Electronic Parking Brake & Hill Start Assist probelms

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S_J_P
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Post by S_J_P »

On Bank Holiday Monday I suffered from a potentially embarrassing situation whilst queueing at lights on a hill in the local town.

We'd pulled up in the queue at a set of lights on a significant hill. I braked to a stop and the auto stop-start stopped the engine. I manually engaged the parking brake and waited for the lights to change.

After a short while, probably 30 seconds the lights turned green and the queue started to pull away. I depressed the clutch and the engine started, I engaged 1st, and went to pull away but the EPB didn't disengage despite significant revs. OK I thought, new car, inexperienced operator, so I pressed the foot brake and manually released the handbrake, lifted my foot off the brake and went for the clutch/accelerator fully expecting the hill-start-assist to keep the brakes on for 2 seconds and we rolled backwards towards the white Audi behind :oops:

I quickly went back on the footbrake, re-engaged the handbrake and tried again. Lots of revs, clutch up, but again the EPB wouldn't automatically disengage. I then resorted to the old fashioned quick-step of clutch & brake to accelerator and performed a hill-start without rolling back any further.

Now I'm not sure whether this was a fault, a set of circumstances which conspired to cause the system to not operate as I expected, or (newbie) operator error, but it seems suspicious that neither the EPB nor HSA were working simultaneously.

Any ideas anyone?
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gvmdaddy
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Post by gvmdaddy »

Doesn't sound like a problem. It does really take a lot of boot to overcome the epb on a hill start. Hill start assist should have engaged though. I'll check it out on way home.
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Gel
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Post by Gel »

HSA only engages when on a certain gradient; it may be slope wasn't steep enough.
Did you notice if the green HSA icon appeared when stationary?
2014-19 J11A-14 1.5dci Ink Blue Tekna owner; now departed for a Mazda CX-5 GT Sport Nav, 2.0L Petrol :D
S_J_P
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Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: Kent

Post by S_J_P »

I gave the car plenty of welly - the car hunkered-down on the brakes and the clutch actually started to smell without the EPB releasing do I don't think it was a lack of power issue.

I didn't notice whether the HSA lamp was illuminated, but the hill was reasonably steep and I know it activates there on my Aygo, so I'd have expected it to activate on the Qashqai too.
Gun-Metal DiG-T 140 Tekna Arrived 19-03-19
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gloucester
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Post by gloucester »

I'm confused - why didn't you just manually release the parking brake while you were pressing the accelerator? Why press the brake pedal and then release it?
(2015 Nissan Qashqai Tekna DIG-T 1.2 sold 15/6/18) ~ 2018 Suzuki Ignis SZ5 - 2018 Yamaha MT-07 ~ (2024 Volvo EX30 ordered)
S_J_P
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Post by S_J_P »

I was under the impression that you have to have the footbrake depressed in order to manually deactivate the EPB, is that not the case?

Just checked the electronic manual which states:

"To release the parking brake, push the brake pedal, then push the parking brake switch down; the indicator light will turn off."
Gun-Metal DiG-T 140 Tekna Arrived 19-03-19
Gun-Metal 1.2 DiG-T N-Connecta [Comfort & Heat Packs] Arrived 27-05-16
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gloucester
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Post by gloucester »

Sorry - you may be right there - I'll have to have a go - but I'm in bed at present!

So you can't do a conventional hill start with a Qashqai.

So you can't do a driving test in a Qashqai?
(2015 Nissan Qashqai Tekna DIG-T 1.2 sold 15/6/18) ~ 2018 Suzuki Ignis SZ5 - 2018 Yamaha MT-07 ~ (2024 Volvo EX30 ordered)
gvmdaddy
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Post by gvmdaddy »

gloucester wrote:Sorry - you may be right there - I'll have to have a go - but I'm in bed at present!

So you can't do a conventional hill start with a Qashqai.

So you can't do a driving test in a Qashqai?
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gloucester
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Post by gloucester »

I experimented this morning - yes, you have to be pressing the brake pedal to release the handbrake, but it can be a pretty momentary press. What I wasn't able to try it on was a hill since there aren't any around here.
(2015 Nissan Qashqai Tekna DIG-T 1.2 sold 15/6/18) ~ 2018 Suzuki Ignis SZ5 - 2018 Yamaha MT-07 ~ (2024 Volvo EX30 ordered)
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gloucester
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Post by gloucester »

Apologies for going off topic - but...
gloucester wrote:So you can't do a driving test in a Qashqai?
The definitive answer:

https://www.gov.uk/driving-test/using-your-own-car

Using your own car for your test

...

Vehicle features

You can use a car with:

an electronic parking brake
hill-start assist


Returning to topic - sounds like you should get the car checked out by a dealer - if you can find a way of replicating the problem - never easy.
(2015 Nissan Qashqai Tekna DIG-T 1.2 sold 15/6/18) ~ 2018 Suzuki Ignis SZ5 - 2018 Yamaha MT-07 ~ (2024 Volvo EX30 ordered)
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