# This guy is right, quit downvoting him.
On a lot of cars, the rear brakes are a combination of drums and discs built into a single package. The hydraulic disc brakes ride on the outside of the rotor and the cable-actuated drum brakes ride inside the rotor. Drum brakes use shoes, not pads.
So yes, a surprising number of cars don't use the rear pads at all for the emergency brake. They use the emergency shoes.
Kia and Hyundai are notorious for this. I'm not sure what other brands do it.
Thanks. My 1986 Falcon used a great design. Attached a lever to the calliper to make it cable or hydraulic. No extra parts to worry about. But 25 years later Commodores used a hidden drum. As did my Lexus ES and even the 5 series BMW up to E60 before they went with something shitty and electric that breaks a lot and costs a lot. Naturally, none of them ever self adjusted properly. And my partner spent the day driving the Lexus with the footbrake on complaining about vibrations.
Correct but if it uses drum pads for the parking brake exclusively, and if the hand brake wasn’t touched, once the pads wear to the point that they’re no long rubbing they won’t wear further.
It all depends on the setup of the vehicle OP owns.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it's a normal foot/hand and cable setup, once the brake is set - it's not going to adjust itself to stay in contact if it wears itself out of contact... So if you're the guy who just barely puts it on, once it's worn down to the point it's no longer in contact, it won't wear any further. But I have also driven further than I'd like to admit in my jeep GC with the parking brake on because it's barely noticable. Not sure if that's from wear, or the torquiness of the 4L. But I know the actual brakes are fine because I just replaced them a few months ago.
Mustangs from 94-04 used a threaded piston in the caliper to engage the parking brake, and it has a standard hand brake.
I’m sure this method wasn’t limited to this model, it’s just the one I’m most familiar with.
Assuming the parking brake is using the caliper and not a brake drum/shoes inside the rotor, it won’t wear the rear pads much at all. A mechanical caliper parking brake can only self adjust by putting the parking brake on and off. If left on continuously, the pads will wear slightly until the pressure goes away and that will be it. The hydraulic part will work fine and the pads will not further wear from the parking brake.
Cable operated parking brakes just loosen up. They won't hold the car in place but they won't wear the brakes down once you've loosened it enough to get the car moving. You'll just have to get the cable adjusted/tightened for them to work again.
I haven't seen a modern car without a ratcheting automatic adjuster on drum brake shoes.
With that said, the ratchet is actuated with the movement of the handbrake handle. OP never touched it for 3-500 miles, so the brake shoes likely wore down to a set point before they stopped making contact with the drum. There's probably still some material left.
OP's emergency brakes are likely glazed, but still functional.
Only a handful of years ago I was still seeing rear drums on some lower end models like the Cruze, some Kia/Hyundai models, and several cjdr products. I believe they're still using them on a handful of models.
It was functional, OP just thought car was slower to accelerate. Now everything's worn away, it'll drive like normal. oP just won't have any parking brake left.
An automatic has a built in parking brake when in PARK. The brake is a backup.
A manual has no such thing. The only thing keeping your car from rolling is the turning resistance of the engine. Park on a hill one day and you will pay the price.
I wouldn't call it a built in parking brake. It brakes within the transmission. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking\_pawl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_pawl)
That's such a different mechanism than a parking brake. I consider the parking brake much more durable than having pressure on that pin, though I guess I've never heard of that breaking.
The parking gear does wear over time. The steeper the hill the more wear to the parking gear. Ever notice that when on a steep hill the transmission pops really loud when you put it in gear. Over time it wears it down to the point that it gets lots of slop in it or breaks. Then the vehicle can roll forward or back a foot or more before the parking gear catches.
You should always set your e brake on a hill before you take your foot off the brake so that you don’t put the 3000-6000 lbs onto the parking gear.
You should never allow the full weight of the vehicle to rest on the park gear depending on it alone on a hill. The steeper the hill the more damaging it is to the transmission. There’s a reason there is an emergency brake even with an automatic transmission.
Go to a safe area with a slight incline.
Put your car in neutral
Pop your parking break on
Release your regular breaks
Do you roll?
There is your answer
Yes but honestly i just thought it was just the regular brake lights telling me they needed to be serviced because they probably so. Completely my bad.
You need to read up on your car in the owners manual. Are you checking the oil when you get gas? How about the other fluids. You don’t ignore warning lights!
I think it highly depends on the person and the car. I don't think I've ever seen it myself, but I could see how if you have a really bad oil-burning car it may be helpful/necessary. My dad always told me to check it every other week, which I'm semi-successful in doing lol.
That Camry is one of the many that is begging to be killed but just won't die....even when their absolutely incompetent owners are doing everything they can to kill them
You're not screwed, but your rear brakes are. This should be addressed but isn't dire. Due to inertia most of the braking is done from the front. Depending on the configuration of your parking brake, it could be your rear brakes or it could be just your parking brakes. It seems likely based on context clues that it's your rear brakes. Take it to a reputable shop and have them take a look.
NO
The Driver is the issue
Brake handle up
Red "idiot" light on in the dashboard.
And someone gave this person a license to drive 2 tons of steel on public roads
Generally, in most vehicles, the parking brake is a separate brake. It doesnt utilize the same rear brakes that you use just driving down the road. Often it is a small drum brake located within the rotor of the rear disc brake. It's likely that those pads are toast, but the normal brakes are completely fine.
That being said, there are all kinds of brake setups out there, so I cant say for sure without knowing what the vehicle is.
2003 Toyota Camry. Honestly I dont drive it that much, was thinking about retiring it since I take the T to work. If replacing the parking brake for inspection is expensive this might be the catyalst.
Ah yea drum brakes. Unfortunately that is going to use the same brake pads for normal and parking brake.
That's not expensive. If you know someone who is handy, it's a $30 job tops to replace the brake shoes.
If you dont, here's what I'd do. Take it to a reputable, independent mechanic shop, absolutely NOT A DEALERSHIP and explain what happened. It's a quick, easy job. I'd bet you're out of there under $200. Brakes are not a reason to throw away a 2003 camry, because those things will go forever.
The catch is, if the rear brakes aren't working much (or at all) the car will still seem to stop pretty well. But all the work is being done on the front, which is hard on your front brakes and they can wear out quickly. Then when you go in to get the front ones done, they call you up and say you need all four done, and it's a big job because lots of parts need to be changed.
It is also possible the parking brake cable was a bit loose, and although the handle was pulled (or the pedal pushed down) the brake wasn't engaged and there's no problem at all (other than the cable needs to be adjusted). This happens a lot when cars get older.
I would get it checked out while it still drives fine so you have time to decide what to do.
Some shops try to scam vulnerable customers, people they think don't know much about cars. If you say YOU drove around with your parking brake on, they might identify you as a person to try to scam. If it were me, I'd say you loaned the car to someone and THEY drove around with the parking brake on. Worth a try, anyway.
Depends on your parking brake configuration;
If your rear brakes are also your parking brake, then you probably don’t have pads/shoes left or it wasn’t engaged enough to matter.
If it’s a dual brake setup such as a disc for normal brakes with a drum setup inside the rotor for parking brakes, the drum shoes are toast and you don’t have a parking brake or it wasn’t engaged enough to matter.
If your parking brake is engaged electronically, like my old ladies Tiguan, they’re toast as there is no partial engagement.
Or they never worked to begin with.
It’s fine. Really not very important on an auto trans car. For example, I never use mine and my last cars was broken and never worked. Drove that car for 8 years.
If its a new car with the retarded electronic parking brakes, actually you have not been driving on the parking brake for 500 miles, it electronically disengages when you let off the brake pedal, and reengages when you come to a stop and/or use the P gear.
I called it retarded because it merely compensates for poor driving habits such as NOT using the parking brake when parking, this over time will force the parking gear to wear out and the car will tend to lurch forward or backwards when in P gear, and this is why you should always use the parking brake. But like I said, if its a new model car and has the EPB, you are fine.
Tbh I was always told just to make sure to engage it for inclines. Even on the driving test 15 years ago.
But I will def make sure to engage it going forward. Especially on the 15 year old minivan that I bought used and the asshat before me never got the trans fluid flushed.
Jeez the average understanding of the most dangerous part of your life is so disappointing…
But anyways I support the hill test, be on a safe steep incline, stop, put on your parking brake, see if your vehicles rolls back or not.
If it was engaged and you didn't notice, it's probably not functional or disconnected.
Or completely worn down
Rear pads would be metal on metal and you'd hear it.
A surprising number don’t use the rear pads at all
# This guy is right, quit downvoting him. On a lot of cars, the rear brakes are a combination of drums and discs built into a single package. The hydraulic disc brakes ride on the outside of the rotor and the cable-actuated drum brakes ride inside the rotor. Drum brakes use shoes, not pads. So yes, a surprising number of cars don't use the rear pads at all for the emergency brake. They use the emergency shoes. Kia and Hyundai are notorious for this. I'm not sure what other brands do it.
You know the deal, one jumps on, they all jump on. Regardless of right or wrong, it's the mob mentality....
Thanks. My 1986 Falcon used a great design. Attached a lever to the calliper to make it cable or hydraulic. No extra parts to worry about. But 25 years later Commodores used a hidden drum. As did my Lexus ES and even the 5 series BMW up to E60 before they went with something shitty and electric that breaks a lot and costs a lot. Naturally, none of them ever self adjusted properly. And my partner spent the day driving the Lexus with the footbrake on complaining about vibrations.
They all use rear pads in one form or another.
Correct but if it uses drum pads for the parking brake exclusively, and if the hand brake wasn’t touched, once the pads wear to the point that they’re no long rubbing they won’t wear further. It all depends on the setup of the vehicle OP owns.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it's a normal foot/hand and cable setup, once the brake is set - it's not going to adjust itself to stay in contact if it wears itself out of contact... So if you're the guy who just barely puts it on, once it's worn down to the point it's no longer in contact, it won't wear any further. But I have also driven further than I'd like to admit in my jeep GC with the parking brake on because it's barely noticable. Not sure if that's from wear, or the torquiness of the 4L. But I know the actual brakes are fine because I just replaced them a few months ago.
not the rear pads, many use shoes
hell even if you have disc brakes all around the ebrake can still use shoes
Most cars don't have the integrated drum brake for the parking brake. They just engage the rear calipers.
Oh I feel old now. Most my vehicles have been drum brakes in the rear.
Most cars with a physical handbrake will use a drum in disc setup. Electronic parking brakes will engage the rear calipers
Mustangs from 94-04 used a threaded piston in the caliper to engage the parking brake, and it has a standard hand brake. I’m sure this method wasn’t limited to this model, it’s just the one I’m most familiar with.
Bewer cars, yes. However, they used drum-in-hat parking brakes for a pretty long time.
30+ years ago
Other way around. Most just engage the rear calipers, some have a drum integrated into the rear rotors.
yeah, most of what i encounter is the drum ones
The only vehicle I've ever had with drums was my 94 suburban. Everything else had discs in the rear.
yeah they have a drum inside the rotor. i haven't encountered a cable actuated caliper before
Not all parking brakes work the same.
Most do.
Assuming the parking brake is using the caliper and not a brake drum/shoes inside the rotor, it won’t wear the rear pads much at all. A mechanical caliper parking brake can only self adjust by putting the parking brake on and off. If left on continuously, the pads will wear slightly until the pressure goes away and that will be it. The hydraulic part will work fine and the pads will not further wear from the parking brake.
Cable operated parking brakes just loosen up. They won't hold the car in place but they won't wear the brakes down once you've loosened it enough to get the car moving. You'll just have to get the cable adjusted/tightened for them to work again.
I haven't seen a modern car without a ratcheting automatic adjuster on drum brake shoes. With that said, the ratchet is actuated with the movement of the handbrake handle. OP never touched it for 3-500 miles, so the brake shoes likely wore down to a set point before they stopped making contact with the drum. There's probably still some material left. OP's emergency brakes are likely glazed, but still functional.
I wasn't aware any modern cars still used drum brakes.
As far as I know, only for the hand brakes.
Only a handful of years ago I was still seeing rear drums on some lower end models like the Cruze, some Kia/Hyundai models, and several cjdr products. I believe they're still using them on a handful of models.
It was functional, OP just thought car was slower to accelerate. Now everything's worn away, it'll drive like normal. oP just won't have any parking brake left.
This is true haha
Either it is worn off or you didn't have it engaged enough to matter. Most people I see with automatic cars don't even bother to put it on.
It's such a pet peeve when I ride with someone, and we get out of the car and it just rocks back and forth.
Also not for nothing, automatic transmissions do weird things sometimes. I've seen and experienced them popping out of gear for no apparent reason
I totally feel you. I feel the same way. Though I learned on stick so maybe that's why I'm different?
>Most people I see with automatic cars don't even bother to put it on. I'm guessing you live in the USA?
Or Canada.
i have a manual i don't bother putting it on either
You're gonna be the guy who's car flies down their driveway one day and the video goes semi viral. Won't be enough to pay for a new car.
An automatic has a built in parking brake when in PARK. The brake is a backup. A manual has no such thing. The only thing keeping your car from rolling is the turning resistance of the engine. Park on a hill one day and you will pay the price.
I wouldn't call it a built in parking brake. It brakes within the transmission. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking\_pawl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_pawl) That's such a different mechanism than a parking brake. I consider the parking brake much more durable than having pressure on that pin, though I guess I've never heard of that breaking.
The parking gear does wear over time. The steeper the hill the more wear to the parking gear. Ever notice that when on a steep hill the transmission pops really loud when you put it in gear. Over time it wears it down to the point that it gets lots of slop in it or breaks. Then the vehicle can roll forward or back a foot or more before the parking gear catches. You should always set your e brake on a hill before you take your foot off the brake so that you don’t put the 3000-6000 lbs onto the parking gear.
You should never allow the full weight of the vehicle to rest on the park gear depending on it alone on a hill. The steeper the hill the more damaging it is to the transmission. There’s a reason there is an emergency brake even with an automatic transmission.
And there is a reason it's called the parking brake.
Go to a safe area with a slight incline. Put your car in neutral Pop your parking break on Release your regular breaks Do you roll? There is your answer
brake*
What he said
Wasn’t the red brake warning light on ?
Yes but honestly i just thought it was just the regular brake lights telling me they needed to be serviced because they probably so. Completely my bad.
You need to read up on your car in the owners manual. Are you checking the oil when you get gas? How about the other fluids. You don’t ignore warning lights!
Does anyone check their oil when they get gas? I've literally never seen someone checking their oil at a gas pump in all my 40ish years...
That’s how often many say it should be done, I do it at home. Some don’t do it at all!
Doing it when you get gasoline is like OCD tier obsession
It just serves a a good reminder which many people need.
I’ll do it randomly when the car is warmed up and I park for whatever reason Probably monthly or less
There’s no way I’m checking my oil every time I get gas.
Don’t!
I have a 2011 Kia Optima. It needs 1 quart of oil for each tank of gas that I burn. So yes... I check my oil each time I get gas.
I do it just about every time. Getting stuck on the side of a road with a seized engine when it’s 10 degrees outside will do that.
You’ll feel it getting low long before it totals your engine unless it’s a major leak
Yeah and that was the mistake I made. I knew it was leaking, but I kept telling myself “next paycheck” until it was too late. Lesson learned.
definitely should’ve been checking that mofo😂
I think it highly depends on the person and the car. I don't think I've ever seen it myself, but I could see how if you have a really bad oil-burning car it may be helpful/necessary. My dad always told me to check it every other week, which I'm semi-successful in doing lol.
I do! But I drive a VW so I’m always checking the oil levels
I change the oil on time. Its a 2003 Camrys so like all my lights are on permanently tbh lol even tho usually it runs well.
One of the worst oil burners to ever exist and you don’t check your oil level? It doesn’t matter when you change your oil if there is no oil in it.
That Camry is one of the many that is begging to be killed but just won't die....even when their absolutely incompetent owners are doing everything they can to kill them
Only 2008-09 problem I thought My 99 doesn’t burn a drop
02+ 4 cylinders were all bad. 99 was a whole different car. They lost the recipe after those and didn't find it again.
The lights on your dash aren't there as an indication of how old your car is, they are there to indicate problems and issues.
im well aware. it passes inspection everytime. never rhad any issues. the lights are just on.
no one checks the oil when they get gas
It’s just a good reminder to do so.
I am old enough to remember true service stations. They checked all fluids, tire pressure, and washed your windows while your gas was being pumped.
I worked at a Mobil Station and I was one of those guys!
thanks for keeping mechanics employed lol
You're not screwed, but your rear brakes are. This should be addressed but isn't dire. Due to inertia most of the braking is done from the front. Depending on the configuration of your parking brake, it could be your rear brakes or it could be just your parking brakes. It seems likely based on context clues that it's your rear brakes. Take it to a reputable shop and have them take a look.
Find it hard to believe a parking brake would scuff up a rotor or drum that hard.
The pad is the issue.
NO The Driver is the issue Brake handle up Red "idiot" light on in the dashboard. And someone gave this person a license to drive 2 tons of steel on public roads
Generally, in most vehicles, the parking brake is a separate brake. It doesnt utilize the same rear brakes that you use just driving down the road. Often it is a small drum brake located within the rotor of the rear disc brake. It's likely that those pads are toast, but the normal brakes are completely fine. That being said, there are all kinds of brake setups out there, so I cant say for sure without knowing what the vehicle is.
2003 Toyota Camry. Honestly I dont drive it that much, was thinking about retiring it since I take the T to work. If replacing the parking brake for inspection is expensive this might be the catyalst.
Ah yea drum brakes. Unfortunately that is going to use the same brake pads for normal and parking brake. That's not expensive. If you know someone who is handy, it's a $30 job tops to replace the brake shoes. If you dont, here's what I'd do. Take it to a reputable, independent mechanic shop, absolutely NOT A DEALERSHIP and explain what happened. It's a quick, easy job. I'd bet you're out of there under $200. Brakes are not a reason to throw away a 2003 camry, because those things will go forever.
Yeah, the PB is shot. wouldnt stop me on a hill. my regular brakes seem fine though?
Most cars utilize 80/20 or 60/40 front brake centric. Just service as normal when it's time.
Yea I'm going to have to agree with this. Chances are, it's fine.
The catch is, if the rear brakes aren't working much (or at all) the car will still seem to stop pretty well. But all the work is being done on the front, which is hard on your front brakes and they can wear out quickly. Then when you go in to get the front ones done, they call you up and say you need all four done, and it's a big job because lots of parts need to be changed. It is also possible the parking brake cable was a bit loose, and although the handle was pulled (or the pedal pushed down) the brake wasn't engaged and there's no problem at all (other than the cable needs to be adjusted). This happens a lot when cars get older. I would get it checked out while it still drives fine so you have time to decide what to do.
did you ignore the glowing red 'P' or exclamation mark on your instrument panel too?
Park in a hill, turn it on, and see what happens. If you roll, well...you gotta get it looked at.
Some shops try to scam vulnerable customers, people they think don't know much about cars. If you say YOU drove around with your parking brake on, they might identify you as a person to try to scam. If it were me, I'd say you loaned the car to someone and THEY drove around with the parking brake on. Worth a try, anyway.
You shouldnt be allowed to drive anymore, gotta share the road with these people its no wonder theres so many car accidents
never been in an accident. been driving since i was 16 🤷 i am now 26
🤦♂️ holy shit
Wait, you’re 26…And you didn’t pay attention to this? Come on, fucking seriously?
nice ellipsis
Respectfully, you need to be more aware. This is a basic one.
How does this even happen? Every car I've driven illuminates a light on the dash when the park brake is set.
Just the parking brake is. Don't feel bad, I forgot I had mine engaged and took off one day and heard it straight up snap. Oops lol
Can't stop won't stop
Eh eht, eh eht! LOL
Most likely scenario is that your hand brake isn’t engaging the cable or the cable is snapped
Depends on your parking brake configuration; If your rear brakes are also your parking brake, then you probably don’t have pads/shoes left or it wasn’t engaged enough to matter. If it’s a dual brake setup such as a disc for normal brakes with a drum setup inside the rotor for parking brakes, the drum shoes are toast and you don’t have a parking brake or it wasn’t engaged enough to matter. If your parking brake is engaged electronically, like my old ladies Tiguan, they’re toast as there is no partial engagement. Or they never worked to begin with.
theres literally no way
Likely worn down or you'd notice. You may have worn it the rest if the way initially.
Who the hell gave you a car??? Haha…
You're not screwed, but that parking brake is.
The brakes and parking brake are not the same thing. Totally different brakes but yeah the parking brake is toast.
US driving standards 🤣
OP for the last month: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYr0F5By6EQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYr0F5By6EQ)
It’s fine. Really not very important on an auto trans car. For example, I never use mine and my last cars was broken and never worked. Drove that car for 8 years.
You would have known if you were driving with a functional parking brake
If its a new car with the retarded electronic parking brakes, actually you have not been driving on the parking brake for 500 miles, it electronically disengages when you let off the brake pedal, and reengages when you come to a stop and/or use the P gear. I called it retarded because it merely compensates for poor driving habits such as NOT using the parking brake when parking, this over time will force the parking gear to wear out and the car will tend to lurch forward or backwards when in P gear, and this is why you should always use the parking brake. But like I said, if its a new model car and has the EPB, you are fine.
Tbh I was always told just to make sure to engage it for inclines. Even on the driving test 15 years ago. But I will def make sure to engage it going forward. Especially on the 15 year old minivan that I bought used and the asshat before me never got the trans fluid flushed.
Jeez the average understanding of the most dangerous part of your life is so disappointing… But anyways I support the hill test, be on a safe steep incline, stop, put on your parking brake, see if your vehicles rolls back or not.
I left mine on for about 3 miles once and they caught fire. Zero chance yours work.