It is nothing new, and it varies by model. Some cars have a simple system that engages the ebrake when the ignition is turned off. The fix is removing the electric motor or unplugging it. Some go a step further by not only engaging the ebrake, but also reengaging it at some interval or monitoring line pressure. Vehicles with line pressure monitoring need a computer to suspend this function.
That's why I asked what model. I know all this, but ALL of that is tied to sensors, which tie into fuses and/or relays. All of those can be disabled somewhere.
Don't just check the battery negative terminal, there should also be a bonding cable that goes from somewhere on the engine block or frame to the body. I've actually had this burn up a coil pack (on a non-Ford vehicle).Well ended up determining one of the coil packs out of the six I got was bad and just put in one of the old ones because it's not like all six were shot. Spark plugs were fine and I'm not getting any check engine lights any longer. Did go get an oil change this morning and the guy said there's also a recall on the PCM, so I've got to take it into a Ford dealership and get some sort of firmware update. That would explain why I'm getting a whole bunch of miscommunication errors when I do a full system report with the diagnostic tool.
Was kind of worried the PCM was on the fritz, but hopefully that'll fix everything. Seems to be running fine now. I did check the ground wire coming off the battery likeKobayashi suggested it looked fine.
I will say the blue engine tool has been pretty handy. You can export a PDF report of all your codes and then feed it in the AI to break the codes and everything down and give me a laundry list of things to troubleshoot. For 100 bucks I'm pretty damned impressed with what that thing is capable of.
Thanks though gentleman for some of the suggestions posted. Just have a couple more things maintenance wise this month and I should be good to go.
I literally just told you that some of them have to be disabled with a computer. On vehicles with brakes that monitor line pressure, the ebrakes will be reapplied if the pressure drops below a certain threshold. This is done at the main braking unit, and you ain't going to hack your way around that with vice grips or a "wiring diagram". Also, good luck fucking with a "wiring diagram" without knowing exactly what you are doing....really fast way of bricking a vehicle that will need a tow to the dealership to fix. Also, a fast way of voiding your warranty or having repairs excluded from warranty.
Cool. What model of vehicle "automatically applies the e-brake when line pressure drops". I'm not aware of any passenger vehicles that have integrated line pressure monitoring systems - it's typically reserved for buses, heavy duty trucks, etc.
I think what they're talking about is trucks without a cable-actuated e-brake, they have an actuator that just compresses the brake lines back there by each rear brake, thats how the e-brake works in those models. I don't think it has line pressure sensors or engages when line pressure drops (line pressure doesn't drop when you take the pads out anyway...) but if you try to compress the pistons to put the new pads in, you drive the actuators backwards and break them, so you need to release that system before you compress the pads.
Right. Electronic e-brakes are extremely common. Most don't "auto activate" and thus you don't need to worry about the caliper piston being "stuck" out - they can be safely pushed back in.
i watched a video where they have to hook the actuator up to a 12v to depress the brakes, then they say if you do change the pads, don't unhook the actuator b/c the ecu will see that the electronic ebrake lost connection and put the car in lock down, and instead just unscrew the actuatormotor from the caliper, it's just connected by 2 screws
My googling indicates you can disable that system on those Chevrolets by doing a pedal/button sequence, but it's something you would have to look up, it's not obvious. No computer needed.
