Emergency brake failed

[edinlr]

I drove my ITS home during the snow the other day and parked and put the emergency brake on. I was going to move the car into another part of the driveway and I left it running. As I stepped out the car started rolling backwards, I quickly jumped in and hit the brakes and this time turned the motor off and left it in first gear since I did not trust the E brake. Has anyone else had this problem with the emergency brake? The car was on a slight grade, but this is the first time in 50+ years of driving standards that I have had a brake failure like this.

 

[edido]

What I noticed - sometime when I lift the E break it doesn't kick in. In other words, the red indicator in the E break doesn't light up.
It might be me not pushing the button all the way up. I am not sure. Now, I always check the red light indicator.

 

[edinlr]

The first thing I checked was that the red light was on, even while it was rolling backwards towards the neighbor's pool!

 

[NoelPR]

I park mine in my none flat driveway and never had an issue. I always put it in first and make sure that the parking brake is enabled.

Make sure you are pressing the brake pedal or it won't engage.

 

[edinlr]

I park mine in my none flat driveway and never had an issue. I always put it in first and make sure that the parking brake is enabled.

Make sure you are pressing the brake pedal or it won't engage.

So I am guessing it wasn't an equipment failure as much as an operator issue. Somehow I miss the low tech of a handle to pull beside the console. In the case the other day I wanted to leave the motor running and trusted the parking brake, but clearly in the future that is not the smartest thing to do. I will have to double check, but I did notice that I had to have a foot on the brake to activate the parking brake.

 

[acurax]

One thing I have noticed is that sometimes when I stop in my driveway or garage with the car running, my foot on the brake & clutch engaged, if I take it out of gear, the parking brake will engage automatically. Maybe this is what happened and you mistakenly pushed the parking brake button the wrong direction, causing it to disengage the parking brake?

 

[edinlr]

One thing I have noticed is that sometimes when I stop in my driveway or garage with the car running, my foot on the brake & clutch engaged, if I take it out of gear, the parking brake will engage automatically. Maybe this is what happened and you mistakenly pushed the parking brake button the wrong direction, causing it to disengage the parking brake?

No, the red light was clearly on both when I got out of the car and when I got back in as it was rolling backwards.

 

[starman]

For me, the first day I got my car I pressed upwards on the eBrake button and as soon as I turned off the car, opened the door and got out, my car also began to roll back. HOWEVER, i'll be honest with ya, I DID NOT pay attention if the eBrake light went on or not. Now I press up and hold the button up until I see that light go on and hear the brakes being applied.

I've been driving and owned multiple manual cars for decades, so i'm just so used to hearing and feeling the clicky'ness of traditional handbrake.

Mind you ITS is my second car to have electronically controlled eBrake. My first car to have it was the MKV Supra, but that was an Automatic, so it didn't matter too much. Plus, I think that car auto-applied it for you when the car turned off.

 

[edinlr]

For me, the first day I got my car I pressed upwards on the eBrake button and as soon as I turned off the car, opened the door and got out, my car also began to roll back. HOWEVER, i'll be honest with ya, I DID NOT pay attention if the eBrake light went on or not. Now I press up and hold the button up until I see that light go on and hear the brakes being applied.

I've been driving and owned multiple manual cars for decades, so i'm just so used to hearing and feeling the clicky'ness of traditional handbrake.

Mind you ITS is my second car to have electronically controlled eBrake. My first car to have it was the MKV Supra, but that was an Automatic, so it didn't matter too much. Plus, I think that car auto-applied it for you when the car turned off.

But I did not turn the car off, I left it running while I was getting out to move another car. I was on a slight incline and wanted to make sure the parking brake was on before I got out of the car.

 

[bpebler]

That’s scary. I leave mine running with e-brake on when getting out to get the mail real quick with the kids in the car. Not anymore! This is why I miss traditional hand brake.

 

[akoza]

But I did not turn the car off, I left it running while I was getting out to move another car. I was on a slight incline and wanted to make sure the parking brake was on before I got out of the car.

I might be wrong, but I think the car automatically applies the eBrake when you open the door if it's running.

 

[edinlr]

I might be wrong, but I think the car automatically applies the eBrake when you open the door if it's running.

And the door was open as I got out and it started rolling before I could even close it.

 

[NoelPR]

I might be wrong, but I think the car automatically applies the eBrake when you open the door if it's running.

Not true.

 

[acurax]

Based on what you're saying, this may be something for owners to be on the look out for and see if anyone can reproduce it.

If this were to be reproducible or happen to more owners it could be a safety concern which Acura may have to work with the NHTSA on issuing a recall. But, that's getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

 

[edinlr]

Based on what you're saying, this may be something for owners to be on the look out for and see if anyone can reproduce it.

If this were to be reproducible or happen to more owners it could be a safety concern which Acura may have to work with the NHTSA on issuing a recall. But, that's getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

With all the discussion we have had, I have to honestly wonder if somehow the auto park might have engaged and when I thought I was engaging it that I turned it off? I will monitor this closely to see if it repeats itself. In any case, I would advise people to be careful with their parking brakes. Like I said earlier, I miss the pull up handle from my 1976 Civic.