My S40 T5 manual, is 3 weeks old. Friday I parked it outside the house (almost flat street) pulled the e brake. Was outside for a few minutes. Came back out 10 minutes later, car gone. It rolled down the street, hit a sign and stopped in the neighbors yard. The e brake was still up when I got in it to bring it back. We determined that if the e brake is pulled to the 3rd click. you can easily push the car with 1 hand. If it is on the 4th it is a little more difficult and on 5 it wont move, but if the car is rolling and you pull it to 5 clicks it still keeps rolling. We also determined that if the car is hot (been driven for a while) it rolls right away on 4, and you can put your foot outside the car and push it on the 5th click. So it gets much worse after it is hot. I think what happened was after I drove the car 1 hour home, I probably had the e brake on 4th or 5th click and after the car began to cool, the metal cooled and the e brake began to release. So, there goes the car. I know I should put it in gear on a hill or if it is going to sit somewhere for a while, but the road was almost flat and I was going to pull it in the drive way within 10 min.
I would like some advice for when I contact the dealer. They know what happened and are expecting me to bring it in tomorrow. If any of you have a manual S40, how strong is the e brake? can you push the car if it is on 3rd or 4th click. I would greatly appreciate it if you could go out and test yours.
Please let me know as soon as you can.
Thanks,
Melissa

 

Putting the car in gear ANYTIME Your away from the car whether on a hill or not is required plus setting the emergency/parking brake securely. Other than the damage to Your car from running over the sign there's nothing wrong with Your car. The E-brake is not a mechanical lock like the PARK position of an automatic transmission, it's the rear brake shoes engaging a small drum inside the rear brake rotors. If the E-brake engages too soon You risk setting Your rear brakes on fire or at least wearing the shoes out at a VERY fast rate.