Laptop to change brake pads?

[Rudi McAnichal]

Modern Land Rovers have an emergency release which mechanically releases the brakes, but once used it is a dealer job to reset

If the driver has to use the emergency brake release, what happens in the period before the vehicle arrives at the dealer? Does it have no parking brake at all? (Not much fun on the Hardnott Pass + Wrynose Pass road on a bank holiday, must remember to take an agile co-driver who can leap out and put a chock under the wheel).

….. any fault in the ECU can make the car do crazy things. A friend of mine was driving a Fendt tractor along the road, flicked a switch to set the transmission to auto speed control.....and the next thing he knew he was smashing his head on the dash because it had dropped the front end loader, which had spikes on it, straight into the tarmac….

Have there been any instances where an electrical fault caused the handbrake to engage suddenly when some other device was activated? (Not much fun if it happened on the overtaking lane of the motorway).

 

[rikrobson]

If the driver has to use the emergency brake release, what happens in the period before the vehicle arrives at the dealer? Does it have no parking brake at all? (Not much fun on the Hardnott Pass + Wrynose Pass road on a bank holiday, must remember to take an agile co-driver who can leap out and put a chock under the wheel).

I would imagine it would be the same if a cable broke.

Have there been any instances where an electrical fault caused the handbrake to engage suddenly when some other device was activated? (Not much fun if it happened on the overtaking lane of the motorway).

I'm sure it there has bben it would be documented in the Daily Mail

 

[Robotstar5]

If the driver has to use the emergency brake release, what happens in the period before the vehicle arrives at the dealer? Does it have no parking brake at all?

Just put the autobox in "park"?

 

[wookie]

You guys need to drag yourselves into the modern age. I don't hear anyone hankering for points ignition or wooden spoked wheels

I actually prefer points ignition, I've had electronic ignition units fail and that cannot be fixed at the side of the road, at least with points usually all you need is some very fine wet&dry paper and a screwdriver to adjust the gap to get you going again.

I've had "modern" cars with loads of electric toys (very nice until they go wrong), now I drive a old Hilux pickup, the only electrical item that can stop that engine is the stop solenoid not getting any power and that suits me just fine.

At work we had a modern tractor that forget it's electro/hydraulic clutch settings just because its battery went flat, the quote from the manufacture's main service guy was "sometimes they do that", FFS so now a dealer is required to reprogram the ECU just because of a flat battery? What a load of junk !

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

I would imagine it would be the same if a cable broke

Fair point. But handbrake cables provide a function that most drivers want, whereas it seems electronic parking brakes are fitted to provide something that the majority of drivers don’t want. (Although there are obviously some people with medical conditions that make it difficult to use a conventional handbrake).

Just put the autobox in "park"?

Gosh, will it soon be deemed unsafe to use a car with manual transmission on hills?
Please stop the world, I want to get off.

 

[rikrobson]

I usedto drive an old merc 7.5T truck. you had to use the exhaust lifters to stop the engine.

 

[the snooper]

It's not usually recommended to use the decompressor as a stop switch as it burns the valves - was it broken or was that 'official'?

The old Honda pc50 had a decompressor to stop it that was the official way

 

[rikrobson]

it was old and knackered and that was the only way to stop it. Its baked bean tins now.

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

.....you already need one hand to operate the climate control, another to play with the touchscreen on the dash, another to operate facebook on your phone, another for shaving/putting on makeup (delete as appropriate for gender), another to eat those crisps and a knee for the steering wheel.....

Reminds me of the period when I used to travel to work on an LE Velo with hand-change gearbox. De-clutch (LH lever), adjust the revs (RH twist-grip), change gear (RH lever beside the tank), right hand back on the twist-grip, re-engage clutch. OK on a dry, straight road, but if changing down ready for a right turn, that hand was also needed for signalling (no flashers in those days).

Being a born coward, I never really enjoyed negotiating junctions on a motorbike with only one hand on the bars, especially on icy roads. Perhaps it was a good thing the LE only delivered 8bhp, so that nothing happened at very high speed.

 

[the snooper]

Fair enough, I've got a few small/medium diesel engines and they all say not to do it...

The pc 50 was petrol moped

 

[the snooper]

Fine, but the diesel engines are the only things I have with decompressors - well, ones you can influence anyway.

Are the decompressors on the exhaust valves

 

[the snooper]

I think some are not to be used because of the way they mechanical operate the valve

 

[the snooper]

Well, the manuals give the burnt valve reason

Which can happen but is odd because they deal with the same heat each exhaust stroke

 

[the snooper]

Well, the combustion should really be finished when the exhaust valve opens - whereas if it's held open a bit you stand the chance of having a flame front go past - if it ignites.
I just use the little lever that mechanically turns off the pumps - works every time

One of my diesels is electronic stop / start the other 2 are lever same as yours

 

[the snooper]

stick it in gear?
if the handbrake cable fails (as it could normally) would you park on a hill?? no you'd find some where flat and turn wheels towards the kerb...
God its like reading HJ's forum...

Calm down you'll snap your handbrake cable

 

[wyn]

I had the electric handbrake go on my Land Rover....they have a handy steel cable under a cover near the switch.
They must have expected problems or wouldn't have included it.

Pull the cable and it releases a latch in the unit to disconnect the cables to the wheels.
They usualy go because the shoes ar out of adjustment or something related has come adrift.
Once the shoes are sorted the cover can be taken off the handbrake unit and the motor wound backwards to get the cables relatched.

I'm glad i knew about this as it just cost me an hour or two to sort rather than £1k that a dealer would charge.

 

[Robotstar5]

Gosh, will it soon be deemed unsafe to use a car with manual transmission on hills?
Please stop the world, I want to get off.

I haven't seen a manual transmission car go down the lines for a few years

 

[wookie]

Fine, but the diesel engines are the only things I have with decompressors - well, ones you can influence anyway.

I've a BSA WM20 motorbike that has a decompressor, I know of several riders with the same bike that use the decompressor to stop the engine, personally I usually turn off the petrol tap before I stop and just run it dry. It'd be interesting to know if using the decompressor to stop the engine does any harm ?

As I understand it the decompressor is only there so you can kick it past TDC to get it in the right place to kickstart.

 

[daleyd]

I've a BSA WM20 motorbike that has a decompressor, I know of several riders with the same bike that use the decompressor to stop the engine, personally I usually turn off the petrol tap before I stop and just run it dry. It'd be interesting to know if using the decompressor to stop the engine does any harm ?

As I understand it the decompressor is only there so you can kick it past TDC to get it in the right place to kickstart.

I think the old big Panther singles had them too.

 

[Member 66061]

Husky 610's like mine have auto decompressors and electric starters. Apparently those who have gone to the trouble of fitting the rare kick starter kit say theyre nigh on impossible to kick start.
Id imagine the consequence of using a manual decomp to stop the engine wound burn the valve seat, like having no valve clearance.