Parking Break Quandaries

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by aaron00olsen, Jul 7, 2017.

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  1. aaron00olsen

    aaron00olsen New Member

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    Hey everyone,

    I just bought a 2007 Prius with 230,000 miles on the odo. I recently had the exhaust system repaired because there was a small leak, and had my front breaks redone (rotors and pads).

    I was parking outside my house the other day (as I often do), on a road that has a decent (not steep) incline. This time I parked without turning my front tires into the curb to stop me from rolling. When I went to set the parking break, I noticed that the car jolted forward after setting the parking break and then releasing the regular brake. Alarmed, I then pushed down the regular brake and disengaged the parking brake and the car jolted backward.

    I can't for the life of me figure out what is going on. Mechanic recently said back brakes looked good. I'm no expert on parking brakes though. How do they work and what could be going on here?
     
    #1 aaron00olsen, Jul 7, 2017
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome!
    certainly, your parking brake may need service. but sometimes, it just depends on how hard you push down.
    after i set the parking brake, i put the car in neutral, then slowly release the foot brake to make sure the parking brake is holding.
     
    #2 bisco, Jul 7, 2017
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  3. aaron00olsen

    aaron00olsen New Member

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    @bisco Do you know which break components are involved in the parking break? Front only? Rear? Both?
     
    #3 aaron00olsen, Jul 12, 2017
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    rear only. but i'm not familiar with the inner workings. i think it just manually pushes the shoes against the drum.
     
    #4 bisco, Jul 12, 2017
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