I drove with my Parking Brake on for 30 mins: should I be worried?

Question

Yesterday, I was driving my car for about 30 minutes on the highway at speeds of up to 60 mph. I felt my brakes weren't really working and looked down to notice my emergency brake had been on the whole time (my indication lights don't work, so I didn't see any red light on my dash). The brakes smelled like they were burning, so my Dad and I allowed them to cool for an hour before driving the car home. He insists it's fine to drive and he drove it all around last night without any issue.

It's a 2001 Sienna Toyota and I was hoping someone could confirm what he said so I feel more comfortable driving it this afternoon.

Answer 1

If it has been driving fine since then, all you have probably done is worn the brake pads down. Not fatal - but check when you pull the handbrake on that it is solidly holding the car stationary.

If you notice vibration, then I'd worry about pads/disks being warped or damaged.

You may find though that you need the handbrake cable to be tightened, as it may not pull the brakes on as hard now.

Answer 2

1) Parking brakes only engage the rear brakes, so your front brakes (which provide the majority of stopping power) are 100% fine.

2) On a car with rear drum brakes, which I believe your car has: The parking brake is simply a cable you pull which puts mechanical pressure on your rear brakes that your brake pedal hydraulic system normally would. However, the parking brake isnt meant to stop a rolling car, so the pressure is minimal compared to the normal brake pedal hydraulic system.

3) If you think about it, you apply the hydraulic (regular) brakes heavily and/or consistantly ... and often. So a little bit of driving with minimal pressure wont do any significant damage.

4) The only damage that could happen is that the shoes wear down exactly as they would in normal braking.

5) In summary: Don't worry about it, unless the parking brake doesn't hold the car still on a steep hill. If so, get it fixed, but that isn't a major issue.

Answer 3

Your car will be fine; any issues would have shown up by now.

"My indication lights dont work so I didnt see any red light on my dash"

For me, this is more scary/important. It's not hard to fix the bulbs - about an hour max for a mechanic - and essential for safety.

Answer 4

Vyt is right. This happened to my Subaru xv; had to change hubs at 65,000 miles because my mother drove my car with the parking break on for 30 miles. Heat can change properties of grease. There's evidence online. I'm also a chemistry teacher. I will, however, agree that it does depend on the setup of the car and its parking brake system.

Answer 5

I drove my Honda car with the brakes on and a little before getting to the parking lot where I work my brakes wouldn't stop the car, they didn't work at all. I was scared to death, literally. I will repeat it: the brakes were working fine the first 10 or so miles but after that they stopped to work AT ALL.

I slowed down I little bit and I managed to make a U turn and get back, but even then my brakes where NOT WORKING, properly (I am nervous and using my brain at full capacity to not to crash with someone), my brakes were not working yet. I parked my car, and then I remembered the manual brake. I left my car there parked to cool it a bit. and then it worked like normal. Well not so much, now sometimes the brake pedal goes a little deeper than usual to stop the car. Most of the times the brakes work just fine ( as before). It smelled like burning plastic, but not that much.

Answer 6

You have to check wheel bearings. They and wheel grease were overheated and you drove with this for a while, so at least you may need to check and change wheel grease.