Emergency Brake does not lock into place, any tips?
 

We just bought a 05 GX and I was messing with the dvd player to discover that the emergency brake does not lock into place. Any ideas as to where to begin to get this fixed? It is not under warranty and I will probably fix myself.

What exactly do you mean it doesn't lock into place? Is the e-brake not effective when engaged? or when you pull up on the e-brake handle do you not hear the ratchet and the handle doesn't stay in the up, engaged position?

correct I am not getting the ratchet to engage and keep the lever up.

Is the release button jammed/stuck?

Not that I can tell the button goes in and out pretty easily.

Looks like the button goes in and out slowly, any one else have this problem?

FYI, today I was playing with the parking brake and realized that yes the button is slow moving out after it has been pressed. Instead of pushing in the button and lifting the brake, I just simply lifted the brake handle and it stayed in place. I feel dumb but I wanted to feel the ratchet gears as it locked into place. Problem solved.

Good to hear its all solved. Prior owner could have spilled some type of sugary drink on it and it dried and got sticky around the button. Good cleaning might solve the button moving slowly.

I know you have the problem solved, or partly solved. You can obviously unzip the cover for more access for cleaning/ lubing. You can also remove the cup holder, see the post
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...up-holder.html

Thanks for the tip

I know this is an old thread, but I had the same problem described in this thread - my parking brake handle would not lock because the button was not freely moving. I could grab it with a wrench and move it, but even then it was difficult.

Per many suggestions on the web, I checked to make sure that the spring was not gummed up with soda. BTW, the button can be removed by unscrewing it; a wrench may be necessary. The spring was clean, so it wasn't my problem.

I then removed the cup holder and unzipped the leather parking handle boot so I could get a better view of the lower handle. I had light surface rust on the handle, so I suspect I had rust on the inside of the handle where the push rod engages the ratcheting mechanism. So I positioned the handle in the upright (locked) position, stuffed paper towels at the based of the handle, and sprayed WD-40 RUST RELEASE PENETRANT SPRAY into the hole midway on the handle (see highlighted in the image). My intent was to apply the WD-40 to the lower interior surfaces of the handle near the ratcheting mechanism, so the WD-40 straw applicator was inserted into the hole about an inch, and I sprayed a two second burst, and repeated it about five minutes later. Then, I left it overnight.

The next morning, it worked flawlessly. I was a bit surprised I didn't have to repeat the procedure, and that it worked as well as it did
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...d59b233924.jpg
.

I hope this helps others dealing with a sticking parking handle.

Worked perfectly
 

I sprayed WD-40 RUST RELEASE PENETRANT SPRAY into the hole on the parking brake sub-assembly (as described by MrJason) and it worked perfectly. Thanks!

credit goes to “Vgg659”... I just added to their description. Glad it worked for you too!!!