weirdest thing happened this morning, went out like any other day to start the car, i started it up, i then proceed to release the parking brake... now sometimes the car might move a little bit, but while the car was still in park it continued to roll backwards and i had to push the brakes to stop the car from moving, kinda crazy but has anyone ever experienced this before ? Something with the electronics maybe ?

 

That would be an issue with the transmission. Your parking pawl wasn't engaged. The parking pawl locks the transmission in P. It's a mechanical lock that prevents the transmission from turning. It's not unusually for the parking pawl to get damaged, or maybe there's an issue in your valve body that prevented the parking pawl from engaging.

 

how do you "release the parking brake" while still in park?

 

by pulling the parking brake lever which youll find along the same line as the hood release.

 

Uhm,
- so, OP grabs down there and releases the parking brake mechanically instead of using the electronic brake control? Why?
- OP wonders why the car rolls a little when the brake is released but the car is not in gear yet ("park" now just means you are not in gear yet as you already released the brake)?

I am either not seeing the tree in the Forrest or he makes a problem where there is none? What am I missing?

 

ya i have always pulled the parking brake, only way i have ever known... how do you do it with the electronic brake control ?

 

you dont do anything. just get on the gas and itll release automatically

 

i dont know. i was only answering your question

 

So as I understood it, he manually released the e-brake, but transmission was still in P and the car kept rolling. Not just a bit, but kept rolling until he stepped on the brakes. So to me that sounds like the parking pawl didn't engage as it should. Nothing wrong with releasing the e-brake manually, even though it's not necessary, but the parking pawl should keep the car from rolling past the slack in the transmission.

Or at least in the FL it automatically releases as soon as the transmission is put in gear.

 

this is correct. that is exactly what happened

and i did not know this, i just always used the release. I will try just driving and see when it releases


thanks

 

Yes, just use the electronic brake.. you press the brake pedal and move from P to D...nothing else to do. Car will not roll either as you are still having your foot on the brake.

Now, you may indeed have an issue if the car really rolls (on an almost even surface) while you mechanically release the brake and still in P. Never tried that but the car will move some...just should not roll.

 

How far did it roll before you hit the breaks ?? if its was a couple inches etc.. thats normal.. did you feel the car rolling and "panic stomp" the break ??
or we talking that it was rolling feet at a time, and you were rolling , rolling , and needed to stop the car..

 

One of the things I really like about my AMG...that I don't ever need to set the parking brake or release it manually.

 

Yeah, my understanding is that this is how it's working in most newer cars with electronic gear selectors, partially in response to some recent incidents where people got out of their cars, not realizing that it wasn't in P and in Anton Yelchin's case got crushed to death by their own car because of it. So this is largely for safety. But it's convenient as well. I really like that I don't even have to put the car in P. Just shutting off the engine automatically puts it in P and engages the parking brake.

 

My 2017 C63 does not release the parking brake automatically when you put the car in D. It only sets it automatically when you put it in park.

Maybe it does with the newer models, my wife’s 2019 CLS does release the parking brake automatically when you put the car in drive and it sets it when your put it park.

 

That sounds weird. I had it in my 2015 none AMG MB. You sure?

 

I would almost say your are wrong on that.. as my 2016 c63 does it.. you have to drive fwd alittle and it releases.. or reverse..

 

Yes, I think the nuisance is being missed. I believe in the older models the parking brake releases only once you start moving in the current gear and I think you have to be wearing your seat belt. So this means you can't creep out of your parking spot/garage by simply taking your foot off the brake. You have to give it some throttle. In the newer models, the parking brake releases the moment the car is put in gear, so then when you take the foot of the brake it starts creeping. Definitely the better approach in my opinion.

 

oh nah i know the car sometimes rolls a bit, but this was getting to the point of i knew something was wrong and i had to stop it.

 

I prefer the old manual system of having a cable connected hand operated parking brake lever between the seats. So much simpler - you don't run into problems like this and changing rear brake pads are simpler. You do have to remember to set it on a hill and to release it before driving off (too inconvenient, too challenging?)

 

Certainly has its charm and it's my preferred setup for a manual transmission car and how all my MT cars for nearly 20 years were equipped. Using it for hill starts before Hill Start Assist was a thing etc. But just like manual transmissions themselves and mechanical gear selectors for automatic transmissions. The mechanical handbrake is going the way of the dodo. I do think it would feel quite out of place in a car with an automatic/automated transmission and electronic gear selector like the C63, though, because the whole gear shifting mechanism and selection is all electronic. It's not like in the old days where the PRND selector was at least still mechanically connected to the transmission to select the proper gear position. The mechanical handbrake would be nice for drifting, though .

 

Nobody really used them, even when parking on a hill. I drove nothing but manual transmission cars for the first 20 years of my driving experience so setting the parking brake was something I did out of habit, it is kind of weird to me not to have to do it with these cars.

Hell, I remember parking on a hill intensionally so I could start the car if the battery died just by rolling and popping the clutch. I know... I’m old.

 

Yes I remember the same. Bad starter or chipped teeth on flywheel - a hill would assure me that I could start the car.

 

my 240z and 280zx (Turbo) but starters took a crap, so why spend the money on a starter when you just need a little "Roll" room and pop the clutch... lol

Most expensive thing I remember having to replace on those cars was the "Throw out bearing" and a "clutch" every now and then.