Hand brake problem

[Helirich]

Just recently a new problem came up with my hand brake. I don?t understand what happened and I never have looked at it closely before to see how it was done. The problem is when I put the brake down, it won?t go down far enough to turn the brake light off. There is a rubber cover that is binding somehow. If I pull the cover off, the brake works fine and the light goes off. I?m not sure if the cover is supposed to tuck into the carpet or ride on top. If I try to tuck it in, it seems to bind more. If I leave it out, the back of the mechanism is visible when the brake is down.

Does somebody have pic of their handbrake?

[Rich]

Can get a photo tomorrow but you might not need it. Give this a look first.

The problem is probably that the brake handle isn't always fully down in order to operate the e-brake light switch mounted on left side of handle.

Try adjusting the position of the rubber e-brake handle boot. Note that the front tip of the boot is a very tight fit over the brake handle.

- Pull the entire boot rearward until you can see the black metal barrel of the brake handle extending through the front hole in the boot. The end of the boot must be on top of the handle barrel. It can sit flush with the end of the barrel or 1-2mm further back from the end if you like. The tip of the boot can't be hanging loose in front of the barrel covering any part of the button.
- Tuck the triangular lower boot extension behind the carpet trim in front
- Let the rear of boot ride above the carpet trim in back
- When disengaging the brake make sure you do as instructed in the owners manual as below in bold:

The parking brake, located adjacent to the
driver?s side door sill, is applied by pulling
up the handle. To release, pull the handle
upwards and press in the button at the end
of the handle. Continue to hold the button in
while lowering the handle.

[dn010]

I had the same problem. My solution was to cut the bottom front of the handle sleeve off:

72064

No more problems.

[Helirich]

Can get a photo tomorrow but you might not need it. Give this a look first.

The problem is probably that the brake handle isn't always fully down in order to operate the e-brake light switch mounted on left side of handle.

Try adjusting the position of the rubber e-brake handle boot. Note that the front tip of the boot is a very tight fit over the brake handle.

- Pull the entire boot rearward until you can see the black metal barrel of the brake handle extending through the front hole in the boot. The end of the boot must be on top of the handle barrel. It can sit flush with the end of the barrel or 1-2mm further back from the end if you like. The tip of the boot can't be hanging loose in front of the barrel covering any part of the button.
- Tuck the triangular lower boot extension behind the carpet trim in front
- Let the rear of boot ride above the carpet trim in back
- When disengaging the brake make sure you do as instructed in the owners manual as below in bold:

The parking brake, located adjacent to the
driver?s side door sill, is applied by pulling
up the handle. To release, pull the handle
upwards and press in the button at the end
of the handle. Continue to hold the button in
while lowering the handle.

When I tuck the rubber in the carpet, it won?t go down enough. I have the end of the handle 1/2? out or flush.


I had the same problem. My solution was to cut the bottom front of the handle sleeve off:

72064

No more problems.

I may have to do this. I just wish I knew what changed. It always worked before.

[JohnZ]

I'm thinking maybe you can't also adjust the carpet portion a bit, in order to accommodate the lever's travel?

[dn010]

All I know is I tried many different things, some worked for a while, others did not. This was the only permanent fix in my case, and you can't even see the ratchet part of the lever that the cut portion no longer covers while the lever is up unless you get down there and really look.