Yes, I'm an idiot, but the bell didn't go off and I did not drive far or fast. This is a 2011 base model -Drum rear breaks.

I drove at low speed down a hill about 500-600 feet with the hand break on. I heard some clicking and noticed only slight sluggishness, then I noticed it.

Now I think there is a slight jerk when I put it in drive -but not reverse. Sounds like an engine mount -eh? Well maybe, but it's not much of a jerk, yet that's how bad engine mounts start.

Anyway the manual says driving with the handbrake on can hurt the axle! I have had many cars and every once in a great while I have forgot to lit the parking break down -the worst it ever did was wear my rear break shoes down a tad.

Anyone have experience with this in a Fit? -Thanks

 

Ah, so no one cares about practical matters? I bought this car to be dependable, smart transportation, and to not leave a large carbon foot print. Gee, I wish some knew something about the hand break system on the Fit and if it is very sensitive to a being left on for a short period.

 

Hi BixLives and welcome to FF.First of all...Don't say to you self that "you are a idiot"...O.K.This things can help to ANYBODY.For sure someone here will give you the help that you need.I will said that to forget to take the hand brake off is one thing that you must start to work with.When i start the car and it warm up i press the floor brake and shift to D or R if the tranny is Automatic and then take the hand brake off in second place ALWAYS.If the car is manual shift to 1st. gear and take the hand brake off.If you feel the car not normal just take it to Honda for warranty.Just explain what happen to you with the car.If the dealer want to help you they will.I hope you car did not damage something.Maybe just burn a little bit your rear drum pads of your Fit only.Good luck my friend and i hope someone here will help you better than me....

 

Hey, it happens some times. Usually though there is a series of beeping that goes on whenever the handbrake is up while the car is in motion.

Now as for your rear brakes. The brake's shoes will of course have had a little bit of wear during that little stint, nothing too bad I wouldn't think. The worst it could of done for that approximate distance was glaze the friction material on the shoes that's about it.

 

Thanks for the reply. I am usually extremely careful and I caught it fairly (600-700 feet?) I have an engineering background, so I am not new to technology and i used to do all my own work. I've done rear break drums many times. Still, I cannot understand why this seems to have started my engine mount loosening?! -It's slight (but that's how bad engines mounts start), it may be normal for 700 miles of break-in, but something tells me I may need an engine mount. That's hard to believe for leaving the hand break on only once for only a few hundred feet! Honda's are supposed to be durable cars!

Worse, the Honda manual warns that you can damage the Axle if you leave the hand break on! -This seems a tad draconian for such a common slip! The shoe pads should simply wear away and no other damage should be caused, but my gear-head instinct is telling me different with this car.

This car is different. -Much new technology. The nearly 12:1 compression ratio, the 0W-20 SAE half synthetic oil, the multi-port injection heads, the odd weight balance with the petrol tank in the middle, the wide wheel base, etc.

I wonder; should I mention to the service guys that I left the hand break on or not? The is New Jersey. They are all sleazy and I am not sure if such an admission would cost me money (void the warranty) There is almost NO way that such an act should cause ANY damage!

PS: I am getting from 34 to 38 MPG so far, after about 700 miles. (manually measured). Not bad, but a 1.5 litre with this much digital technology should be getting 45-50 mpg combined. My old 1600 VW Beetles got 30 MPG on the highway and the 1200CC models 32-33 MPG. -Air cooled with a 7:1 compression ratio and a solex carburetor! Something odd is going on...

Thanks again.

 

Welcome to the Forum and we have all done something we did not mean to do to our cars - it happens. However, I would not volunteer any informtion unless the service guy asked you about it.

 

A honda's motor mounts always develop some play in them over time. It's not widening clearances but rather the rubber getting broken in. On the older civics that had the double rod shifters the time to worry about it was when the movement was enough to pop it out of gear. Many people including myself didn't bother with replacing them but instead put in urethane inserts that rattled teeth out.

As for the handbrake, you didn't have it on hard enough. It should stall the engine when you try to drive with it. After all, the purpose of the thing is to keep it from rolling.

The only way to even possibly damage an axle with the handbrake is to bark the tires letting the clutch up, and even then I'd doubt that would happen.

 

Hand brake, not break.

 

That MPG is typical of what people report here for normal driving, although someone is going to chime in and claim 40+. Don't forget how much heavier the Fit is compared with those old VWs, and how much more HP and torque it has. Didn't those Beetles have like 50-something horspower?

I also don't see how riding the rear brakes for a few hundred feet is going to harm the drivetrain or engine mounts. Worst case, if you really heat up the drums, you might cook a seal on a wheel cylinder or even warp a drum (along with brake pad wear, of course). Maybe cook a wheel bearing too.

 

I can't see where this would be any different than using your brakes to slow down from highway speeds to a complete stop over the same distance. Can't imagine how it would do any harm at all.

 

i'd imagine that you definitely can hurt your axle if you drive while hand brake is engaged.. Your FRONT axle that is... why? cause the drive axle struggle to deliver the rotational torque it got from engine, but the hand brake are keeping the wheels from turning (yes including the front wheels, if you imagine the front wheels are not holding back, since the hand brake is on the rear.. think again), thus creating unneccessary drag and load on the axles.

imagine there are 2 guys, one is pulling a cart, and the other is holding it back.... put enough force on those 2 guys, and the cart will break eventually won't it? those 2 guys are your engine, and braked wheels respectively, the cart is your axle... the guy in the middle... something gotta give eventually right?

that's my theory anyway.. but it seems that to actually break the axle, you gotta have sufficient braking force, means that your handbrake have to be extra powerful to eventually do harm... or you drive it for thousand of miles before realizing the hand brake is on.... as you stand now... i hardly think there will be any side effects at all...

 

You drove 500 ft with the hand brake on? I wouldn't worry about it at all. Nothing bad or permanent will happen for such a short time.

 

I don't have a hand BREAK on my Fit but I do have a hand BRAKE.