Weird emergency brake

[richinspirit]

Has anyone have any ideas on why an Expedition emergency brake works great in reverse, but seemingly doesn't hold at all, or hardly at all, in forward gear? Perhaps some other vehicle?

Weirdest thing I have ever run into, as far as basic car operation.

Certainly wins a prize in my book, and I have seen some interesting electrical kinds of issues.

Perhaps someone has an idea, as I will be working on the front suspension/wheel bearing soon, hopfully.

Thank you.

 

[toms89]

You think that's weird... I can stand on my brakes and punch the throttle and my expy still takes off when the converter reaches stall rpms.

But if I pull fuse # 104 it will do a smoky burnout instead.

 

[toms89]

Parking brake is not intended to hold vehicle when you apply power.

But if you rotate the parking brake shoes reverse rotation they tend to bind up with the rotor. At least that's what I have found. My parking brake did not want to release and ended up bending the hell out of the shoes and hardware when going in reverse.

Made it fun to remove the rotors.

 

[richinspirit]

Parking brake is not intended to hold vehicle when you apply power.

But if you rotate the parking brake shoes reverse rotation they tend to bind up with the rotor. At least that's what I have found. My parking brake did not want to release and ended up bending the hell out of the shoes and hardware when going in reverse.

Made it fun to remove the rotors.

Thank you for your replies.

I had it release with a bit of binding soon after I posted. However, it now works in forward and reverse, which is also a bit odd but I'm grateful under my current circumstances. I'll say this one is solved, but will look for fuse 104 right after posting this, since the manual I have doesn't mention it.

Haven't checked any of the fuses since purchasing. Good general reminder/suggestion.

 

[crowncrazy87]

On all my old Crown Victorias, both police and civilian models the parking brake would automatically release when put into any forward gear but not reverse.

Glad you got it worked out though.

 

[BAD RONALD]

On my '01 the parking brake would bind on occasion after a tap on the brakes when in reverse. Took everything apart to find much of the mechanism frozen in rust. It's not hard to take apart, clean everything up and reassemble. The properly adjusted e brake on mine does not hold the vehicle in forward past 2000 rpms.

On initial inspection I found that the rear wheel seals were leaking. Not surprising as this is a pretty common condition. Replacement took an afternoon including the trip to the parts store.

 

[richinspirit]

Thanks everyone. Sometimes another perspective (or several) can really help.


This is good to hear, thank you much...

The properly adjusted e brake on mine does not hold the vehicle in forward past 2000 rpms.
...
Replacement took an afternoon including the trip to the parts store.

 

[toms89]

Thank you for your replies.

I had it release with a bit of binding soon after I posted. However, it now works in forward and reverse, which is also a bit odd but I'm grateful under my current circumstances. I'll say this one is solved, but will look for fuse 104 right after posting this, since the manual I have doesn't mention it.

Haven't checked any of the fuses since purchasing. Good general reminder/suggestion.

Removing fuse 104 disables the A4wd. I was just commenting on this because at one poine I was trying to determine the stall speed of my converter. The racers way to determine the stall of a converter is to stand on the brakes and give it gas till the drive wheels break loose. Well with A4wd still enabled, instead of the drive wheels breaking loose the vehicle will just launch even while holding the brakes. (4wd) I just found it an odd experience because it would just launch rather suddenly with foot planted on the brakes when applying throttle!

Nothing to do with the parking brake really other than stating the fact that even your brakes will not hold the vehicle if its under power. (So parking brake would have little hope to.) This becomes apparent when you are a drag racer, do burnouts, brake torque the vehicle, etc...

Applying power with the parking brake engaged can potentially damage the parking brake itself as well.