Around here in NE Ohio steep graded driveways are all too common where the parking brake is really necessary - but I was also always taught that when it comes to the emergency/parking brake - "use it or lose it". The point being that parking brakes do not like to sit and go unused. It is not uncommon for points in the linkage to get so corroded over time that when you do need it something may not work right. I use the auto setting on my Pacifica so it sees daily use. If there is a problem with it hopefully it will be apparent, and thus addressed, before I have an emergency situation where there is an issue with the hydraulic brake system or encounter a steep hill that requires its use.
Who Uses a Parking Brake and Why
I can count on one hand the number of times I have felt it necessary to use a parking brake in over 55 years of driving. A couple of parking situations in downtown Seattle and San Francisco come to mind. I have always relied on the transmission and or the combination of transmission engine compression to keep my auto parked safely. How popular is the use of a parking brake. I note the Pacifica has an auto parking brake feature.
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Agreed. Maybe the hybrid crowd does not want opinions from us *cough* "gassy" people...(seems that a lot of topics relevant to both versions are being posted in PHEV area recently).
There was a South Park episode about this come to think of it :wink2:
There is a previous thread about the issues with auto disengaging the parking brake. You get used to the quirks, but it is really consistent in its inconsistencies.Note that the Pacifica owner's manual implies that you should always use the parking brake when parking the car. I like the auto parking brake feature, but it occasionally doesn't work correctly, and you need to actually press the button to disengage the brake, or start over and put the car back in park, then back into gear. I suspect this might be times when the driver doesn't push down on the regular brake hard enough when shifting, but I'm not sure. This feature also only works if you have your seat belt buckled.
I know that this may come as a shock to those living in the country of California to our west, but CA law is often eccentrically unique and does not apply to the rest of us :surprise:California Vehicle Code
Ohio Revised Code has no such language FWIW. ORC 4513.20 "Brake equipment for vehicles" calls out the need for 2 separate mechanisms for applying the brakes, but there is nothing about their use when parked or already stopped.
How to set it to auto mode? Mine is not in auto mode currently
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Tough crowd...Its in the manual.
The Owner's manual does not actually contain much helpful other than to direct you to the feature being in the Uconnect settings:
Auto Park Brake is enabled and disabled by customer selection through the “Customer Programmable Features” section of the “Uconnect Settings”.
A quick look through the Uconnect 8.4/8.4 NAV Manual and the Quick Reference Guides online do not reveal any pertinent instructions for enabling the Auto Park Brake. You may have to just go through the Uconnect setup screens looking for it - I do not remember off the top of my head where the setting is at but it should be very self explanatory when you do find it.
The Uconnect documentation is often times sub-optimal...
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