I drive an '04 Ford Taurus. When I drove it the other day, I forgot the emergency brake was on, and started to pull away. I felt the lack of acceleration and guessed the problem right away. I pulled the release (Its a petal e-brake), and heard the pop. But when I started to drive, I still felt the lack of acceration for a few seconds, before there was a dull “thunk” and the car started to respond normally.
The car drove back home just fine. Until today. I started the car, released the brake, put it in reverse and pushed the accelerator but the car responded sluggishly. I put it in drive, hit the accelerator and it began to move forward, but again very sluggishly. As if the emerency break was still on. If I fed it a little more gas I heard a squealing (as if from the breaks). I put it in reverse again to repark it, and still got the sluggish response and (break) squeal.
My wife suspects the transmission (?), but I’m leaning towards stuck emergency break. Is this possible? I pulled the release and heard the “popping” sound that generally signifies that the break is released. And the car DID move forward and backward when placed in drive and reverse respectively. Just not with the power it should.
Ideas? And should it be TOWED to a repair shop?
I am assuming you have drum brakes on the rear of your Taurus. Try this. Find a parking lot or other area where you can make several stops in reverse. Not hard stops, just back up and brake to a stop. Do this about 3 times and see if the problem goes away.
It’s absolutely possible that the emergency brake is seized. The emergency brake system uses a mechanical cable and tension, unlike the normal hydraulic system. Something could certainly have rusted up or malfunctioned.
You could still drive it, but the pads will wear and your rims will heat up big-time. Personally, I’d pull off a wheel (driver’s side rear) and play around with the cable and adjusters. Or at last resort I’d drive it in somewhere, if it was within say a handful of miles. No permanent damage would be done, just heat and wear and tear to the pads and rotors.
Sorry, I hit the post button a little too soon, I should explain a bit more. Drum brakes adjust during reverse braking, not sure if your Taurus is set up that way or not, but probably. This should also help realign the brake shoes if they have become bound up by moving forward with the e-brake on. It’s the first easy fix to try before you have someone look at your brakes.
Thank you both. I tried your advice ghardester and reversed and braked five or six times. As soon as I started to pull forward to try again, I felt the brakes release. (The same noise as before, similiar to the hood popping.) Seems to be fine now, and I reverse braked a few more times to be sure.
I don’t think I’ll be using the e-brake until I can get it looked at though.
We’ve had this problem in our porte cochere ( valet driving) a couple of times.
Usually, the problem is easily solved by just reaching down and manually fiddling with the e-brake linkage for a few seconds.