Releasing the E brake...
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 127
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From: Sonoma County, CA
2007 Arctic White C230
Releasing the E brake...
I'll apologize now if this is a completely assinine n00b question.
I've always turned on my car and released the e-brake before I put it in gear. A day or so ago, I was told to put the car in gear and THEN release it. I was also told it can cause some amount of transmission damage to release it when not in gear? I've always released out of gear for YEARS with no problems arising out of this.
Does anyone have any input as to which is correct, or a better method of practice? Any input is appreciated, thanks!
I've always turned on my car and released the e-brake before I put it in gear. A day or so ago, I was told to put the car in gear and THEN release it. I was also told it can cause some amount of transmission damage to release it when not in gear? I've always released out of gear for YEARS with no problems arising out of this.
Does anyone have any input as to which is correct, or a better method of practice? Any input is appreciated, thanks!
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From: MA
E90 M3
i dont think it does any damage to your car either way you do it, but i always learned to release e-brake after putting in gear...because if ur someone that parks their car in neutral...releasing the e-brake on a slight incline will let ur car roll whichever direction
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From: Laguna Niguel, CA
The reason they say this is because the Park setting on an automatic transmission uses what's called a parking pawl, basically a pin that locks the output shaft of the transmission. If you release the parking brake without stepping on the main brakes to hold the car, the car can roll and the pawl slams against a notch in the output shaft causing stress on the transmission and eventually break the parking pawl. Also makes it harder to take out of park when there's a lot of pressure on the pawl. This would cost a good amount of money to get repaired. If this is too diffucult for you to guard against, you can do what I do, only buy manual trans cars, no parking pawl, you can do what you want 
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: MA
E90 M3
The reason they say this is because the Park setting on an automatic transmission uses what's called a parking pawl, basically a pin that locks the output shaft of the transmission. If you release the parking brake without stepping on the main brakes to hold the car, the car can roll and the pawl slams against a notch in the output shaft causing stress on the transmission and eventually break the parking pawl. Also makes it harder to take out of park when there's a lot of pressure on the pawl. This would cost a good amount of money to get repaired. If this is too diffucult for you to guard against, you can do what I do, only buy manual trans cars, no parking pawl, you can do what you want
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From: Boston
2003 C240
Yeah I don't use it much either...it says to use it every time you park, but thats ridiculous. Although I did use it last week when I did have to park on a steep hill....and I can def see why you should either put your foot on the brake or shift into gear first, because I felt that thump against that pin thing, and I can just visualize that locking pin getting smashed, therfore from now on I will do it correctly, thanks for that info buellwinkle 
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Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Florida, Tampa
1993 190E 2.6
If you choose to release the parking break before the car is in gear, and your on level ground. Your car isnt putting any pressure on the pin. However, if you are on a hill it is better to use the parking break, and if you choose to release it before its in gear, your car is probably going to roll in either direction. To stop your car from rolling, press on the foot brake to secure your car before releasing the e-brake. I would think that would be suffice as long as it kept your car from putting pressure on the pin, correct?
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 7,684
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From: West Los Angeles
Midnight Blue 2004.5 C230 Kompressor Sport Sedan. 2002 w210 E320, 2009 w211 E350 Sport
Wait, am I just an anomaly, cuz I step on my foot brake every single time before releasing the parking brake. A lot of the time, it's from force of habit (since my driveway is on an incline), but is that something people don't normally do?
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From: Boston
2003 C240
Well, I think some people don't do it because they take for granted that even if you are parked on an incline and you release the parking brake and its still in park that the car shouldn't move. But they also don't realize what was pointed out by buellwinkle, which can cause expensive damage....
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From: Vancouver, Canada
03' E39 M5, 10' CLS63 AMG
well what i do is, before i put the car in park i put the E-brake on, and then put the car in park. and after starting the car i apply the brake and then release the e-brake and then shift into gear. i have never had problems or difficulty's shifting out of park. i dont know if that is the perfect way. but it seem to have been working?
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 127
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From: Sonoma County, CA
2007 Arctic White C230
Thanks for all the replies everyone! 50% of the time I am indeed parking on an incline, so I willl have to change my habit. Everytime I release the brake on the incline it does roll backwards a bit, and I can imagine how expensive it would be to fix/replace that pin if it broke someday.
Thanks again
Thanks again
