Busted E-brake!---FIXED

[Tiny]

Pulled in to get gas, came to full stop, then set the parking break (MT). Flat level ground. Felt/heard a pop and then the brake just went floppy. No resistance setting or releasing. No side to side movement, just forward and back. Still ratchets up and holds and button disengages just fine. Pulled off at low speed to test it and....nothing. nada.

This is new territory for me but I crawled underneath to see what I could see. Located the lines and they appear to be connected fine to the actual breaks. Pulled the lines with my hand and felt no tension going up toward the front of the truck. Traced up to where they jump up into the body before the t-case and saw/ felt nothing odd. I'm not tearing apart the console but I did try pulling back that split boot around the handle. Can't see anything to note but again, new territory here.

Any experiences here for guidance? Anything I can do at home without too much inconvenience? Guessing I'm about to take advantage of that warranty...

Little pissed that it busted literally at dead stop on level ground... having to use the tranny now to keep parked in place.

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[Firestarter]

Ouch, this happened on my 06 Silverado z71. But I always cranked the pedal brake on it. I try to be more gentle ever since.

 

[SelfmodJT]

All you have to do is remove the 2 bolts on the center console. Theres one on each side near the rear. After that, you can pull up the back and look in with a flashlight. Youll see the bolts to adjust the tension. See if you can see if anything went wrong there.

 

[kd1yt]

I've had variations of this. Take it in...
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/parking-brake-repeated-fail-what-to-do-next.46601/

 

[Tiny]

Thank you both! I'm gonna see if I can get into that console and do it myself. I'm not afraid to tinker so long as I know how to safely get to it!

 

[shrinkhead]

had the same thing. tension was not proper. had it done under warranty so zero cost other than time

 

[Tiny]

So quick recap on what I did to fix.

Moved seats all the way forward and popped square covers off of back bolts. Removed with 10mm socket.
Lifted up on rear of console, got it about 7-8" up and wedged a few 2x4 chunks under to keep it propped up. Looked underneath and sure enough, both cables had popped out of the yoke.
Tight fit but was able to get my big meaty hands in there to pop the cables back in. Helped to have someone pushing the brake lever all the way down to get as much play as possible to connect.
After they were in, used a 10mm deep well socket with a 12" extension to torque up the tensioner screw. It's fidgety but if I can do it with my fat hands, anyone can. It's nice and taught now cycled all the way down. Not excessive but they aren't popping out now for sure. Took for a few test runs and 100% operational and actually feels more solid after tightening.

If it were to happen again, I'll go full Monty and remove the torx screws and rear window electrical connections to take the whole back section off so I can get in and lock tight that tensioner screw. Wouldn't be too much more work but I was crunched for time this evening to get it done. Headed down to my brother's tomorrow for some shooting and trail running...well trail riding.

There are a couple YouTube videos out there to help but I thought a quick summary might help the next jeeper out.

Thanks to those who replied and gave the confidence to DIY. 30min at home fix vs. hassle of getting it warrantied. Woulda been 30 min just to get the truck over to the 'ship...

 

[Tiny]

GODDAMMIT!!!! Happened again. Guess I'm tearing it all apart so I can get in there and add lock tight. Might add another nut or something on there too as added insurance. Pain in the ass! Only thing on my truck that really has annoyed me

 

[kd1yt]

GODDAMMIT!!!! Happened again. Guess I'm tearing it all apart so I can get in there and add lock tight. Might add another nut or something on there too as added insurance. Pain in the ass! Only thing on my truck that really has annoyed me

I'm wondering if some of these ended up with off-spec threads that come loose because of excess clearances. The fact that a few of us have had re-runs while most other people have never had an issue seems to point to something like that.

 

[johnparjr]

I wouldn’t add a nut or loctite have the dealer fix it

 

[Free2roam]

So mine last night.....mind you it was 5 degrees.(diesel) let it warm up to operating temp.(engine) took E Brake off proceeded to put in reverse. Felt like it was dragging something awful. Like the brake was still on. Pulled back up on brake and didn't really seem to engage until the top 1/4 of the stroke. The underside is caked with ice.
Was thinking the transmission oil was not flowing to good because it was so cold. Drove home last night after it felt like it wasn't dragging anymore. Any ideas? Anyone?

 

[booneja]

I think a little engineering (from factory) with a plastic piece that would fill the gap in the yoke once the cable is installed would do the trick of it not re-releasing from the yoke, but in your case, maybe the tension on the line was not set right (not enough tension)that allowed it to pop back out at certain conditions..just a thought, but I would definitely bring it in to shop to make sure it wasn't something more, good luck

 

[56cbr600rr]

Happened years ago to my 2014 JK. Had to have a new parking brake assembly put in the center console area..

 

[Backwoodsbrown]

I think a little engineering (from factory) with a plastic piece that would fill the gap in the yoke once the cable is installed would do the trick of it not re-releasing from the yoke, but in your case, maybe the tension on the line was not set right (not enough tension)that allowed it to pop back out at certain conditions..just a thought, but I would definitely bring it in to shop to make sure it wasn't something more, good luck

I was thinking about adding a couple small zip ties to keep them in

 

[Backwoodsbrown]

So quick recap on what I did to fix.

Moved seats all the way forward and popped square covers off of back bolts. Removed with 10mm socket.
Lifted up on rear of console, got it about 7-8" up and wedged a few 2x4 chunks under to keep it propped up. Looked underneath and sure enough, both cables had popped out of the yoke.
Tight fit but was able to get my big meaty hands in there to pop the cables back in. Helped to have someone pushing the brake lever all the way down to get as much play as possible to connect.
After they were in, used a 10mm deep well socket with a 12" extension to torque up the tensioner screw. It's fidgety but if I can do it with my fat hands, anyone can. It's nice and taught now cycled all the way down. Not excessive but they aren't popping out now for sure. Took for a few test runs and 100% operational and actually feels more solid after tightening.

If it were to happen again, I'll go full Monty and remove the torx screws and rear window electrical connections to take the whole back section off so I can get in and lock tight that tensioner screw. Wouldn't be too much more work but I was crunched for time this evening to get it done. Headed down to my brother's tomorrow for some shooting and trail running...well trail riding.

There are a couple YouTube videos out there to help but I thought a quick summary might help the next jeeper out.

Thanks to those who replied and gave the confidence to DIY. 30min at home fix vs. hassle of getting it warrantied. Woulda been 30 min just to get the truck over to the 'ship...

Thank so much for this writeup!! This site has helped me a couple times but had to become a member just so I could comment on this post lol. It definitely saved me a bunch of trouble

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