“R2-D2 on backseat.”
If you’ve ever accidentally driven your car with its emergency brake on, you were probably greeted with an unpleasant sound and maybe a smell to boot. But have you ever had a parking brake scream at you simply for turning it on?
That’s what happened to Audi driver Paul-Dumitru Catarig (@paul.catarig8). He documented the bizarre consequence of simply toggling his car’s parking brake switch on. In a short video on social media, he shows off the interior of his manual Audi A4.
Then, he flicks the switch up, and almost instantaneously a loud, whining sound, akin to the noise a woodland creature makes, emanates from the car.
Folks who replied to his video were baffled. “Sounds like the [expletive] deer in Polar Express,” one person penned. Another remarked, “So the E in E-Brake stands for Elk?” Another person also invoked the horned, four-legged herbivore when describing the parking brake’s sound: “It’s in Elk mode,” they wrote. Whereas someone else simply posted a picture of an Elk.
There have been reports detailing undesired performance of Audi A4 parking brakes, according to Car Complaints. The website has compiled a list of issues specific to the 2017 model, and sure enough, e-brake malfunctions were listed in its assessment. One of the main causes of this squealing and screeching when the brake is engaged is the electric caliper motor and actuator strain.
Many modern parking brakes, including those in Audi models, use a small DC electric motor to engage the brake. When this motor encounters a high clamping load, it can produce a high-pitched shrieking or groaning, as shown in Catarig’s video.
The NHTSA has also published other complaints regarding strange noises emitted from Audi vehicles. This 2023 Technical Service Bulletin references a “squeal from the front brakes” in particular e-tron quattro models. Namely, it occurs while driving in ambient temperatures and when the brakes are either cold or warm.
In a separate NHTSA notice issued in 2022, all Audi models manufactured from 2012 to 2023 were cited for braking issues. Purportedly, customers with affected vehicles would constantly experience “squealing, squeaking, grinding, groaning, thumping, or creaking” from their car’s brakes.
So what caused these Audis to impersonate banshees whenever their brakes were applied? One reason listed by the car safety agency was persistent binding, or “stick-slip” phenomena. Periods of static tension can cause component contact points to interact in undesirable ways. I.e., a backing plate that picked up debris rubbing against a caliper bracket.
Subsequently, when this perfect storm of less-than-ideal conditions manifested, and the brakes were engaged, drivers were subjected to the cacophonous howl.
Powerstop listed numerous reasons your car’s brakes may sound like cats moaning at night. Worn-out brake pads, broken pad clips, and poorly lubricated or shoddily secured parts can all result in pads sounding awful.
One almost expects a new set of brake pads to screech when they’re coming to a grinding halt while driving. But when it comes to parking brakes, these noises are always due to the electric motor and the mechanisms it works with hitting a snag or malfunctioning.
This discussion on a Gumtree forum says that electrically motorized parking brakes normally make noises. Albeit, not the ones presented in Catarig’s video. Often, folks don’t hear the common, small motorized sounds when their engines are running. But if they listen closely, even perfectly functioning e-brakes will rattle off some kind of noise.
Servicing parking brakes can be a dodgy practice for mechanics, as the author of this Mighty Auto Parts post highlights. In the piece, they highlight how a service technician tried to “apply 100 psi of air pressure to the brake line port in one caliper assembly.” However, this caused the caliper to become dislodged, mangling the tech’s fingers in the process.
The same writer says that these dangers also exist with e-brakes, which can be activated unprompted. Thus, mechanics should always place an e-brake system into service mode before working on it. This way, the electric motors used to secure these brakes aren’t inadvertently engaged, potentially harming whoever’s working on them.
Motor1 has reached out to Catarig via TikTok direct message for further information. We will update this story if they respond.
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