Automatic parking brake release

[vashtsdaytona]

So I just learned I'm supposed to have automatic parking brake release on4 my 69 4Dr. The parking brake world, it holds the vehicle, the lever release it fine. Putting in gear does not.

Is anyone familiar with the mechanism that would do that? Is, it all mechanical related to column shift? Does it trigger a vacuum system?

Certainly I don't need it, I just like things to work

[Dan Szwarc]

There’s a vacuum switch on the bottom of the steering column. The hoses go to and from it and then to the actuator.

More than likely, someone unplugged them.

Stick your head under the dash and inspect everything down there. It will make sense if you trace the lines.

There’s,a few threads buried here about this. Maybe even a picture of the switch. 69 isn’t any different from 61 to 70 so don’t be concerned about the exact model year. They’re all essentially the same.

[LithiumCobalt]

You’re looking for this guy, the neutral safety switch. It has two purposes. First is to act as an electrical switch to prevent starts in gears other than park and neutral. It also acts as a vacuum switch for the automatic parking brake release.

[Dan Szwarc]

Ah, yes. The infamous NSS. Many times, people break the posts that hold the vacuum lines to the switch and the switch sometimes leaks due to hardened seals inside. Not easy to replace or obtain. If it does work, either bypass it (plug the vacuum line feed and give up the parking brake auto-release) or replace the whole switch.

[TonyC]

Oh, it can't be that uneasy. I see listings all the time on E-Bay. However, keep in mind that Nick's picture shows the NSS of '67; I remember a listing for one ID'd as a '68/9 switch, and it was thoroughly incompatible with my '67 column, a different design though it too served the same 3 functions. Mine came off the original-original Saginaw column, as I learned it was almost identical to the 3-function switch of '67, and has actually held up very well. Though originally used only as the vacuum routing for the parking brake, it also had electrical tabs for the NSS and reverse lights, which I put into service in place of the old OE NSS mounted on the original transmission. The most I did to it was clean and re-grease the channel last year with dielectric grease, to eliminate a jam that these switches usually develop over time.

But I digress. Vash, the parking-brake mechanism is actually quite simple, the most complex part of it being the pedal unit itself. The auto release is very simple. If the switch on your column still has intact ports, check the housing, looking for lines that may have been removed. If they are in fact gone, replace the hosing with new, making sure to connect the supply hose to a non-checked source.

---Tony

[jtheye]

I am going to throw in on this more recent thread. I have read through some of the older posts just looking for exactly HOW the parking break operation should work. Currently on my 64 the parking break only stays engaged if the engine is off. What I mean is if the engine is running it will not stay engaged. Once I am in Park, turn the key off, the parking break will engage and stay engaged. I am assuming this is also caused by a faulty vacuum switch of some kind. Can some one explain exactly how the functions should work? I am assuming the parking break should engage while engine running or not, and release only when gear shift is moved out of park?

[Dan Szwarc]

What I mean is if the engine is running it will not stay engaged. Once I am in Park, turn the key off, the parking break will engage and stay engaged. I am assuming this is also caused by a faulty vacuum switch of some kind. Can some one explain exactly how the functions should work? I am assuming the parking break should engage while engine running or not, and release only when gear shift is moved out of park?

Correct. Parking brake is released in REVERSE and FoRWARD gears ONLY (typically, not sure about 1964, though). The vacuum is supposed to be blocked in PARK and Neutral.

Inspect the hoses to the switch. It sounds like your Parking Brake vacuum lines have bypassed the switch. Or the switch has failed open.

[jtheye]

Just another comment about the NSS, I have noticed other models of Fords, like the 64 T-bird, seem to have the same pics of the same NSS as with my 1964 Continental Sedan. The difference seems to be $120+ for the Continental listing over the T-bird.($42 for T-bird) On the parts catalog listings, is there a way to see common year and models that would use the same parts as our Continentals? I mean it is really cool to see some Continentals going for $100,000+ but the downside is every parts house thinks a Continental part should be 4X's the price. We need a master parts cross list so we can look up parts for a lessor known Ford and get all parts for less than half the price of the Continental listing.

[TonyC]

That would be nice, but I don't think parts catalogs work that way. I had witnessed many posts about specific parts suggested to be exclusive to a specific year, some of which I've debunked with experience. But it would've been nice if interchangeability had been factored into part listings.

---Tony

[Lee]

The Master Parts Catalog is a good resource, but you’d also need the Ford version for interchanges. Every once in a while, I’ll break out my Chiltons part number and labor guide. It has a lot of basic part numbers for Ford products that you can check against other models, and it’s handy if you want to say, estimate how long a job will take (I usually have to multiply their number by 3 and the factory time by more than that )

The absolute best are the Hollander interchange manuals, that junkyards used. I see them occasionally at swap meets like Hershey, but I think those junkyards held on to them until they fell apart, or were illegible from years of greasy fingers

[LithiumCobalt]

Master parts catalog is the way to go. Only way you will be able to compare. You can get the Lincoln-Mercury version of the MPC from the forum. Not sure if the Ford equivalent is available here. Once you find the basic part number you can look up in both and compare which models and years share the same complete part number.

[jtheye]

Let the internet search begin! Or is this when we start the bidding on Lee's Hollander Manual?

[Dan Szwarc]

Ford PN is C4VY-7A247-B for 1964 and 1965.
Motorola/Autolite # is SW-372. It looks VERY close to the T-bird model I found on ebay sold by Mark II enterprises.

NOS Lincoln Switch

T-Bird Repo

Buy the T-bird switch for the best price you can get.

[TonyC]

That is exactly the switch I transferred from Frankenstein's old Saginaw column to use on my '67 column, when the transmission-mounted neutral-safety switch packed it up. You see those brass tabs there? They will permit that vacuum switch to also serve the purposes of NSS and reverse lights. You will need to figure which circuit goes to which tabs, but it isn't that hard; I did it (in fact, last time I did maintenance to the switch last year, I marked the tabs for quick reference). You also need female spade connectors to splice onto the wires, which again is cake. Really the only difference between this and the '67 switch is that, in the case of the latter, the wires for NSS and reverse are riveted on at the factory, in lieu of tabs for spade connections...but it will fit and function exactly right for all three purposes.

I don't know if any MPC makes mention of this; if not, that supports my claim about MPCs not carrying a lot of interchangeability info. Apparently there was interchangeability literature published (like that really nice example Lee posted), but I imagine such books hard to find now. I just recently discovered that Ford published a NVH manual for unibody servicing.

---Tony

[mge825y]

What model years did they have the automatic parking brake release on Lincolns? Just asking because I have a '63 and wondering if I need to check this out.

Thanks