Parking Brake Adjustment - GreenHybrid

nitramjr · #1 (**permalink**) 09-18-2006, 05:31 AM

This may have been discussed but I didn't see a recent thread covering this topic.

I have been aggravated by the parking brake in the '06 since I got it. When setting the parking brake it would go all the way up (about 60° angle) and didn't hold well. The dealer wanted me to drop it off to adjust it.

Finally on Saturday I got underneath looking for a way to adjust it. Nothing.

Turns out all you have to do is pop off the boot around the brake handle and go at it with a 9mm (IIRC) box wrench. Took five minutes. Once of the tabs broke off the boot but I fixed that with some epoxy.

Now, five or six clicks and the brake holds like a champ. And no spending time at the dealer.

rcomeau · #2 (**permalink**) 09-18-2006, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitramjr

This may have been discussed but I didn't see a recent thread covering this topic.

I have been aggravated by the parking brake in the '06 since I got it. When setting the parking brake it would go all the way up (about 60° angle) and didn't hold well. The dealer wanted me to drop it off to adjust it.

Finally on Saturday I got underneath looking for a way to adjust it. Nothing.

Turns out all you have to do is pop off the boot around the brake handle and go at it with a 9mm (IIRC) box wrench. Took five minutes. Once of the tabs broke off the boot but I fixed that with some epoxy.

Now, five or six clicks and the brake holds like a champ. And no spending time at the dealer.

I had the same problem and had it fixed at my first oil change. I do not like the hand brake on the FEH in general. It does not have a good motion as it sometimes feels like it catches something as I pull it. If the cable is poorly routed (around tight bends or has somethong attached to it that hits something as it is tightened) I worry it will stick when I release it and drag while I drive. I now its a North American car, so the handbrake is an afterthought only for show, but I use it every time I park and it always feels like it is about to break.

Cheers,

rcomeau

nitramjr · #3 (**permalink**) 09-18-2006, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcomeau

I had the same problem and had it fixed at my first oil change. I do not like the hand brake on the FEH in general. It does not have a good motion as it sometimes feels like it catches something as I pull it. If the cable is poorly routed (around tight bends or has somethong attached to it that hits something as it is tightened) I worry it will stick when I release it and drag while I drive. I now its a North American car, so the handbrake is an afterthought only for show, but I use it every time I park and it always feels like it is about to break.

My cars have yet to be back to the dealer - no matter how many cards they send me (today another one) telling me I am overdue for maintenance. If they only knew....

I don't care for the positioning of the handle but now that it is adjusted it works great. I set mine every time before I put it in park and it has always held but before it went way up to do so. I would also get a clunking sound out of mine now and then but it is gone now.

The cable comes out of the body maybe half way down. It has a 90° curve in it but it is a pretty large radius so no tight bends that I saw. I don't think there is anything to worry about.

gpsman1 · #4 (**permalink**) 09-18-2006, 09:38 PM

Thanks Ray for the tip.

Mine is totally like yours ( before the "fix") and it has bugged me for quite a while as I have a sloped driveway, and it won't hold the car in N on a 3% slope.

I hate spending hours at a dealer for a simple task.
I'm going to try this fix right away, and hopefully not break any tabs.
( Thanks for the heads up on that also... )

-John