomaticFeed1774@reddit

Done it many times and it's fine. Will mean the handbrake cable needs tightening a bit sooner but it's fine.

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RedMaple007@reddit

Can't believe that someone wouldn't notice the dash light, alarm and sluggish acceleration. But little surprises me about many noob drivers anymore.

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InstanceSmooth3885@reddit

Does your friend have a license?

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Dangerous_Echidna229@reddit

Ignored the red light on dash and couldn’t perceive the brake drag? You need to set the parking brake harder, moving the car should have been more obvious brake was on. Have brakes inspected.

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wjpell@reddit

Drain and fill transmission fluid, driving with the e-brake on is super similar to towing a heavy load from the perspective of the truck. That alone might fix things.

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mikkowus@reddit

Cooked brakes. The brakes probability went bad before it damaged the transmission. But if it's legit shifting funny, check that out.

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gulliverian@reddit

I think you’d find that very few people always use the parking brake on an automatic. In 40+ years of driving I’ve never used it unless there was a particular reason such as parking on a steep hill. And I don’t see other people use it when I’m a passenger.

If I I get into another vehicle to drive it it doesn’t occur to me to check the parking brake unless I’m on a hill.

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supern8ural@reddit

I guess nobody grew up with mountains? Unless you like broken parking pawls, you always set the parking brake before you let off the service brakes.

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Infinite_Parking_751@reddit

I hear the parking pawl can break, but haven't ever know someone who experienced it. We live on a street with 15% grade and I'm amazed at how few people know how to use the curb as a "parking brake."

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DudeWhereIsMyDuduk@reddit

I've seen it happen twice in 10 years, but both in very particular situations - I'm a kayaker and often spend a lot of my summers near boat ramps, and both of those times were automatic pickups.

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jccaclimber@reddit

I’ve never broken a pawl, but I have had to pull on the shift lever a lot harder than I’m comfortable doing when parking an automatic on a steep hill.

I generally don’t use the parking brake in our automatic unless it’s a steep hill. I always use the parking brake in our manual even if it’s dead flat.

I do live in San Francisco, so at this point I turn the wheels to the curb in everything. It’s to the point where I almost do it instinctively in flat parking lots.

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supern8ural@reddit

I once had a car that had a busted parking pawl when I got it, it was a '56 Studebaker Golden Hawk so had a Packard 352 V8 and Ultramatic.

I want to say the guy I bought it from had it shipped from San Francisco, so that tracks.

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gulliverian@reddit

That’s the “unless I’m on a hill” part.

And in that 40+ years of driving I referred to I never had a hint of a transmission problem - even though I keep my cars a long time - so it would seem my parking pawls haven’t suffered.

So no, flatlanders don’t routinely set their parking brakes when parking on level ground. I completely get that it would become force of habit for someone who often parked on an incline, and I think there’s a reasonable case to be made for doing it at least occasionally to keep the mechanism from seizing up.

All that said, my current car has a brake, so when I have it on and I get in I simply drive away - the brake releases electronically as soon as I step on the accelerator.

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supern8ural@reddit

Well, I grew up in western PA and actually went to college in Pittsburgh (where parallel parking on the street is a very common thing) so...

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Content_Election_218@reddit

It's probably fine. If in doubt, change the brake pads.

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JonohG47@reddit

An ‘04 Pathfinder is a RWD based vehicle, with rear drum brakes. The parking brake is simply a cable operating the rear service brakes on the driven wheels.

Unless the brake wasn’t set tightly (or the rear shoes were already cooked, to begin with) the friend should have had profound difficulty getting the truck to move at all. Certainly enough that they would have stopped and checked beforehand.

3000 ft. of WOT throttle driving, just to get the truck to move, shouldn’t have been enough to cook the transmission (or the rear differential) but this truck is also old enough to buy you a beer, so whatever abuse your friend inflicted likely only advanced a failure that was already waiting in the wings.

It’s impressive it took

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SkeletorsAlt@reddit

Oh, you know what, I interpreted that as up 3000 feet in elevation. If OP’s friend actually drove less than a mile then I doubt it caused any issues.

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mintymonstera@reddit (OP)

Oh no it climbed 3000+ ft in elevation in a few miles, I wish it had only traveled 3000 feet. 5500 to about 8500.

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JonohG47@reddit

D’oh! Well I’d start with a rear brake job and a transmission fluid change.

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jccaclimber@reddit

Chock the front wheels, get the rears off the ground, put it in neutral, and see if the rear wheels turn by hand. You might still have a dragging brake (or what’s left of it).

Long distance would be a hot transmission, but I wouldn’t expect any major damage over a few miles even if it’s not a great idea.

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ContributionDry2252@reddit

Are you sure your friend has a driving license? Knowing how to use parking brake is rather basic knowledge.

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salvage814@reddit

Why use the parking break in an auto it makes no sense. Really why use the parking break in any car really.

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Digital_Ark@reddit

Pads, rotors, brake fluid flush to be safe, a transmission fluid change would also be wise.

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BuyLandcruiser@reddit

Fiancee did this on a 4 hour drive. New pads and rotors and the car was fine. I’d be shocked if the trans was in bad shape

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carpediemracing@reddit

I don't know what brakes you have, drum or disc. You might have disc rears with a parking brake inside the small drum center; on vehicles like these, the only time the parking brake gets engaged is when uou set the parking brake. In regular driving your brake pedal activates only the disc brake.

However, if things are more than a little messed up, you might have drum brakes in the rear, meaning your rear brakes are also your parking brake. It sounds like maybe something let go in the parking brake. Might have been hardware (springs, retainer clips, something) or maybe the brake shoe got damaged.

I have a disc brake vehicle, the parking brake is inside the rear discs (drum brake hardware) and a few times I've backed up with the parking brake on. At some point something happened and the parking brake wasn't normal. Took it apart, the friction material had separated from f shoe.

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