gsobol

Does anyone have a problem with their hand break being loose or not working at all?

When I picked up my 2006 GX, I've noticed that my hand break felt very loose, and it was not engaging all the way (it would slow down the car, but not stop it - approx 10-20 mph). When I took it to the dealer, I asked them to adjust it (at approx 9000 miles). And adjust it they did. When I picked it up I've noticed that the lever was nice and tight now, and it engaged the break at approx 1/2 way, and it did stop the car. Wow, great I thought. That's before I realized that the smell of burned breaks was actually coming from my car . Back to the dealer. After 4 hours (they told me it will take 20min - hence no loaner - needless to say, I WAS PISSED) I got the car back. The lever now engaged the breaks at more than 3/4, but it did managed to stop the car. And, more important, no breaks burning smell. OK, I guess they fixed it. Or so I thought .......

The car has approx 14,000 miles now. The hand break does not engage at all, even when it's pulled all the way (yes I checked, and no the lever does not rotate more than 45deg, unless there is something I don't know ). When I put it in drive and pull the lever all the way up, let go the breaks and the car happily rolls forward (and that's up the hill). Oh, to makes things more interesting, when trying to apply the hand break while in motion (approx 10-20 mph) I get a LOUD "BANG" from underneath the car, as if I hit something. That's all - just a "BANG" - no, the car does not slow down. This might be too much to ask, but after the primary function of "BOMBS AWAY" emulation, it would be nice to have a secondary function of SLOWING DOWN THE CAR actually work.

Am I the only one experiencing this problem? Or, is it something in the design, where the hand break needs to be adjusted every so often?

I'll take it back to the dealer, I just wanted to see if someone else has experienced this before.

The G Man

If you use the hand brakes to slow down the GX, that might be the problem. You are driving a 5000 pound truck, not a 2500 pound sports car.

gsobol

Understood, but... This is supposed to be an emergency break, to help you slow down the car in case your breaks fail. Also, it is meant to be a parking break as well. If I park my car on the flat surface, leave it in neutral, apply the hand break, I'm still able to push my car by myself (barely). Now that would indicate a problem for me. Also, the loud "BANG" - this is a first car, truck that I drove that does this. The fact that this degradation took place over time, also has me worried. I expect different feel to the car because of it's weight and mass, and I do take it into account, but the behavior that I have described is unusual, from my experience.

I don't expect to lock up the rear breaks so I can do some power slides. The emergency break should slow down your car and allow you to bring it to a safe stop, period, I don't care how much it weights. That's part of the design.

purplehazek4

Sounds like it just needs to be adjusted or your cable snapped. I'm goin on 50K soon and my E-brake still works like the day i bought it.

JGX

My brake works fine still . I have 57 k on it now and it does need to be adjusted from time to time.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

How hard are you pulling on that lever? It is cable operated by nature and if a person keeps pulling on it as if they are trying to yank it out of the truck, then of course it will stretch and have issues-especially if you are trying to stop a 4900lb SUV with it which at this point the dealer can tell you it is not covered due to abuse. There is no such thing as a e-brake. Where it came from is beyond me but these are parking brakes only and was never designed to stop the vehicle which is the same as every passenger vehicle out there. That does not mean a old Honda Accord will not slow down if it is used since it only weighs in at 2800lbs-it was not designed for this purpose. It is designed to hold a vehicle in place while parked-that is it. It is not a backup braking system as there is no such thing though on some cars it could be used to slow it down but at a great danger of rear wheel lockup. This is why they are used for drifting.

Salvator

The e / hand / parking brake on my '06 is also sloppy... I need to have mine looked as well... I understand the comments about it being for parking only, however, since it is a pretty rudimentary system (cables and what-not) it ought to work as an emergency system as well... sure, it might take a mile for it to bring to the car to a stop, but you should eventually stop... and it definitely should hold the car in place... the "park" pawl on auto trans are pretty small, and there have been plenty of people who have found out the hard way that you need to use the parking brake as well as put the car in park... There should be a spec for this... on my BMW, I beleive the parking brake is supposed to engage after 3 clicks... On my Lexus, when I pull on it, it feels like it is hitting the stop, and the brakes are not engaged... Anyway, OP, you are not alone...

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

What we may want it to do and what it is designed to do are two different things. You are talking about a 4900lb vehicle and very very small parking brakes that engage. The lining will easily burn up /break up at speed and can possibly cause an accident itself when/if the rear wheels lock up-think drifting.
Where the lever is mounted is in a poor spot IMO as it should be where the Tundra parking brake is which is foot operated. This way a person will not be as prone to believe it is for stopping the vehicle.

Salvator

I think we agree that it should hold the vehicle in place, if nothing else... Sounds like the OP doesn't even have that capability, and I'm not sure mine would be able to either... At this point, it does not feel as if it is doing anything...

Interestingly enough, my old Land Rover Discovery (also a very heavy vehicle) had a brake drum on the drive shaft that applied braking to all four wheels, via the driveshaft/axles... I doubt it would have stopped the vehicle very well either, but it did at least hold it in place...

gsobol

Again, I understand the weight problem. I'm very familiar with the performance of the hand break in the light vehicle, and the "entertainment benefit" it provides . (been there, done that - a little older, not much wiser). I'm also familiar with performance of a cable driven hand break in the 5 ton truck (can still lock up rear breaks if you try hard enough). But that's not my question.

1. is it normal for the hand break to be loose in the GX (does not require any force to pull the lever)
2. is it normal for the hand break to stop functioning after a period of time, hence requiring adjustment.
3. is it normal to experience a loud bang (like a sledge hitting the underside of the vehicle) when applied at low speeds (10-20 mph)

In my GX the lever is very loose. No need to yank on it at all. It travels very easily to it's maximum position. It also does not work in parking (see my earlier post). Also I need to make it clear that I use my hand break all the time when I park my GX. Simply stated, I do not park it without applying the hand break.

I just wanted to know if this behavior is normal for GX. I never experienced this with any other SUVs, cars, trucks that I have owned or driven. I just don't want to hear from the dealer the standard BS line that that's normal for this vehicle.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Well they all require adjustment over a period of time.
But....testing to see if it will stop this thing while in motion as you stated above will obviously require a lot of pressure on your part. Again-causing premature wear. Based on what you posted that may be the cause. The only times I have seen this in the past with customers cars is due to them pulling up too hard on the lever or trying to stop with the lever. Cables stretch over time and require adjustment. At 14k miles though it would seem to be a tad early provided the parking brake was treated nicely. The loud noise you heard could have been something like a brake lining that broke loose during your testing. I would have it checked out asap.

gsobol

The loud noise happens EVERY TIME I pull the lever, approx 2/3 of the way up (easy pull - no pressure, no yanking). Again this is at low speeds 10-20 mph, no power (foot off the gas). I do not use the hand break to slow the car while in motion, only use it for parking. This is something I have noticed while testing. And I also think that cable stretch in 5,000 miles (remember I had the hand break checked and adjusted at approx 9,000 miles) is a little weired.

P.S. I forgot one more thing, I hear the loud noise, but no effect (the car does not slow down)

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Well, which is it? First you state that it happens every time, then you state only while vehicle is going 10-20mph, then you state that you do not use the lever to slow it down. You leave us confused. First off, the lever is not to be used while vehicle is in motion-period. Never. It is not designed for this under any circumstance yet you keep asking why your having problems doing this. Then you cannot seem to understand why it is prematurely wearing out.
As for the noise, I could not tell you other than what has already been posted and I am not sure how many here actually go out and try to stop their GX with the parking brake that could provide additional information.
Under normal operating conditions-what you describe is not normal-but your GX is not being driven normally.

gsobol

OK, to alleviate the confusion (sorry if I didn't make it clear before)

I use the hand break exclusively for parking. I have noticed that the lever was very loose. Took it to get it adjusted (9,000 mile mark). Used it for parking until noticed that the lever became loose again (14,000 mile mark). TESTED the hand break in following conditions:

1. neutral, engine off, hand break on, flat surface - can push the car forward.
2. (from full stop, up a small hill) trans. in drive, hand break on, foot off the break and gas - slow trans. creep - car moves forward
3. while in motion, slow speed (10-20 mph), foot off the gas - loud noise (every time lever is pulled - 2/3 of the way), no slow down.

The loud noise (BANG) happens ONLY while in motion, and I only noticed it when I decided to test it. This is not something I do every day, or year for that matter. Something that came up during troubleshooting.

Again, I don't want to be a pest, but I do drive the car normally, I do not use the hand break to slow down my car, I do use it while in parking like it was intended to. No, I do not yank on the lever excessively - that simply would not be possible since it's so loose anyway.

I just thought that what I have described was weird and wanted to find out if others had the same experience with their GXs. It's impossible to troubleshoot anything unless you can compare the results or symptoms.

Thanks for being patient with me.

cmarshack

The parking brake is a drum brake that sits inside of the rear rotor on this vehichle. It sounds to me like you must have had a tensioner spring inside the drum come off or brake. When you pull the brake lever, one side of the drum mechanism tries to engage and the other half does not because it is no longer attached to the other...this would probably cause a nice loud noise and leave you with no stopping power (parking/holding power for those who would never think to use it to stop their car-even in the unlikely event that their brakes failed).

Just a thought...either way it's not working properly and I would take it to the dealer.

Mine works well to both hold the car while in park and to slow the vehichle at speed-I only know this because I have a subconsoius habit of pulling the "e-brake" to slow the vehichle when I see a CHP in my rear view. It does slow the car...although I know that is not the intended use.