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Handbrake not Automatically Disengaging

16K views 34 replies 11 participants last post by  robertW  
#1 ·
I'm not entirely sure how much of a fault this is, but it would be good to know other owners' views:

I used to have an MY16 180 Auto, which didn't automatically apply the handbrake when you put it in park, hence the handbrake was never used on my car.

I now have a MY17 240 Auto, which automatically engages the handbrake every time I put it in park. I have two intermittent issues:

1, I put my foot on the brake, try to move from park to drive, but the gear selector will not move (as if I haven't pressed the foot brake). So, I have to take my foot off the brake and reapply. This usually fixes the problem on the second attempt.

2. The handbrake doesn't automatically disengage when selecting drive. So, I have to apply a reasonable amount of throttle to get the car moving, which results in a lurch forwards, or I have to use the switch to disengage the handbrake.

Does anyone else have these issues, or is it something I need to get checked out?

I took my car back to the dealership a couple of weeks ago to find out about the speedo overreading (before checking on here and finding it's a common fault) and I mentioned the above issues, I said I would give them a few weeks before returning and the mechanic there told me I was using the car wrong. He said the following should happen:

When you come to a junction, with stop/start enabled, if you slow the car to a stop with the brake, the car will stop. You can then take your foot off the brake and the car will remain stationary. So, I shouldn't be putting the car into Park at junctions.

This doesn't happen with my car; If I take my foot off the brake, the car starts up and moves off again.
 
#2 ·
if you slow the car to a stop with the brake, the car will stop. You can then take your foot off the brake and the car will remain stationary. So, I shouldn't be putting the car into Park at junctions.
The engine will stop ;) but only if the stop/start wants to work but you take your foot off the brake and it will restart and creep. He's talking through his bottom. Just keep your foot on the brake until you are ready to go ............ don't put it in park if you are going do that you should have bought a manual :)
 
#3 ·
I have found that if you park with one or more of the parking sensors triggered i.e.beeping
then the parking brake will not set or release automatically - you seem to have to action it yourself

Note : I haven't parked in such a way so as to confirm this - we have a bit more space :lol:
in East Yorkshire than Hull, Sheffield, Leeds etc. !

Richard
 
#4 ·
FairlyOldGit said:
I have found that if you park with one or more of the parking sensors triggered i.e.beeping
then the parking brake will not set or release automatically - you seem to have to action it yourself

Note : I haven't parked in such a way so as to confirm this - we have a bit more space :lol:
in East Yorkshire than Hull, Sheffield, Leeds etc. !

Richard
I live in Grimsby, mate, my drive is about 50 foot long, but I always park right up to the wall and the hand brake always automatically engages, but doesn't always disengage.
 
#5 ·
Hello, Al. You unfortunately are stuck with an elegant but arguably unsafe design item.

Two years ago, the car makers were starting to be criticized by regulatory agencies for these new (and somewhat tricky) gearshift designs they were coming up with. Each maker was creating his uniquely different shifter----the old shifter we know so well was being removed from some luxury cars.
A year ago here in the US we even had Hollywood actor suffer a ghastly death, because he failed to properly put the shifter in the correct position before he got out the car, and his car literally backed up into him and killed him when he walked away to do something.
So all the weird gearshift makers (XE's rotary dial is one of them) are VERY particular about how you touch the controls.

The owner's manual expresses a warning that, that rotary dial will refuse to shift if it thinks you're trying to shift before it confirms your foot brake has been fully pressed down. You MUST step on that brake FULLY first, then start turning the gear dial. Try doing them at exactly the same time... and that dial would rather jam frozen than let you change gears.
Take your time, and be sure the brake pedal is all the way down before turning the dial.

Also, yes, the dealer's information to you is wrong.
Auto stop/start is allowed to stop the engine only if your car comes to a full stop with your foot FULLY down on the brake.
When your foot comes about halfway off the pedal, Auto start re-lights your engine, and your car MIGHT start moving forward, or it might NOT, depending on how lightly your foot is still resting on the brake pedal. You never need to shift the dial into 'Park' for Auto stop to occur.

Some drivers (like me) have a light enough touch that we can bring the car to a stop without the Auto system sensing the pressure on the brake pedal. It only takes half-pressure on the brake to stop a car in slow traffic. But it takes FULL pressure on the brake to allow the Auto stop to engage.

And remember, Auto start/stop has many little scenarios where it will NOT turn off your engine during a daily drive (too many scenarios to even list here).
If you are a new driver to the XE, I'd like to recommend you switch that Auto start/stop off during your first months, to give yourself a chance to master the car without that darn system distracting you and interrupting your need to get confident with your car.

Hope this information helps, Al.
 
#6 ·
All,
I tend to come to a stop, apply the hand break and put the box in neutral if the engine is still running.
To pull away I then apply the foot brake, put in drive, release the handbrake and then pull away.
This is a bit like you do in a manual.
It does remove the slight lurch forward you are experiencing. Mine did this till I found my method.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the advice. I always turn off start/stop, I can't stand using it around town. It goes on again in heavy traffic. The reason I put my car in park at junctions is to stop the brake lights dazzling drivers behind me.

It's a shame I can't disable the auto-handbrake.
 
#8 ·
On MY17 cars, the handbrake should automatically release to allow a smooth drive away when shifting from P with the handbrake applied.

However the automatic release is overridden if, when you're pulling the EPB switch up, you're holding it.
 
owns 2020 Jaguar XE S
#9 ·
AL. said:
The reason I put my car in park at junctions is to stop the brake lights dazzling drivers behind me.
You probably scare the crap out if them as you go through reverse and your reverse lights come on for a second :p

You can apply the hand brake whilst the car is in drive, then just tap the accelerator to release it.

What I normally do is sit with my foot on the brake with the car in drive. If it looks like I'm going to be there a while I pull up the hand brake and release the foot brake. If I'm going to be there a really long time I just change the car to neutral (no need to press the foot brake if the hand brake is on) to save heating the gearbox fluid too much (not sure if this is an issue on modern auto's).
To pull away: if I'm still in drive with the handbrake on I just tap the accelerator and go. If I'm in neutral, foot on the brake, engage drive (handbrake automatically releases) and off I go.

Don't think I've *ever* manually released the hand brake in my XE or F-Type.
 
G
#11 ·
My XE has to have the parking brake applied manually as it is the first batch. On my Passat the brake was applied automatically and released automatically on moving off. However sometimes the moving off could be a bit of a violent surge. The other thing was that the car would apply the brake without warning if you were reversing slowly. The first batch of the B6 Passats had major brake problems with units failing left, right and centre until a modified version came out. I just hope that the Jaguar supplier has made sure these don't fail on the scale of the Passat ones at nearly ÂŁ800 a go. Who said German cars were good???
 
#12 ·
Four foot - I've found that the car sticks and then lurches slightly if I apply throttle with handbrake on.
Hence I manually release handbrake when in drive and the apply throttle.
If I'm on a hill then hill start assist stops it from rolling back.
I just find it a smoother pull away.
 
#13 ·
JiggyJag said:
Four foot - I've found that the car sticks and then lurches slightly if I apply throttle with handbrake on.
Hence I manually release handbrake when in drive and the apply throttle.
If I'm on a hill then hill start assist stops it from rolling back.
I just find it a smoother pull away.
I get that if I hit the accelerator from standstill, but if you give it a quick tap it releases the brake then a fraction of a second later floor it, by the time it picks up the brake is off, giving smooth take-off. I just find that quicker than applying the foot brake, releasing the hand brake then accelerating.
 
#16 ·
UPDATE: Today, I stopped at some traffic lights and couldn't disengage the handbrake.

As advised, I now put the parking brake on when stopped at traffic lights rather than putting the car in park. I tried accelerating off to disengage the handbrake, but that didn't work, the car just leaned back under the force. I tried pressing the foot brake and disengaging using the hand brake switch, no change and I tried going between Park and Drive a few times, that also didn't work.

After an embarrassing minute or so of holding everyone up, I switched the engine off and back on, then managed to get the car to disengage the hand brake by going into Drive.

All through this, the dash gave me an error; something along the lines of "handbrake requires calibration". I guess I'll be calling the dealer in the morning then...
 
#17 ·
Hi AL.

I have just consulted the online MY17 Owner's Handbook again regarding operation of the EPB. It says that:

"When stationary with the EPB applied and the transmission engaged in first gear or reverse, press the accelerator pedal to gradually release the EPB. The vehicle can now be driven away smoothly.

When shifting from P with the EPB applied, the EPB automatically releases to allow a smooth drive away."

Could use of the term "first gear" in the first sentence imply that the condition applies only to cars equipped with a manual transmission?

As yours is automatic and you are not putting the car in 'P', but applying the EPB with the car presumably in 'N' or 'D' then going by the Owner's Handbook it does not automatically release when you press the accelerator. In that situation it's got to be released manually. Does that make sense or was your car automatically releasing the EPB until this happened yesterday?

I realise you did try pressing the brake pedal and disengaging the hand brake manually, and you even tried shifting from 'P' to 'D' and it still didn't work. Maybe it was just a glitch - perhaps due the several attempts at releasing it in a short space of time - seeing that it operated correctly after you switched the engine off and on again but best to let the dealer have a look and recalibrate if necessary.
 
owns 2020 Jaguar XE S
#19 ·
Thanks, John.

So if you apply the EPB while waiting at the lights but leave the car in 'D', it should release automatically when you press the accelerator.
 
owns 2020 Jaguar XE S