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I’ll keep this brief as I’m mortified about it but this morning as I was parking for work I managed to park up into a little ledge, in an effort to straighten myself I reversed and my engine stalled.

I did this maybe three times before realizing the handbrake was on(because I was absolutely mortified about stalling the car so many times it never occurred to me to look at my handbrake!)

I could smell a little burning rubber smell but it was brief and only happened once. As soon as I got the handbrake off I was able to drive and park etc fine and my brakes did not feel spongy etc and no more burning smell. I’m just wondering what I should be doing at this point.

Should I ask a mechanic to have a look at my brakes/hand break?

I drive children in my car and don’t want my brakes to fail in the middle of a school run!

Thanks for any help in advance!

Moab
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Cords
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    Thanks! Sorry yes by “conking the car” I mean the engine stalled. I might take it to the mechanics just to be safe! Thanks again for the response! – Cords Mar 04 '20 at 11:18
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    I would not take it to a mechanic, save the money, you could have not damaged anything backing up a short distance with parking brake on 4 times in a row. – Moab Mar 04 '20 at 14:28
  • also the handbrake is separate from the foot brake in most cases, unless you have rear combined drum brakes (i hope not) there should be no effect on foot brake safety and performance – Richie Frame Mar 04 '20 at 19:16
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    Stick shift, or automatic? How hard were you pushing the gas pedal, normal, or extra? – Harper - Reinstate Monica Mar 04 '20 at 20:14
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    @Cords Somehow, I feel the smell would be from the clutch, not the brakes. – Gabriel Mar 04 '20 at 21:00
  • Harper I wasn’t accelerating much I usually don’t accelerate to reverse at all as I was actually going downhill, also my car is a “stick” shift, not an automatic. – Cords Mar 04 '20 at 21:08
  • Gabriel: I didn’t manage to get the car to a mechanic after but I have done a good bit of driving today after the fiasco and all seems well. Just torn as to if I should have it given a once over. Ironically it feels like it drives a bit smoother after the mess I made this morning – Cords Mar 04 '20 at 21:10
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    The parking brake may need to be pulled tighter when parking from now on, but the rest of your brakes should be ok. And those are the important ones while driving, the parking brake should only be used for parking. – Mast Mar 05 '20 at 07:51

1 Answers1

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I'm assuming »conking the car« means that the motor stalled? You should be fine. The usual risks from driving with the handbrake are to leave it on for longer so that it overheats (which can cause a fire). Just getting out of a parking spot and starting to drive should not have any lasting effects on the handbrake or your clutch (the latter of which may be what caused the smell).

If you have the time and are still unsure, having a mechanic look at the car should probably not be too much effort. I once did the same when I felt something weird in the brake pedal. At least my mechanic did that without having to make an appointment first or writing an invoice. No idea where you're based and whether that's common there. (Honestly, though; the parking brake isn't that strong to really impede the motor and stalling a few times isn't that much of a deal either, otherwise driving instructors would need a new car every 100,000 km ...)

Joey
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    seen a car that was driven at 60mph for 5 miles with handbrake on for a road test - tester reported that it was "sluggish"... new discs, pads and calipers, manager was not pleased... :) we thought it was hilarious as it sat with glowing rear discs... – Solar Mike Mar 04 '20 at 15:34
  • @SolarMike I feel like you'd have a legal case against a customer for doing that. I know that there are cases where a customer has crashed on a test drive where they were held liable for damages. This may be why many dealerships insist on having a dealer ride with the customer (and hopefully keep an eye on stuff like that). – Darrel Hoffman Mar 05 '20 at 19:33
  • @DarrelHoffman the tester was not a customer... – Solar Mike Mar 05 '20 at 19:34
  • @SolarMike Ah, sorry. I mistook "road test" to mean you worked at a dealership. If it was an employee at a repair shop, then it would be the customer who maybe has a legal claim, assuming they ever found out... – Darrel Hoffman Mar 05 '20 at 19:38
  • @DarrelHoffman it was at a dealership... why do you think the manager was not pleased??? – Solar Mike Mar 05 '20 at 19:38
  • @SolarMike Honestly, I can't think of a scenario in any business involving cars where the manager would be pleased by damage to a vehicle in their care, whoever it belonged to... – Darrel Hoffman Mar 05 '20 at 19:46