XC70 Electric Handbrake

[peterskinn]

Hi,

I posted this query at the end of a thread about EPB's but I think my question may have got lost at the end of a lot of replies....

My question is related to EPB's but different....

I have a 2009 XC70 2.5D AWD. When in "Park" the EPB automatically comes on. So far so good - but I often leave the car for longish periods (weeks not months) and, on occasion, the EPB has been sluggish to release. I suspect this is because the pads have stuck to the discs.

My previous car was a Jaguar and it had a feature where you could hold the EPB switch down as you switched off the ignition and the brake did not engage...

Is there a feature like this on a Volvo??

I have tried to find out via the handbook and online , No luck so far!

Does anybody know if this feature is available??

[Tatsfield]

By the time my 2012 XC70 came along, this automatically applied EPB feature seems not to have been offered. However, Technical Notes for Volvo Mechanics does mention that some XC70s have automatic EPB but doesn't specify which ones. The UK 2009 handbook doesn't mention it. Nor does the US handbook for the same year. Does your car have "Hill Holder" automatic EPB braking? I suspect that automatic EPB and Hill Holder will have been complimentary systems. My car has neither even though it is a hi spec model so this seems to be a somewhat random feature.

[apersson850]

Hill hold is for manual gearbox cars only, as far as I know.

None of our XC70's have automatic parking brake either. Only automatic release on takeoff.

[peterskinn]

Ah - Interesting that it seems random and this may explain why I can see nothing about it in the handbook.

I don't believe it has "Hill Hold" but it may be that I've just never needed/noticed/used this feature.

I am however certain that it automatically applies EPB in P for Park.

[Puffster]

The only reason I can think of that this becomes an issue is if you disengage the handbrake (EPB) before you set off?
EPB is meant to automatically release when you start to apply drive/torque. If it's sticky through oxidisation the rotational forces soon cause it to release.
If you disengage a sticky EPB first then it may well stay a while as you're only asking it to "free" in one dimension (away from surface) and not two (away from surface and rotational perpendicular to surface).
Just my thoughts and a question. I live in a damp/misty part of Wales and this does happen sometimes but more of an issue with my RRS where it has separate shoes.

[colenso]

I have an '09 XC70 D5 AWD with an EPB and although it works fine every time I've used it I confess to being a little nervous about it releasing, no problems so far however.
It doesn't take much to imagine being in a queue of traffic with a stuck parking brake. I use the EPB only when really necessary, like on hills for a protracted time, otherwise it's into neutral or very occasionally P. Parking up is fine I think as long as the car is released very gently in the Park position and the hill isn't very steep.
Are we saying that if the brake sticks that it will free off if driven against?

[Puffster]

Yes - perfect hill starts every time

[capt jack]

Originally Posted by colenso

I have an '09 XC70 D5 AWD with an EPB and although it works fine every time I've used it I confess to being a little nervous about it releasing, no problems so far however.
It doesn't take much to imagine being in a queue of traffic with a stuck parking brake. I use the EPB only when really necessary, like on hills for a protracted time, otherwise it's into neutral or very occasionally P. Parking up is fine I think as long as the car is released very gently in the Park position and the hill isn't very steep.
Are we saying that if the brake sticks that it will free off if driven against?

My car's EPB failed and was very firmly locked on. With much operating of the control button, cursing and swearing it did eventually release, and was OK for a day before locking up again - luckily at home.

The NSR calliper had seized, and then the EPB motor, in trying to cope with a sticky calliper, actually fractured its plastic casing, causing the motor to jam in the engaged position. The AA patrol man was able fix it by fitting a complete new calliper and motor, but it left me with a £300 bill for what I feel is a bit of a gimmick really.

Apparently it can play havoc with the car's computer too, as the system recognises a fault and then gets its digital knickers in a twist.

Given the choice I would think twice before buying another car with an EPB.

Oh and I think elsewhere in the thread self-levelling headlights are mentioned. I'd definitely recommend avoiding a car with Xenon lights after one failed on my V70. A replacement was over £40 from Halfords - and would have been £65+ had I not done a bit of interweb research and just got one from the local motor factors.

Although my V70 is a good car, to my mind there are just too many unnecessary gadgets and gizmos, all of which are fine when they work, but are potentially hugely expensive when they go wrong.

EPB is a good example, as are the various driver aids - BLIS for example. And when I needed a new windscreen I was told by my insurer's provider that there'd be a wait of about six weeks because the job involves removing and then recalibrating the various windscreen mounted cameras and sensors.

I ended up paying a specialist fitter direct, and then claiming the money back through the insurers - which took a month and multiple phone calls to sort.

I guess that most makes and models will be similarly afflicted with high-tech goodies, but next time I do buy a car I'm going to do my best to avoid anything with gimmicky electronic extras.

Jack

[Auldgit]

Couldn't agree more. It seems the manufacturers try to outdo one another in devising more and more useless gimmicks that don't actually help at all, sometimes at the expense of good basics. The "entertainment" and Satnav systems in mine are so fiendishly complicated I defy anyone to understand them fully, yet I've just discovered that my CD player only takes one disc at a time. My old P2 took six from memory....

It's really no wonder that insurance premiums are going through the roof.

[apersson850]

The electric parking brakes on our two XC70's are by far the least maintenance-demanding parking brake design I've ever encountered.
I remove the motor twice a year, when winter tires go on or off, check the little jack inside, check the seal for any leaks, apply a slight amount of grease and put back again. Keeps the interior flawless and works always.

All versions of mechanical parking brakes since I took my license in 1979 have always required repairs and replacement of parts, in spite of trying to maintain them. The electric parking brakes has, after a combined distance of 610000 km, requires zero spare parts. Nil.

The Xenon lights are much better than halogen. Better light, always levelled and lasts a very long time. On the XC70 that has now run 200000 km they have never been replaced. The other, with 410000 km on the clock have had them replaced once.