The parking brake on my 96 Eldorado does not release when the car is put in gear. Is this a simple thing to fix, or a dealer trip? Thanks

Jim

Fixing? I don't know. I do know how to manually release that if you're car's stuck. There's a little lever up next to the parking brake pedal. It's about halfway up the pedal, and a half inch or so to the right.

If the parking brake suddenly stopped releasing when you engage the shifter, then it's probably just the vacume hose that has come loose. Crawl up under the dash look for a small round cylinder type thing on the e-brake assembly. There should be one [1] wire going to it (this is for dash light) & a small tube line (approx 1/16") connected to this cylinder. Usually connected with a 90 degree elbow fitting. If that is not connected, there's your problem. Many people hear a very slight "hissing" sound when this is disconnected.

96 STS

Does the pedal move up at all when you put it in gear? I recently have been working on mine on my 93 Eldorado, as it was releasing, but not all the way. The pedal would come up slowly only part way. :hmm: The actual brake lever which is attached to the cable back at the rear caliper was hanging up.

I think this is quite common too especially with older vehicles with automatics where people don't use the brake too often. I found that the return spring on that side was also excessively rusted (WI & MI winters :rant2: ) and weak so I bought a new spring and worked the mechanism back and forth for some time by using a 17mm socket over the retaining nut. Seems to be working fine now! :bouncy:

That vacuum line does seem to be a common problem though. I think it either falls off with vibration, or being bumped by your foot or something...
Good luck! ;)