[redhatcode29]

Normally, what is the cause for parking brakes failure ? Will the ECU throw any codes ? Noob here, please tolerate. Thank you. E92-325- pre LCI 2007.

[Silver Streek]

By parking brake I'm guessing you mean handbrake. Could be a few things. Luckily they are entirely mechanical so no electrical gremlins involved. Could be warn brake shoes, stretched cable, broken spring that retains the shoes. Or they may simply need adjusting.

What are your symptoms?

[redhatcode29]

Originally Posted by Silver Streek

By parking brake I'm guessing you mean handbrake. Could be a few things. Luckily they are entirely mechanical so no electrical gremlins involved. Could be warn brake shoes, stretched cable, broken spring that retains the shoes. Or they may simply need adjusting.

What are your symptoms?

Thank you for the reply. Yes i do mean the handbrake. Totally mechanical, alright, so no codes thrown.

Symptoms: cant hold the car from moving, even when the road is a little steep. My normal breaks seem fine, though it creates a kind of brushing onto to some rubber part when i step on the brakes at very low speeds
i.e. stoping or parking.

I am not sure if you can diagnose anything at all from the above 😅.

Trying to get some knowledge before i take it to a mechanic.

[redhatcode29]

Originally Posted by Silver Streek

By parking brake I'm guessing you mean handbrake. Could be a few things. Luckily they are entirely mechanical so no electrical gremlins involved. Could be warn brake shoes, stretched cable, broken spring that retains the shoes. Or they may simply need adjusting.

What are your symptoms?

I often see the part ‘actuator’ being shown when i check for hand break faulty. What does this part do, could this be also a cause ? Thanks.

[Silver Streek]

The rear brakes have two separate braking systems on the same disc. The main braking to slow the moving car is don't by the bog standard caliper and brake pads like most cars. However the handbrake is done by a small set of brake shoes. These sit inside the read disc where it acts as an old fashioned drum brake. This is just for the handbrake. This drum brake has an actuator that is pulled by a cable that is attached to the handbrake. The cables do stretch over time and sometimes need to be tightened up. The actuators can jam due to dirt build up or corrosion, but can be freed off. The brake shoes also wear out and sometimes need adjusting.

Have a look at the YouTube video below it shows how to change the read handbrake shoes and explains how the handbrake works.

[mrjimyjohn]

My e92 parking brake hadn't worked since I got the car. Wouldn’t hold the car on even a 2% slope. I got by parking in gear (even on pretty steep grade).

I had all the parts ready to replace shoes and mechanism, but when i got the discs off i could see there was plenty of pad left, just TONS of rust. I put the disc back on and emptied half a can of WD40 into the adjuster holes of both sides while turning the disc by hand. Put my wheels back on and went for a drive. I dragged the parking brake around the block and the noise faded away pretty quickly. Now my handbrake works perfectly.

You need to take the wheels off to access the adjuster holes I mentioned, but you might have luck simply dragging the brake for a couple hundred metres to find out if your pads are good.

[redhatcode29]

Originally Posted by Silver Streek

The rear brakes have two separate braking systems on the same disc. The main braking to slow the moving car is don't by the bog standard caliper and brake pads like most cars. However the handbrake is done by a small set of brake shoes. These sit inside the read disc where it acts as an old fashioned drum brake. This is just for the handbrake. This drum brake has an actuator that is pulled by a cable that is attached to the handbrake. The cables do stretch over time and sometimes need to be tightened up. The actuators can jam due to dirt build up or corrosion, but can be freed off. The brake shoes also wear out and sometimes need adjusting.

Have a look at the YouTube video below it shows how to change the read handbrake shoes and explains how the handbrake works.

I thank you for the detailed explanation, which no mechanic would have given. Now i roughly know what the issue may be. Thanks again.

[redhatcode29]

Originally Posted by mrjimyjohn

My e92 parking brake hadn't worked since I got the car. Wouldn’t hold the car on even a 2% slope. I got by parking in gear (even on pretty steep grade).

I had all the parts ready to replace shoes and mechanism, but when i got the discs off i could see there was plenty of pad left, just TONS of rust. I put the disc back on and emptied half a can of WD40 into the adjuster holes of both sides while turning the disc by hand. Put my wheels back on and went for a drive. I dragged the parking brake around the block and the noise faded away pretty quickly. Now my handbrake works perfectly.

You need to take the wheels off to access the adjuster holes I mentioned, but you might have luck simply dragging the brake for a couple hundred metres to find out if your pads are good.

Much appreciate the information, thank you. By ‘dragging’, you mean you had the hand brake up while you drove, right ?

[mrjimyjohn]

Originally Posted by redhatcode29

Much appreciate the information, thank you. By ‘dragging’, you mean you had the hand brake up while you drove, right ?

Yes, just partially engaged. Enough to wear away any corrosion but not lock the wheels.