Parking Brake @ 75MPH!!

[ChuckD]

After about 1.5.hours on the freeway this morning the LR3 suddenly began to shudder violently, as with a bad tire or the like. Shudder happened all the way to a stop. Looked truck over, felt wheels for heat, etc. No sign of anything out of the ordinary. Got back on board and resumed trip with no shudder.... for a couple of miles, then it returned. This time noticed "hot brake" smell after stopping. Decided to turn back for home and had one more occurrence, then nothing awry for over 100 miles.

Called dealer and they asked to see car. Had a hunch that problem was parking brake, so I momentarily pulled up the handle (switch) at about 50 MPH on the way there. Duplicated shudder exactly. Told service writer what I had felt and what I thought was cause. Sure enough, a shoe had somehow come loose on the left rear P-brake and made contact. They replaced rear drum (Rotor?) and shoe and offered me a job in their QC department! Fixed under warranty in about an hour. Free wash job, too.

My real concern is that they acted like they had never seen this before. Salesman friend there said he knew of two or three others, on LR3s and other LR models, too.

ChuckD

 

[joey]

I have seen this issue on this board a few times over the last year or so...

 

[duckdive]

One hour?? Thats has got to be a record. Which dealer is this?

 

[Houm_WA]

that seems like a pretty major problem. Land Rover should be taking more proactive and serious steps to fix this than what is written above. This could be a serious safety concern; more so than the fuel tank yet it is not a recall item. Why? Not enough occurances? Any LR representatives on the board care to address this?

 

[sandman]

the issue occurs when the ebrake is not adjusted correctly after installation of brake rotors.

had a recall for the 08s. they burned up in ten miles if not done.

but when new pads and rotors are installed on the rear they must be adjusted and bedded in properly. otherwise they cause issue.

although we did have a few older ones loose a pin on the backing plate and cause some noise.

 

[ChuckD]

One hour?? Thats has got to be a record. Which dealer is this?

Land Rover of Charlotte. They have the usual somewhat haughty service folks, but when they understand that the customer understands the vehicle and has the type of real-world knowledge that surfaces in forums such as this one, they get right to work. While there yesterday I did overhear them giving Disco II owner the usual $2,800 quote for head gasket replacement, along with another for $800 to replace valve cover gaskets. Brake pad replacement goes for $900!

To own a Rover of any vintage without a warranty is suicidal IMHO>

ChuckD

 

[joey]

Warranty.... what is that.... I don't need no stinking Warranty.

 

[jptruck]

Something similar happened to me, but I haven't been able to replicate it. I think mine was the hill descent control. My question has always been this: how in the hell does an electronic switch not have a safety when you're doing 50+ MPH. I spoke to LR about it and then claimed they'd never heard of it. Freaked my wife out, though.

 

[trm2]

I recollect that when the car first debuted, LR people in promo pieces showed off the "feature" of being able to turn on the e-brake at 50 mph. They had magazine writers pull the switch at high speed in an effort to show that, even if the regular brakes failed, there was a "controlled" back-up method of braking in an emergency.

 

[trm2]

In fact, here is an example: http://www.roadandtravel.com/automotive/newcarreviews/2005roadtests/newcarreviews/landroverlr32.aspx