During the past week I have noticed an odd noise coming from what seems to outside the car. This occurs when I put the car into P and the automatic parking brake engages. About half the time I hear a brief (1-2 second) howling, squealing sound. From the driver’s seat it seems to definitely come from my side of the car … with the windows up it seems to be up front but with the driver window down it seems more centered. It does not occur when putting the car into gear and the brake releasing. I assume the electric parking brake is engaging only at the rear by design, though I don’t know which side it’s on.

I have a ‘22 ES350 UL with only about 7K miles. I’m taking her in for annual service in about a month, but I wondered if anyone has encountered something similar in the past.

 

i think its the driver's side and i hear this noise on many toyotas with the e parking brake. Not the *normal* parking brake noise, but an added secondary noise. I hear them in my neighborhood all the time and go "that doesn't sound right."

my guess is that there's a secondary squealy noise that develops later on in the car's life depending on conditions, grime, or whatever else. i'm guessing it is resolved by cleaning/lubrication but not sure.

can you post a sound clip/video? is it easily repeatable?

 

‘21 ES base w/premium bought last June & the day the salesman brought the car around for us to look at it it squonked like a trapped goose when he pulled up & put it in park. Done it on and off ever since. So couple weeks ago when I had it in for the 35k mile service I asked them to look at it. Didn’t find anything and hasn’t squonked since but I’m positive it will and I’ll get a video for proof & take it in again.

 

First of all, squonked is a hilarious word, and I'm stealing it.
Second, is that sound the auto parking brake engaging? I seem to recall folks saying that if the bits get dusty & dirty the noise will be more pronounced.

 

I’m pretty sure it’s the EPB. I haven’t tried engaging & disengaging the EPB manually to see if it occurs. On a side note they did resurface & replace pads on all 4 corners so maybe something they did fixed it.

 

I agree, it's the noise when you shift from or to Park, like here:
Hey I sent you a private message, I have a question regarding your brake, please check when you have a chance

 

Try to disable the EPB (with the engine running press and hold the EPB button down for three seconds) and then check if you hear the same noise.

 

good advice. I disabled mine, I don't live in a hilly area so it's pointless. And, it caused a weird vibration when driving. I don't know why it would be a factor, but it was.

 

Hasn’t made the noise since the brake job.

 

Personally I don't like my car rocking around upon entry/exit. If someone taps your bumper, it may cause undue stress to the transmission, even if it doesn't break it. And if you do happen to park on a hill and forget, that's undue stress on the parking pawl.