Hi, I have a weird issue with my hand brake, it will not engage! However, all the other braking systems work, when I put the car in neutral the brake engages, when I activate the emergency brake it engages and the footbrake works perfectly. No warning lights showing either...

I don't suppose it could be something as simple as a blown fuse. Any help from you guys would be gratefully received.

 

How is the "hand brake" different from the "emergency brake"?

Please give more detail to help us understand the issue.

FWIW my parking brake switch does not light up when I pull up, but I can feel it working.

 

I get a warning when I set the handbrake and it won't engage if I am in gear - at traffic lights for example.

 

The parking brake is on the console and the emergency brake is hidden.

When I apply the parking brake I get warning "Parking brake faulty". However, when i put the gear shift into park, the brake is applied.

I have tried pressing the brake five time and gone through the rest of the procedure but nothing happens, no messages.

I disconnected the neutral and when I started the car I could hear it going through the calibration sequence but the problem remains.

 

I don't understand? How can an emergency brake be hidden?
What's the difference between the emergency brake and the parking brake?
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I should have said, the emergency brake release, which is hidden in the centre console behind the double cup holders.

 

Lets call it the parking brake, the flip switch in the central console, the other is the emergency brake release hidden in the central console behind the two cup holders.

I have disconnected the neutral from the battery and reconnected it, I can hear the the brake mechanism calibrating itself, I think thats what it's doing. However when I apply the foot brake I get a parking brake warning failure message. when I move the gear selector to park, they do engage, so I know the brakes work, just not when I use the flip switch.

 

I think I understand now. The red release ribbon is hidden in the center console. It's only function is to place the transmission in neutral when the car is not powered up. It's a manual over ride device. Mainly used for towing and recovery of broken or wrecked cars.
It has nothing to do with the brakes at all.
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Ok, I too am a bit confused about the issue. The parking brake which is manually activated via the console lever switch can be activated at static, low or high speed per the calibration of the electronic park brake module (EPB Module). It can be disengaged either manually or automatically by either the engine running, a gear is selected either drive or reverse or the throttle pressed. (Any failure to this process would require a look using the diagnostic software, I vaguely remember something about it having a run command in SDD)
Personally, I would be looking at the EPB module located in the trunk (Boot). Care must be taken and a process followed using SDD to disable the system prior to any attempt to repair any physical parts. (Sorry but I can't remember the name of the configuration command in the software at this time.)
I have also had the center control module causing issues including shifting, rise and lower of knob and park brake which I used a dedicated diagnostic unit to test but focus on the module for now.

With the electronic braking systems, there is much more to a park brake and braking in general than the old cable and drum of the old days. Braking is tied to ABS, traction control, corner braking and brake force control to name a few.