Parking brake manual release lever?

[tateos]

I had this problem on my '97 ETC - it was not the release that was at fault - it was the entire mechanism that got gummed up - like the grease or oil that had been installed at the factory congealed or had attracted dust and dirt and the whole thing was hard to move. I did the thing with pulling up the pedal with my foot too, but after a few days, I got under the dash and unbolted and remove the entire assembly. I used brake cleaner to completely remove all the old grease and oil and dirt, and then flooded the mechanism with WD-40. It probably took me all of an hour total, and that's because I had not done it before, and so I didn't really know what I was doing down there. That was 4-5 years ago, and the parking brake and automatic release have worked flawlessly ever since.

By the way, my father bought a 2008 DTS and there is no automatic parking brake release - you step on the pedal to apply the brake, and then step on it again to release; he is disappointed with this, as he feels it is a step back from luxury. I like what I have on my 2005 Lincoln LS - it is electronic - operated by a switch on the console - pretty cool. Of course, there may be problems years down the road....

[gregpoor]

OK, so I have been paying more attention to it and the P brake does not release at all as it should when shifting into gear unless I press it again, then I still need to do the foot pulling thing from above to finish it.

Ranger, i gave it a real good push down to see if that helps. No luck, so I will try the cleaning / oiling. Thanks

[creeker]

I have gotten into the habit of never using my emergency brake,this is from living for 12 or so years in an area that was cold for much of the year,I now live "on the coast" I guess I should use it once in awhile so things dont get jammed up from non useage.

[submariner409]

This thread is back from the dead.............I forgot my own advice and stomped the parking brake in the STS while parking on a decent incline the other day. Naturally, it hung up and I had to crawl around on the floor in a tie and blazer in order to tickle the override. BUT, the brake releases very slowly, sort of like the proverbial molasses in January.

Forewarned is forearmed: either exercise the parking brake regularly (especially in winter climates) or don't use it at all.

[mister_playboy]

Is the release the same on a '93 Seville? I looked around down there, but I don't see it... is it behind a plastic panel or something?

I just went through a nightmare having a flat tire and a flat spare tire, and now that I've solved that, the parking brake won't release...

[Ranger]

Yeah it's in the same place. Get on your knees and look up under the dash by the parking brake pedal.

[mister_playboy]

For anyone else who needs this... the lever is on the right side of the top of the e-brake pedal's stalk, right where the black stalk runs in to the hinge (which is rust colored on my car), approximately even with the bottom of the dash.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. For reference, the big black shape on the left is the e-brake pedal stalk and the black tube in the picture is the cable from the hood release lever. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to pick a color for the paintbrush in Linux's picture editor, so the arrows are white.

Thanks for the help, everybody.