Originally Posted by ssmtsx

At the ATM did you take your seat belt off? If you did that will automatically cause the vehicle to apply the parking brake.

Originally Posted by jmcraney

Since we have some new owner’s joining us it seems like a good time to review the “Hold” feature. It is a great convenience for reducing the leg fatigue from stop and go driving that many of us are experiencing on freeways these days. Basically the “Hold” relieves the driver from having to keep continuous pressure on the brake pedal when stopped in stop-and-go traffic and is especially useful for dealing with the "rollback" problem of stop-and-go driving on hills. The “Hold” feature can be enabled anytime the car's ignition is on, by operation of the “Hold” switch on the steering wheel. And it is canceled by operation of the same switch or when the ignition is turned off. Even though many of us don’t use this feature, it is easy for busy hands to enable it inadvertently, so, anyone who drives these cars needs to be briefed on this feature and what to do if the Parking Brake is engaged automatically.

You need to keep in mind that use of systems like the “Hold” feature is inherently risky. An analogy might be a loaded revolver that is cocked and left in a public place. If you know about guns then you would understand that someone unknowledgeable about guns could find it and easily kill or injure their self or someone else. I can think of lots of ways the “Hold” feature could be dangerous. For example, if it was in use and the driver stopped at a traffic signal and became unconscious then the car would be a booby trap for some good-Samaritan – just the process of extracting the driver to provide aide could launch that rocket ship into responders or traffic. Another example might be a distracted driver getting out of the car while the “Hold” is engaged. Or maybe getting your wallet out while the “Hold” is engaged.

The car is designed to default to the Parking-Brake-engaged to mitigate the risks that are presented by use of the hold feature.

When the car defaults to the Parking Brake the following message is displayed in the information center part of you dash display:



THE PARKING BRAKE HAS BEEN AUTOMATICALLY LOCKED



TO MOVE THE VEHICLE, RELEASE THE PARKING BRAKE



The parking brake is controlled by a lever near the driver’s right knee. Anyone who drives the car should be briefed on operation of the Parking Brake. Pressing it in will set the parking brake and lifting it up will release the parking brake. The only way to release the parking brake, other than manually (with a hand crank), is to lift up on that lever.

I think the real problem for most owners is in understanding what conditions, related to the “Hold” feature, automatically engage the parking brake.

As far as I can determine there are three conditions that will automatically engage the parking brake.

The first condition is opening the driver’s door while the “Hold” mode is engaged. If you do that it cancels the “Hold” mode and engages the parking brake. The only way the parking brake will be disengaged, even if the engine is turned off and re-started, is by operation of the brake lever. An example of this type of event would be driving near the golf course, with the “Hold” feature enable, when you see a wayward ball and you stop near it, open the door, reach down and pick it up. That will automatically engage the parking brake. Another example of this is opening the door or removing the seat belt before shifting to Park when parking. The next time you start the car the parking brake will be engaged.

A second condition is disconnecting the driver’s seat belt while the “Hold” mode is engaged. This will cause the same set of events as opening the driver’s door. Someone in the discussion above told us how they disconnected their seatbelt to remove their coat while stopped at a traffic signal and that engaged the parking brake. Another example might be stopping at the ATM and disconnecting your seatbelt to get your wallet out.

The third condition for automatic parking brake engagement is the “ dead man feature” which is caused by the “Hold” being engaged continuously for more than 3 minutes. What happens with this is a little different. Three minutes after the “Hold” engagement begins, it seems to be precisely timed, the parking brake is set and the attendant chime and message are displayed. In this case the “Hold” mode is not canceled and the hold engagement is not released. If you operate the parking brake lever in a manner to release the parking brake then the “Hold” mode remains on and engaged, the warning message goes away, the parking brake is released and the “Hold” operation continues for another three minutes, unless you release it by pressure to the accelerator or by cancelation via operation of the “Hold” switch or by putting the shift into Park, before the next dead man time out. So, if you have some reason to want to use the hold for a long time then just extend it each time it times-out by operating the parking brake release.

It seems to be well thought out and very logical. What is lacking is an explanation.