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Parking Brake and Dash Warning Lamps Issue Resolved
I rarely used the parking (hand) brake on my '95 V12 convertible, as the previous owner had warned me that releasing it and getting the dash warning lamp off was very finicky. Not a problem for him, he never drove the car with the top down,. But I planned to, so basically just raised and lowered the handle with varying degrees of force as needed to turn the lamp off. Not elegant, but it got the job done. As I almost always kept the top down it was a minor annoyance..
However, some time ago I noticed my dash Brake Warning lamp would light every time I tapped the brake pedal. Then I noticed that the Park Brake lamp was on, even though the parking brake itself was not engaged. Sure enough, the parking brake handle would travel the full range of its mechanism before stopping, but was not engaging the rear wheels, .
Thanks to this forum, I discovered the Brake Warning lamp was lighting because the car thought the Park Brake was engaged, and was not a separate brake issue.
Also thanks to this forum, I was able to locate the primary parking brake cable adjustment nuts and tighten the cable. Had to first unbolt a large torx head bolt to move a seatbelt anchor bar out of the way, but then it was a straightforward job.
While I was in there, removed the parking brake and seat side cover panels for access to the parking brake mechanism. Pulled the three microswitch connection plugs (black, white and yellow) and sprayed with electronic contact cleaner, then worked the microswitch a few times with a long thin screwdriver.
To my great joy, the parking brake now firmly engages the rear wheels at about half way up, and the Park Brake dash warning lamp turns on and off as it is supposed to. The Brake Warning lamp no longer illuminates when i step on the brakes.
A small victory, but I'll take it!
Last edited by inertian; Feb 17, 2022 at 01:12 PM.
As you know, the handbrake shoes have self-adjusters inside the drums. You should be able to have reasonable handbrake operation in just one or 2 clicks of the lever. I've never used more than 2 clicks. If I were you. I would now adjust the handbrake shoes to get them closer to the drum lining. The access hole is a bit fiddly and needs to be aligned almost at 6 o'clock. If you do one wheel at a time, it's fiddly until you know where the holed needs to be, so considering raising both sides of the car so you can rotate the drums with both wheels off.
Use a torch (FLASHLIGHT) to look in and orientate yourself as to where the horizontal toothed adjuster wheel sits. Then use a screwdriver to lever the teeth around to push out the shoes until you adjust them so they are only just clear of drum contact. Check lever operation that it now locks the drum earlier. Job done.
As you know, the handbrake shoes have self-adjusters inside the drums. You should be able to have reasonable handbrake operation in just one or 2 clicks of the lever. I've never used more than 2 clicks. If I were you. I would now adjust the handbrake shoes to get them closer to the drum lining. The access hole is a bit fiddly and needs to be aligned almost at 6 o'clock. If you do one wheel at a time, it's fiddly until you know where the holed needs to be, so considering raising both sides of the car so you can rotate the drums with both wheels off.
Use a torch to look in and orientate yourself as to where the horizontal toothed adjuster wheel sits. Then use a screwdriver to lever the teeth around to push out the shows until you adjust them so they are only just clear of drum contact. Check lever operation that it now locks the drum earlier. Job done.
Cheers
Paul
Just remember in some parts of the world, torch means flashlight, not a propane torch.
After a few long trips, my parking brake is back to its old tricks again. The handle is fully extending and not holding the car, dash warning lamp not going off without multiple attempts. Time to adjust the pads at the wheels.
So...I jacked up the car and pulled the driver side rear tire, oriented the large hole in the brake cover at about six o'clock and looked for the adjustment wheel to leverage with a screwdriver. All I could find was a large hex head bolt, didn't appear to have any teeth in or around it.
Could some one please point me in the right direction? Even a hand drawn picture would help.
From memory, the adjuster is just off-centre of 6 o'clock. On the LHS of the car, move the access hole to 6.30 and start looking carefully with a light. If I've got that wrong, move it it to 5.30. Also, apols, I think I said it was horizontally aligned, but the Jaguar parts diagram reinforces that it's vertically aligned as per pic below. (Always start at the Jaguar parts website, if you want to see a parts diagram)
No, the star wheels are at the top, not the bottom. You can look thru the the access hole in the rotor and see it. A few degrees off straight up.I just did mine this past week.
If that's correct, I do sincerely apologise! I was convinced that I remembered mine being at the bottom! But then I do have the non-vented discs, so maybe the setup changed?
jal1234, If that's correct, I do sincerely apologise! I was convinced that I remembered mine being at the bottom! But then I do have the non-vented discs, so maybe the setup changed? Cheers Paul
The non-vented and vented are the same. The handbrake cable enters at the bottom, and the adjuster is at the top. Here's a couple of pictures with a hub off the car.
No apology necessary, I needed to test out my new lug wrench anyway!
Funny thing is that for some reason I had it in my head that the adjuster was at 12 o'clock. That's where I originally had the wheel oriented. Before I started poking around inside the wheel, I thought best to double check online - and then reoriented the wheel to 6 o'clock!
We had nice weather and I got some exercise, so all good. Bet I can do it in half the time now.
Parking Brake and Dash Warning Lamps Issue Resolved
