Hello,

My 2012 XJ SC 5.0 began a week ago throwing a " Parking Brake Fault" message while sitting still (amber lamp). When MOVING is turns RED and indicates "cannot apply parking brake". I found a string on here that suggests a parking brake calibration, but have yet to try that because I do not want to lose any codes that may be stored, in case it needs to go to the dealer (it is a CPO car) and they need them for diagnistics. Will the codes remain if I disconnect the ground for 30 seconds, as suggested? Can the above messages be caused by rear pads that are low? I inspected them and they are at probably 4 to 5 mm, and look like they are NOT yet on the wear sensor. If it WAS on the rear wear sensor, would it throw a message of "rear pads low" or something akin to that? The functionality of the main brakes is unaffected, but the warning messages are surely annoying. Any tips are appreciated.

John

 

My rear pads were recently replaced at a Toyota dealership (!) before I was able to rescue the car from them and I have the same symptoms.

Is there much to calibrating the system?

 

So here is the way to adjust your parking brakes:

EPB Lamp ON, Incorrect Park Brake Operation
1. Start the engine.
2. Firmly apply and release the footbrake five (5) times.
3. Confirm that the message 'NOT CALIBRATED' or 'APPLY FOOT AND PARK BRAKE' is displayed on the Instrument Cluster message center. This indicates that the parking brake is in calibration mode.
4. Lightly press the footbrake pedal.
5. Apply the parking brake by using the EPB switch.
6. Release the parking brake.
7. Release the footbrake.
8. Confirm that the brake warning lamp is no longer illuminated on the Instrument Cluster and that the 'NOT CALIBRATED' message is no longer displayed in the message center.
9. Apply and release the EPB five (5) times to ensure no error is present

You may need to repeat the footbrake/EPB switch 3 or 4 times.

 

I really appreciate that!

 

Thanks, Xjsss, for the advice. Unfortunately, my car did not go into calibration mode with just the pedal press. I found a previous PDF posted that said to disconnect the ground for 30 seconds, THEN it will go into calibration mode. BINGO! Problem is solved. Added bonus is I now know how to calibrate my parking brakes when I replace my rears, which will hopefully hold out till the weather warms up.

 

I needed to disconnect my battery as well. Then, after you reconnect it, push the trunk lid closed (the auto-closer is out of sync at first, but if you leave it open you’ll have a trunk open warning overriding your calibration efforts.

Pumping the brake 5 times didn’t seem to work, but on my next attempt I applied the foot brake and then the parking brake simultaneously and it seems fixed.

However, I lost my satellite radio and the radio information displayed in the left gauge. Another disconnect/reconnect got it back... but then it tripped a Check Engine Light!

Restarting the Car didn’t reset it so I plugged in a hand-held and it was a coolant sensor issue. Cleared it, seems fine... fingers crossed!