Turbinator

Looks like my parking brake is getting a little loose.. you know, you can pull up the handle and it takes more clicks than before to get the brake to engage.

Seems as if every time I wash the car, the parking brakes stick - you can release them but the car won't go anywhere. Only by rocking the car back and forth between D and R, do the brakes get unstuck.

When I went to move the car this time, I decided to try pulling the parking brake handle a little more, to see if the cable was getting stuck or not. In doing so, I think I may have loosened up the cable mechanism a little bit, and it probably needs to be re-tightened (but not too much, I'm sure).

I found this thread -

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...=parking+brake

And I found instructions here:

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums...howtopic=60303

The instructions, which appear to be generically for Lexus vehicles, are:

1a) jack up rear of car + chock front wheels
1b) seriously, chock the front wheels
2a) remove rear wheel
2b) put car in neutral, e-brake off
3) in the rear disc-drum there are a few 8mm access holes
4) turn one to the 6-o'clock position
5) you can now see the e-brake adjustment gear with a flashlight
6) use a screwdriver to adjust the e-brake gear until the disc-drum doesn't want to spin easily
7) repeat for other wheel

Car has to be held stopped by the e-brake up to 1300 RPM


Curious if anyone has practical experience adjusting the parking brake on the GX, and can offer any guidance or tips - other than bringing it to a dealer or mechanic. Seems like this is something that could be done on our own.

Thanks,
Turby

mann777

I have just done this recently and that is exactly what needs to be done, Added to that is prior to jacking up the rear wheel, ensure to have the height control switch to off. And then start the instructions as mentioned.

jditom

This procedure is similar to my Landcruiser which has a internal drum style brake inside the rear disc/drum. Three pair of brake pads (front, rear, inside rear e-brake). If true this is a nice system that Mercedes also uses. It means that if you have a major brake malfunction your e-brake will always work. I have done the above procedure on the LC and the hardest part was trying to figure out which way to turn the adjustment screw to push out the pads (up vs down). I think down pushes out?

Let us know how it turns out. You should never have to replace these pads unless you drive with your e-brake on all the time

LexyIS350

Beside adjusting through the access hole on the rear rotor, is there any other way to tighten the slack on the cable? Like where the cable meets the emergency brake handle? Granted this will probably be a more invasive procedure with disassembling the center console and all, it's good to know there are options.
Thanks

Turbinator

I was hoping there was an easier way to do this too, but I guess not. I did take a look around the center console, and unzipped the leather "boot" that wraps the parking brake handle. I peered in with a flashlight but could not see anything that looked like an adjustment up where the handle is. I traced the cable to the back two tires, the cable is entirely covered by a tube - good in my opinion so that the cable can't get easily cut by terrain or snagged by terrain. It does very much appear that I'll have to try taking the tires off, then looking around at the rear brakes to see what adjustments are there.

Thanks for the tips. As I feared, looks like the routine I found online is correct. This is a small issue for me because I don't yet have a floor jack or jack stands, and taking off the tires is going to be a big hassle.

Yeah, I don't think I have a problem with work e-brakes. My problem is that to solve my sticking parking brake issue, I probably yanked the handle too hard upwards, and introduced slack into the cable mechanism. I'd like to take some of that slack up now, because the handle used to be nice and tight - now it's a little loose and I can't stand that. The parking brakes do engage after 3 clicks, 4 clicks is not necessary. So, I think it's still working ok, just a little wobbly at the handle end.

I may end up asking the dealer if they could address it under warranty.

Turby

Turbinator

Got a quote from the dealer, $75 to check out the parking brakes and make adjustments. Just sharing the info with everyone. Haven't decided if I'll do it myself or bring it in, yet.

Turby

mann777

Turby use the Hyd Jack onboard which comes along all GX. You can raise one wheel at a time and do the job, that is how i did it. Only ensure to raise at the point where it mentioned as per the Owner's manual.

hammer0008

I just did mine and it is super easy. Jack it up, take off the wheel, take off the nipple in the disc, turn to the hole, stick in the screw driver and click click until it grabs the disc, let go 1 or 2 clicks to make the disc turn again...perfect. For some reason mine became very lose...hmmm.

Turbinator

Mann / Hammer, thanks for the comments and advice. I'll check it out myself, then!

Turby