About two weeks ago I noticed that my parking brake light was not illuminating when I enagaged the brake. Since then it sometimes comes on when I engage the brake but not always (most of the time it doesn't). I can't replicate the conditions and there doesn't appear to be a pattern of temp or time of day.It is an '04 with 146,000 miles.
View 1 RepliesI have a 2006 VW Passat 2.0T 6spd and it has the electronic rear parking brake with auto-hold. Recently needed rear brake pads, but hadnt had the 3 updates for the system, so i could not retract the e-brake through the computer. Got the update done, got the car back with two codes that i cannot get cleared:
53 - Parking Brake
02433: Supply voltage for right parking brake motor (sporadic) - V283
01087: Basic setting not carried out (sporadic)
Every time the codes are cleared, they come back immediately, therefore the scanner will not allow me to operate the system and do the brake job. I am using the Launch x-431 scanner with a vag-com emulator, so there should be no equipment problems if there is anything i can do. Is there an adaptation or relearn that needs to be carried out for the caliper?
Had a lift done (Rough Country, after reading through these forums) on my 04 F150 Newer Body Style 4x4. Now, sometimes the pedal gets harder to push on until it won't go down at all and the brakes (only the front) start dragging. It goes away after awhile (my rotors are shot and I'm going to have to replace them after I figure out what is going on) but always comes back. The brake lines have been bled and I'm having a shop bleed them again tomorrow (that's what they said the issue was) just in case.
View 11 RepliesI replaced brake pads on my 05 Prius Monday. The instructions I have say to pull 2 relays and pump and hold the brake pedal until I hear a buzz. This has worked fine the last time I did the brakes. This time I got the Brake, Parking brake,VSC and ABS lights when I powered up.
I did not open the hydraulic system, just push in the pistons. I test drove it then touched the brakes. The left front and right rear rotor/drums were hot but the others were not. Long story short, I want to reset the ABS system.
I replaced my rear brake shoes this past weekend. Immediately after I replaced them, the ABS, VSC, ((!)), and Parking Brake lights came on. I had not read that I should've disconnected the 12V battery before changing the shoes, so I wonder if that's related to the issue. I've read through as many threads here that I could dig up, but I still have questions. Here is what I know so far:
Car Info: 2004, 210k miles, Original 12V battery
Relevant Info: While replacing the shoes, one of the seals(?) (rubber part that slid over the piston(?)) slid off. I put it back on, and have checked for any fluids leaking, and have found none. I may pull the rotors off and check this again, though. There were no DTCs logged prior to the shoe replacement. Battery has shown no signs of dying, although I am going to check the voltage on it after I post this.
I tried jumping the pins, and I get the following flash codes (I tried resetting, but they came back immediately):
ABS: 4-2
VSC: 4-5
((!)): 6-5
I tried finding information on these flash codes, but have found nothing...
My CHS Tank was damaged in an accident a few years ago. I just replaced the CHS tank and the Inverter Coolant Pump within the last 12 months. It is still running when I power the car on and off as it should. I also jumped the fuse with a paperclip to double check that it runs.
My brake fluid levels are fine right now.
Possibly unrelated to the lights, but applying the parking brake is very easy. I don't think I adjusted the star adjuster enough. This is my first time messing with drum brakes, so it's possible I didn't adjust that correctly. Are these self-adjusting, or do I need to go back and adjust them by hand?
I have a 2006 Prius that I've had since 2012. The parking brake light was intermittently having a hard time turning off every time I disengaged the brake and became more inconsistent until finally, now, for about 6 months the light has just remained on the entire time, regardless of whether or not the brake was engaged.
Just to clarify the brake is still fully functional and will prevent the car from rolling when engaged.
I recently failed my inspection because of the light. The mechanics of the brake are fine, but the light wont turn off. They quoted me around $1,000 to fix due to them having to rip out the whole dash to get to the parking brake assembly (8 hours of labor).
However, is there any way to access the pedal to do the repairs without having to take the interior of the car apart? I've also heard that it could mean my brake fluid is low? But they didn't mention that during the inspection.
Today I took my 2006 Toyota Prius with 167,000 miles out to drive my dog to the vet. I turned the car on and deactivated the parking break and noticed the light stayed on, then I noticed the VSC and ABS lights stayed on as well.
My car was parked backwards on a driveway incline for about 14 hours. My 12v battery is old, not sure what shape it is in. The hybrid battery was replaced 2 years ago. I have been reading up and i guess it could be a sensor, skid sensor, 12v battery, or some sort of pump. Also, my parking break has felt a little weak as of late.
The car still drives, not sure if it drives funny or psychologically I think it does.
I recently (about 2 months ago) purchased a '04 Prius with 122k miles on it and it now had 124k. The only problem that it seems to have it a sporadic P0420 cel that come on and off every once in a while (even while on the same tank of gas); I always make sure the gas cap is on tight. On my last fill-up I got about 50mpg, so nothing seems out of the ordinary.
View 1 RepliesMy brother-in-law has an '04 with ~160K miles that we're potentially interested in picking up from him. It's been sitting for awhile with the parking brake on. When going to try it out today I released the parking brake (it seemed to release okay) but both rear wheels were stuck. I drove it a few feet and the left rear freed up but the right rear would not budge (multiple attempts.) It was dragging on their driveway and I could barely get the car back out of the way.
Looking for (videos, manual, etc.) how the parking brake works? Is there an external adjustment I can reach or some place to try to release the cable? We had an '06 that our daughter now drives but I've never had any issues with rear brakes in 200+K miles on that car.
The switch for the parking brake pedal light self loosened (a known issue with this switch) over the past six months and today it finally fell off the pedal assembly. The only way I can see to do the repair is to remove the three fasteners that attach the parking brake pedal assembly to the dash and drop the pedal to the floor to refasten the switch. It appears to be possible; however, there are lots of stuff around the assembly that might get in the way of dropping the assembly so I raised the white flag and called it a day.
View 2 RepliesI have an 07 Prius that's been going great for me. About two weeks ago I get this strange error message about my P Lock mechanism and how I need to be parked on a flat surface with the parking brake fully engaged. The car wouldn't start, just a bunch of warning lights. Finally I replaced the 12v battery at the dealership.
View 8 RepliesI have a 2004 Elantra GLS. My left rear brake was hanging (wheel was very hot to the touch after driving, while other wheels were not), so I had a friend check the brake pads. We decided to replace the pads and rotors. While doing so, the parking brake seemed stuck in the on position, so I opted to have him disconnect it completely until I could afford to replace it. I had used it for the first time about 2 weeks before I noticed the hot brake problem, so we figured that must have been why the brake was hanging.
My friend replaced the rotors and pads, put some penetrant/lubricant on the piston of the caliper and reassembled the brakes. He did use the special tool to spin the caliper in when putting the pads on, however he didn't know that was necessary and tried to force them in with a C-clamp first.
Now, I seem to have two problems:
1. The left rear brake still hangs sometimes. I will drive the car and when I park it I can feel the heat coming off of the left rear wheel. It is extremely hot, so I know the brake is hanging (even with the parking brake disconnected). What is the problem here? Is the caliper bad? Would replacing the caliper solve the problem? Does the parking brake have to be connected to stop the caliper from hanging up?
2. My second problem is the pulsating of the brakes. I am afraid the rotor is warped because of the heat, or maybe he didn't clean everything well enough before he put the new rotor on. How can I figure out what the problem is? Is there a way to check a rotor to see if it is warped? Could there be another reason I feel the pulsating brakes? By the way, the brake fluid is full.
If the caliper needs to be replaced and I can leave the parking brake disconnected, are there any special instructions my friend should know about before working on this? He does work on a lot of cars and rebuilds cars to sell, so he is pretty knowledgeable. I think the only thing he didn't know about was rotating the piston. I would like to provide him with detailed instructions if necessary.
Had my car parked outside of work for about 12 hours yesterday, and in the NYC cold front, the parking break must have stuck on slightly. When I started to move, despite the fact I'd released the parking break, I received a warning in the MFI that said PARKING BREAK FAILURE TO RELEASE. I pulled the handle again and heard it pop just a little more off. Everything worked great after that. If I hadn't received the alert I probably would have driven off with it on. I'd probably have noticed the hesitation and checked the break again, but the alert was useful. Some of the warnings in the MFI can appear to be a pain at times, but it's amazing how thorough a job VW has done monitoring the cars systems and giving real time information if something doesn't work. You just have to make sure you don't get info overload from it all!!
View 4 RepliesAlways? Never? Sometimes? Depends on circumstances like grade?
View 19 RepliesI've always found the handbrake parking brake in the Prius not to be very effective (there's always a huge lurch back whenever I take my foot off the brake and I'm parked on a hill).
Today I had to swap the two cars in my driveway around. I backed out from the carport and into the street, then drove back up into the driveway. The driveway's longish with a mild incline.
I had the parking brake applied throughout by accident. (The car's new to me and I'm still getting used to the starting and stopping procedure).
Given it seems to be a pretty weak brake already, is it likely I've done any damage to it? I know I wasn't driving with it on for a long time, but in other cars with better handbrakes I've loosened the brake doing that. Should I go and get it tightened, or what?
I have the weekend clear. My husband is gone -- so no second-guessing.
I WANT to adjust the parking brake. I ordered the Chilton manual nearly two weeks ago. As of tonight it is sitting in Hermiston, Oregon, about a three-hour drive away. I don't suppose it is getting delivered to my house tommorrow (Saturday).
I have checked out a few online spots that tout instructions. They are either pretty vague, or somewhat scary. I have adjusted the PB on my old Toyota Corolla....many times.
I've never used "foot parking brake" on any of my cars before. The one I have has a standard automatic transmission when I put in "park" the pin inside the transmission locks it.
Do I just press the "P" park button or press the "foot parking brake" first?
I'm a new Prius III owner and have diligently been reading the manual. There is a note in there not to use the parking brake in winter because it might 'freeze up.' I am in the habit of always setting the parking brake for safety reasons.
View 12 RepliesToday the parking brake light didn't turn off when I released the parking brake. Other than the light staying on, nothing else unusual occurred. I did not notice any indication that the brakes were dragging. The brake fluid level was near maximum.
After reading earlier Priuschat posts on this subject, I found the cause which apparently is explained in technical service bulletin TSB BR002-07 (Parking Brake Light Won't Go Out | PriusChat)
Here's what happened to me. For some reason, the entire switch body loosened from the firewall and moved away far enough away from the lever arm such that it couldn't contact the switch and close it when the pedal was released. I think it happened because I pressed the pedal too quickly and with too much force somehow. The switch is at the top of the pedal assembly and it's not too difficult to reach
So, I pushed the switch back against the lever arm and presto, the brake light turned off as it's supposed to. I tried the parking brake several times and it is fixed for now. Now I need to determine how to tighten the switch so it won't move again.
When I was at Luscious Garage earlier today for a transmission service, the technician told me that my parking brake is out of adjustment. Sure enough, I checked the factory service manual when I got home and found that the spec is 8-11 notches at 67.5lbf. My own test revealed that it was taking between 15-17 notches on mine!
View 7 RepliesI drive a 2004 Nissan Xterra. About 3 weeks ago I started out to run some errands and as I was pulling out of the parking lot the brake light came on. I pulled over and depressed/released the parking brake a couple of times and it stayed on. I proceeded to run my errands and after about 10 - 15 minutes the light went out. The brakes seemed to be working normally the whole time I was driving. When I got home I checked the brake fluid level and it was about halfway between min and max.
Since then the light has come on three more times. Each time the outside temperature is below 15F. It does not come on when the temp is higher. After driving for a short time the light always goes off.
Could there be freezing in the brake lines? Should I have the brake fluid flushed and replaced? I've searched my recommended maintenance schedule and this doesn't appear anywhere in it. The recommended brake fluid for my vehicle is DOT3.