Hello,
Brand new owner here. When the car was delivered to me, the parking brake light was stuck on (message was "parking brake on.") and the parking brake did not work. I contacted the previous owner to ask about this, and he said "I never used it, the shipper must have used it and now it's frozen in place "on." I took the wheels and rotors off and inspected, cleaned, and adjusted the parking brake, so now it works, but the light is still on. I then lifted the brake handle and found the switch. When I manually pressed the switch down, the brake light went off. So, the problem seems to be that the pawl that is inside of the back center of the handle, that will stay up when the parking brake is engaged, which will release when the hand brake is released, will not go down all the way to engage the switch button when the hand brake is released. If I place my finger on this pawl when the hand brake is released, I can feel it coming down, but then it doesn't seem to be attached to anything and just hangs short of the switch button, so the brake light stays on.

Before I take out the seat and take this thing apart to see what's wrong with it, does anyone have any tips or ideas that might make it easy on me? Thanks!!!

Also, I've learned that "Previous owners" are the most destructive force in the collector car hobby. It is truly unreal the problems that the previous owner(s) has clearly caused as I've been sorted out this car with only 40K miles.

Cheers,
Chris

 

From the diagram below and at https://www.terrysjag.com/category/X...and-Cable.html it looks like you might just need a new rubber buffer insert or maybe the switch plunger is broken and now too short to be activated. Since I haven't used the handbrake in 23 years I'd probably just jumper the leads to turn off the light.

 

I generally try the easy stuff first, meaning spray the switch with electrical contact cleaner then pure silicone to unstick it. I assume you are pulling up on the brake handle pressing the button and lowering while holding the button it to release the PB; the button press is needed to reset the brake.

 

Thanks for the replies. The rubber buffer is in place and is fine. The hand brake will rest against it, as it should. The issue is with the switch and the pawl inside the hand brake handle not reaching the switch button. The switch button itself is not broken and the switch goes thru its full range when I push it down with my finger when I have the handle pulled up. The switch also functions fine, it will turn the brake light off when I push it down manually with my finger.

Some more info: if i have the hand brake off, and in the fully down position (the brake light will still be on), when I lift the hand brake lever again, there will be about 1" of free play before it contacts the ratcheting portion of the mechanism. The reason appears to be that the handle has 1" of free play before it works in tandem with the piece that is inside the the lower portion of the handle (it is in the above diagram, it's the piece in the middle that extends downward and has a hole at the bottom of it, almost like the handle of a handgun). This is the same piece that is inside the center of the handbrake that physically touches the warning switch. If I were to wedge something in between the handle and this piece I'm describing, it would give enough space for that piece to contact the switch, and the switch would turn off. It feels like I'm missing a spacer or something inside the mechanism. I'll be taking this whole mess apart shortly to figure it out, but the more knowledge I have going in, the better. Thanks.

 

Ok, I tore into it so I could fix this frustrating issue. The bad news is, this is an incredibly difficult and challenging activity, relative to how easy it should be. I had a similar problem on a 1974 Camaro, it took me under 3 minutes. This took me over 2 hours, all told. First, I have to complain about that stupid trim piece that only covers the front left seat bolt. I ended up breaking the piece in order to get it off. I see no other way to do it, unless you've done it before and your sticky tape is very pliable. Plus, 20-year old sticky tape is like steel, I had to practically chisel the rest of the trim piece out after I got the seat free. The good news is, the piece was already broken, a previous owner had done the same thing and welded it back together with pieces of wire on the back, so really, no harm done. I'll be using some JB Weld to piece it back together and then put it back on with some non-industrial strength sticky tape, so this doesn't happen again. What a poor design.




Next, getting the boot cover off the parking brake handle. This is just a puzzle that is very simple, but no one knows the solution, it seems. I researched it and got bits and pieces on how to do it, but no one actually knew how to do it AND was able to describe how they did it. I'll put what I found out on another link that deals specifically with that.

Once I got the boot off, it turns out that the pawl I was describing was not being fully retracted when the parking brake was put in the "off" position. I could manually move this pawl with the seat out and brake handle cover off, and then the pawl was able to contact the switch and turn the brake light off. Lack of use was the culprit. I used some WD-40 on all the moving parts, then moved the handle back and forth many times, and this freed it up enough to get the pawl to contact the switch. It's still not quite right, as I have to put some force on the handle when putting it down; I'll have to get under the car and adjust the cabling a little to give it the right amount of tension to rebound and turn the switch off with low effort during my next session.

I also found $1.30 under the seat, so at least that's something.

Thanks again for the tips, they are all helpful in spurring ideas and eliminating certain things, even if a particular suggestion is not a solution.

-Chris

 

Good job and thanks for writing it up here as well as in the other thread about the cover removal.

 

So, from what I gather, there is no way to replace / repair the hand break switch without taking the driver seat out? I knew that the switch is temperamental but de decided to use the handbrake so I could clean underneath before putting the car away for the winter, and now the idiot light stays on. Thank you.

 

Funny that you bring this old thread to life again. Four years later, it looks like I have the same problem again with the hand brake staying on, just like you. I'm sure there's some genius that has figured a way to get the brake handle mechanism out/repaired without removing the seat, but removing the seat gives you plenty of room to work, which will save you time and effort in the long term. I'm going to try getting the cover off and see what I can do with some WD-40 before I take the seat out and attempt a major repair again.

 

Thank you for the reply. Any tricks for removing the leather cover, or does it just slide of? I'll try the WD-40, if does not help will wait till spring to take the seat out. Wondering if these switches still could be purchased, prob eBay.

thx

 

Have you checked the relay lever mechanism under the car? If the front brake cable or relay lever are binding that will prevent the parking brake handle control arm from contacting the switch correctly. It’s the control arm that contacts the switch, not the parking brake handle itself. BTW WD40 will do nothing for you here.

I had the same problem a year ago on my 01 XK8 and followed these steps:

Back the car up on ramps or jack and secure with jack stands.

Disconnect the battery and leave the car for 10 minutes to discharge the airbag triggers.

Unbolt the drivers seat, tilt back and disconnect the airbag and seat control connections.

Remove the drivers seat – you really need to do this.

Remove the drivers kick panel.

Under the car…..

Remove the cable adjuster nut from the relay mechanism adjuster rod and remove the rear cable guide.

Remove the 4 torx bolts securing the relay lever mounting plate to the underbody.

Disconnect the front parking brake cable from the relay lever and remove the relay lever complete with the mounting plate.

Inside the car…..

Pull back the carpet and unbolt the parking brake handle and remove complete with the front cable.

Refurb….

Strip, clean and rebuild the relay mechanism, a coat of paint on things that need painting, clean and grease the spring – replace it if it’s really rotten. I replaced the steel washers with bronze and the mounting bolts with stainless hex head cap screws (because torx are sh*t in that exposed location). I also pulled the rear cable guide and gave that a coat of paint.

Check that the front parking brake cable and control arm move freely, lightly grease the control arm surfaces that slide inside the parking brake handle.

Rebuild…..

Feed the front parking brake cable through the floor and install the parking brake handle – don’t forget the microswitch electrical connector.

Install the relay lever under the car and connect the front parking brake cable.

Cycle the parking brake handle a few times, check for smooth operation, microswitch contact and the brake light works as expected.

Install the rear cable guide and adjust until you get 3 – 5 clicks at the parking brake handle, check that the parking brakes are locking the rear wheels – and releasing them with the parking brake off.

Further adjust at the rear wheels, relay arm adjuster as needed.

When (and only when) all is well, reinstall the seat, seat connectors and kick plate.

Finally….

Drive to your nearest pharmacy and pick up some extra strength Tylenol for your aching back.

This is all from memory but I have just replaced my rear parking brake cables so the mechanism has some recent familiarity.

 

Here's my original post about removing the cover. Scroll down a little to find my specific post:

Solved: Exactly how to remove handbrake cover - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

 

The leather cover just slides off with a bit of wiggling, give it a coat of leather food to make it supple. There's a plastic securing clip on the cover you will need to disconnect.

 

Hell-Cat,

Thanks for posting that superb step-by-step tutorial. I hope I can remember it and find it if I ever need it....

 

Your welcome, it isn't a difficult job and is pretty much intuitive and sorry I don't have any pics - wrestling the drivers seat out is the biggest pain in the rear - fold the backrest as far forward as it will go helps.

The only other thing I didn't mention is the rear cable guide has a foam rubber insert, it may as well be a piece of your aunt Mabel's pound cake for all the use it is after 20 years - I replaced this with a rubber engine core expansion plug cut to fit, much sturdier and rot proof.

 

thank everyone !

 

Finally got to work on mine. In my most recent instance, the pawl in the middle of the rear of the parking brake handle that is supposed to tilt forward and push in the brake light switch when you take off the parking brake ended up having some play in it to where it was not pushing in the switch enough, so the brake light would stay on. If you manually manipulated the pawl at the rear of the brake handle, you could tilt the pawl enough that it would engage the brake light switch properly. My solution was to epoxy a very small piece of plastic to the top of the brake light switch plunger, so it would give the plunger more distance, so even with the pawl not fully engaging, now, with the brake light switch in effect, taller, it now engages properly with the pawl, so the brake light switch now goes off when it should. It did not have to take the seat out, but I did have my own game of "Operation" where I had to feed the epoxied piece of plastic thru the brake handle mechanism with a sharp pick without touching the sides and losing the piece down under. I was barely able to do it, but once in place, I could make fine adjustments with the sharp pick to get it in proper position. 24 hours of cure time later, I tested it, and it works perfectly.

 

Before you try frustrating / expensive solutions, try getting your hand in and finding the switch. Then press the switch several times to free it up.
As with many other owners, I only ever operate the handbrake once a year at the MOT test and over the years the dashboard warning light became unreliable. As I didn't want to take a seat out, I started to investigate if the contact of switch and lever had worn so that there was no longer sufficient pressure to engage the warning light became unreliable. First step was to find the switch, I couldn't see it, so found it by feel, which was quite simple. As the switch was operating freely I thought that it may just have been sticking due to lack of use. I pressed the switch several times and then looked at the dashboard warning light. To my relief it is now working. Simple solution to save me frustration and unnecessary cost.
I hope that this helps others to keep their beauties alive.