Two cords hanging from bottom of car? (pic)
 

Hi! I had to drive my S80 over a snow-covered dirt road, and the snow wasn't plowed, and it was a kind of frozen slush. I was driving in the wheel tracks of previous traffic, but the snow in the middle apparently was at the 9 inches or so and was scraping along the bottom of the car.

I noticed later, when walking back to the car, that two cords were hanging, almost as if they'd been pulled free. The car's low clearance makes it difficult for me to see what's really going on under there, but here is a picture:

http://i53.tinypic.com/11uvmso.jpg

Any ideas what's happening? Is this anything important? I'm hoping one of the cords isn't about to come apart (it didn't feel like it, but I could only reach with one hand). I am as far away from a Volvo service center as I can be at the moment, but there is a mechanic in town. I tried shoving the cords back up, or feeling around for clips, but it's pretty difficult at the moment.

Edit: 2007 S80

Looks like e-brake lines.

Does "e" stand for electric or emergency? Because I'm pretty sure mine is a manual parking brake (I have to set it with a foot pedal). (If I hit the gas, the car won't budge, whereas the owner's manual says an electronic version should release automatically.

What a coincidence if these are e-brake lines. I only just started using the parking brake religiously in the last couple of weeks.

Emergency brake, in short, whether eletronically engaged or manually engaged, it's still there for the main purpose of emergency stopping.

Most e-brake systems in newer cars are auto adjusting and the cable system has a mechanism to keep the cable taunt. It could just be hung up or something could have broken free. It's hard to say unless the car is up in the air and you can follow the path.

E-brake lines are really nothing more then a cable, ones that are electronic have a motor attached, ones that are not are linked to a hand brake or pedal brake.

You will need to get some wire ties with push on holders to wrap those and mount back to the body... same thing happened on our previous S80...

Ok, thanks guys! Doesn't sound overly dangerous then. I'm not sure how I'm going to get the car high enough to do any do-it-myselfs, so I next time I'm by a Volvo place, I'll take it in there.