Monochrome

I've searched the forums and can't quite figure out what the problem with my parking brake is. I was up in the mountains a few weeks ago with temps around 15 degrees and left my car parked overnight. When I returned to it, the ((Brake)) light was on even after I shoved in the handle. It hasn't gone away since.

The brake works OK, it's not particularly strong though. I filled the reservoir with DOT3 today and nothing changed. Then I looked under the dash to see exactly what was going on.



As you can see, the metal piece is no longer making contact with the button even when it is fully depressed. I literally couldn't push the brake lever in any more when I took this picture. I can fully twist the handle 360* as much as I want now as well. The cable is still fully attached in the shaft though, so I can't understand exactly what happened or what is broken. Maybe just the handle? If I push the little button the ((Brake)) light goes away. So I hope I haven't been driving around with my brake on slightly all this time. Any thoughts?

toyota4x4907

Thats why you don't use the parking brake when its cold Park in gear.

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

that was absolutely no help...

Monochrome

Your suggestion is noted, I didn't know it was bad practice to use the parking brake in cold weather. We never see temps like that in western Washington but we recently had that long cold snap.

But with that said, like space-junk's comment, I would appreciate some help in figuring out what happened. If I wasn't worried that something broke, I would just add a spacer to the end of the parking brake lever so that it makes contact with the push button to stop the light from showing up. But something in me just wouldn't be satisfied with that fix in case something else breaks in the future.

Thanks for your help.

abecedarian

The main issues with using the parking brakes in cold weather are: the brake drums contract when they cool off thus putting more stress on the shoes the colder they get, making it more difficult to disengage the brakes; and any moisture that may condense on the shoes or drums as they cool off after driving can freeze causing the shoes to stick to the drums (ever get your tongue stuck to an ice cube... or have you seen A Christmas Story when the kid gets his tongue stuck to the pole?).

Being that you can't push the brake handle in far enough to engage the switch makes me think something is wrong with slide or the handle itself. Even if the cable was sticking, you should still be able to push the handle in far enough to engage the switch.

Monochrome

Thanks for the response Abe. I have a few more observations, as I'm working on the truck as we speak. In the manual it says that there should only be 11-17 clicks for the parking brake. I count 24 when I pull the brake, which is way too many. Also, by the looks of things, the cable is loose inside the slide when it is fully depressed. There's no more tension on the cable.

So, I got under the truck and started pulling on the lever that controls the parking brake. It's pretty darn loose. I can bend it downwards about 3" at least. Perhaps just my parking brake is loose and I need to tighten it? It hasn't worked very well since I got the truck in hindsight; there would always be a little bit of roll back on hills even when fully extended.

Thanks for the help.

mrtrd103

hey i had that same problem but mine went away on its own. i say if the truck runs fine and the brakes work fine just leave it, itll go away on its own. mine did that is

n8buddy

is there a way to tighten the cable?

Monochrome

It hasn't gone away for a month, so I don't see it getting any better on its own any time soon.

I don't know if there's a way to tighten the parking brake cable from the cabin to the undercarriage, right when it makes contact with the parking break tensioner thingy. See the picture below.



What I've done now is I tightened the bellcrank stopper screw about 20 turns or so, until the tension was pretty good. Then I hopped in the cab and immediately noticed that things had gotten better. Instead of 24 clicks to full stoppage on the parking brake, I now only have about 15, which is within factory spec. And I can't push the car in neutral with only the parking brake on, like I could before. So, I successfully tightened the parking brake.

And, I came across this little bit of history:



Crammed up underneath the frame was the old parking brake cable, which was really dirty compared to the current one. I'd imagine the previous owner had the parking brake cable replaced relatively recently. Probably had a really hard time removing the old cable, so he just ran a new one. Oh well, it works!

The only problem still is that the stopper on the parking brake slide doesn't make contact with the push button to turn off the ((Brake)) light. So maybe, like you said Abe, there is something wrong with the handle or slider. Or alternatively, the cold weather etc. stretched out the new cable. It's still a bit loose when the parking brake is fully depressed.

Any other ideas? At this point I think I'm just going to put an extension on the slider to make contact with the push button, because I'm getting sick of working on this now that the brake actually works.

Thanks everyone.

vital22re

iTrader: (2)

hey before you start reading into the cable too much pull the drums make sure the rear brakes are in good condition and the brakes them selves are properly adjusted. The e brake cable should be loose while you're adjusting the brake. And overtightened ebrake won't let you adjust the brakes right. Once you know the rear brakes are solid, then i'd start to worry about the cable. A loose cable shouldn't stop you from pushing the handle all the way in. To test that have a friend pull the cable underneath the truck while you release the handle. I know you're getting tired of the work, but better it works right and last then fail on you a mile down the road. Its a toyota do it right. Your rig deserves it.

Monochrome

Good advice, thanks vital22re. I had the brakes fully checked a few weeks ago and they said the drums looked fine as well as the front. This was after the parking brake incident happened. Perhaps I should check them again after making this adjustment. And, what's more important, I didn't give up. I figured out what the cause of the problem is.

So, I didn't notice this little thing originally, but figured it out after pulling the brake tons of times.



The parking brake cable was coiling and seizing! I can fudge with the way that I push in the handle and it doesn't happen. I am going to make a permanent fix for this problem, but in the meantime, after trying a few times, this is where my parking brake lever now sits.



Just where it should. I'm going to make a bracket that prevents the cable from coiling out of the sheath when I have some time. Thanks for all the help guys, hopefully these posts will be helpful for the next person that has this problem. I can't imagine I'm the only one.

ponchosmule

Is the bell crank stopper screw the 2 nuts on the top pic? Or are they located somewhere else. I am having same issues. Also my brake light won't go off even when fully pressed in. I really need help identifying the "bell crank stopper"

Monochrome

Sorry for the delayed response. Yes, the "bellcrank stopper screw" is the nuts next to the arm. When you move those together, it either tightens or loosens the tension on the parking brake.

As I mentioned earlier in this post, you might want to double check and make sure that your cable isn't getting bunched in the parking brake handle shaft. It took me way too long to notice that. You may also have a bad cable altogether. I've been told they can stretch out or break, which can also cause the problem you're having (because the tension is gone).

Let us know what happens.

Jay351

I had problems simialr to that last winter. The rear cables would freeze and wouldnt allow the brakes to unlock. The cable was simply done, the outer peice had let water in and it has rusted the cable from the inside.

I ended having to do my whole e-brake. Least it works perfect now

Also, a good way to adjust your e-brake.

Get in the truck, cook it in reverse (as fast as you feel comfertable) (do it in a safe place!!) and pull the e-brake till you stop.

Repeat this till it feels better..

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

i had the same or close to the same the front cable had started to fray bunching up in the handle. So the light would not go out.

I have also always used my E-brake every day in the winter . It does not get cold here in eastern Pa Only a few days below 0 F all winter. i have had no problems but all the E-brake parts are new.

BT

My original cable snapped at the handle, and my replacement started bunching in the handle the same way within a month. I don't know if it's a garbage replacement cable, or if I somehow jacked up the install. Seeing as I'm awesome and have definitely never broken anything while doing a repair it must be crappy replacement cables.

Monochrome

Yeah, as a follow up to this post, the cable snapped the other day. I can't see where the break is, but I will have to replace it as well.

I couldn't find instructions for re-running the cable in my manual. Can anyone assist?

BT

I don't think it's in the manual but it's pretty easy to replace the cable.

Unhook it from the tensioner near the rear axle, it's just a cotter pin.

Trace the cable back towards the front, unbolting a few clamps.

Take apart the lower dash. If you can, remove the cable from the handle without pulling out the handle fully. It's a PITA to get it back in.

It routes through a hole in the floor board shared with the speedo cable, then around a wheel at the back of the handle.

It's really pretty simple. You'll probably get it done in under an hour.