Parking Brake Fails to Release, 2014 MS

[Evbwcaer]

Hi everyone. I am out of warranty and my parking brake(s) are failing to release. If I cycle between P and D/R I can get them to release, sometimes it takes a few minutes and I'm worried they/it are going to fail while applied soon. I get a notice on the dash, something like, "Parking Brake Failed to Release."

Just to be clear, this is not the stuck main brakes because of parking with wet rotors, this is the electronically actuated parking brake(s) not releasing.

The servos / actuators that power the parking brake have gotten quite noisy over time, and my suspicion is that they are failing and causing the problem. Perhaps they are no longer lubricated, were contaminated with road salt....I don't really know.

I'm looking at just buying a used set or parking brakes on Ebay and throwing them in. The jobs looks very simple, these are electric brakes, not hydraulic, so its just a wiring harness and two bolts.

I am wondering if anybody has more insight or experience to share regarding this issue?

I made a movie to illustrate the noise from my parking brakes.

And here is a video showing how to remove/install the parking brake.

Thanks for any helpful info.

 

[Lukez]

No input on the issue itself but can agree replacement is pretty easy, I have removed them before myself to change the brake pads that fell apart!

 

[demundus]

I think salt is a great guess and a likely culprit. Replace as you suggest and enjoy

 

[gaswalla]

Had this issue, was a stuck caliper

 

[Evbwcaer]

I just replaced my whole parking brake assembly on each side. The culprit seems to be the rods that the pad slides on. They are very corroded and the pads are seized to them, or very close to it. There is corrosion and crud built up very thick. The lesson/suggestion is to "service" this if/when you have the rear wheels off.

With the rear wheels off you could easily take a very small wire brush, or maybe a scouring pad, and clean these rods. I suggest applying a a thin layer of brake or high temp grease to them, to keep the corrosion at bay. I will be doing this going forward, each winter when I put my snow wheels/tires on.

If you look at the photo you will see the two rods that the pad slides on, at the ends of my fingers. They should basically be clean metal, which they are not. IMO, they should be stainless steel. The rod on the left has a big chunk of build-up right against the pad, not good.