EPB/Auto Hold lights steady, Brake light flashing

[zeez]

Hi All,

1st, thanks for reading this! My issue is that when I parked to get gas I hit pulled the EPB switch, filled gas as usual turned on the car and I was stuck. I could shift into D or R just fine but the car wasn't moving easily as the parking brake was engaged.

I tried switching the car on/off and no luck

I tried pushing the parking brake switch forward/in and no luck

I tried turning the car off, taking my foot off the brake and pushing the ignition button twice to get to "on" without starting the engine, pushing the brake in and pushing the EPB button in and no luck.

I tried toggling the auto-hold button and that got the EPB/Auto Hold lights to be steady on in Orange. The Parking Brake light flashes. If I push in the EPB button the Parking Brake flashing stops but the other two lights remain on.

I tried finding the right fuse(s) to disconnect but it seems they are in the engine compartment and hidden inside a fuse block (forgive my ignorance; I may not be explaining this correctly) that is bolted/screwed into the fuse box. I didn't have a socket wrench so I couldn't undo the screw.

I tried disconnecting the battery and to my annoyance I found that all that did was make my trunk lid not close with the push of a button. None of my date/time/radio settings seemed to have been lost. The trunk eventually did work after I (gently) forced it closed.

Given it was Sunday and the dealership was closed, I opted to try drive home relatively slowly as I wasn't too far. It seemed to get better and I thought I was done, but the next day it was stuck again.

Unfortunately, I am a chronic reverse parker and I am parked on an upper floor and I do not think a tow truck can fit up the ramp. Even if I am to take this to the dealership I am going to have to drive the car again and I am concerned about the brakes, the rotors and, given the EPB seems to lock the back wheels, the fact that this is a RWD car has me extra worried.

Do I need to unscrew that fuse block to get at the EPB fuses or am I barking up the wrong tree? Are those fuses actually going to do anything? Is there some manual release similar to what I've seen on some other cars (use a tool to manually disconnect the parking brake through the trunk)?

Thanks again for your patience in reading the wall of text above.

 

[EdP]

Unfortunately, I am a chronic reverse parker and I am parked on an upper floor and I do not think a tow truck can fit up the ramp. Even if I am to take this to the dealership I am going to have to drive the car again and I am concerned about the brakes, the rotors and, given the EPB seems to lock the back wheels, the fact that this is a RWD car has me extra worried.

I have no clue what the real problem is but if you can drive it at all, just move it to where a town truck can get to it. Sounds like the parking brake may be frozen but you don't want to do more damage.

Perhaps someone else has a better idea.

 

[joegr]

Hi All,

...
Do I need to unscrew that fuse block to get at the EPB fuses or am I barking up the wrong tree? Are those fuses actually going to do anything? Is there some manual release similar to what I've seen on some other cars (use a tool to manually disconnect the parking brake through the trunk)?

Thanks again for your patience in reading the wall of text above.

No, removing any fuses would not help at all, in fact, that's one way to get into the condition you are in. The EPB uses a motor to set and to release the parking brake. Once it is set, the motor has to run the other way to release it. Removing power from the motor does not release it. How would that work? You wouldn't want your car to start rolling just because the battery went dead.
No, there is no intentional manual parking brake release. Tow trucks often carry wheel dollies that can be put under each rear wheel so that the car can be moved and pulled up onto a flatbed to take it for service.

 

[arcman]

If you feel like taking this on by yourself... Here's how I would do it. (first read the owners manual to fully understand the parking brake operation)

There's a couple ways to approach this. The tougher of the two is to pull the panel off below the switch and start checking if it has power and if it's sending power to both apply or release wires. It obviously sent power to apply but why is it not releasing.

Might be easier to remove the right rear wheel and fender liner and check if it's getting power to the EPB module

All power and communication to the EPB module is routed through connector FF02, which is shown below.





I would split that connector and with a voltmeter check across pins to see if there is voltage. It looks like the EPB uses quite a bit of current, so it uses two wires for both ground, two for the apply side and two for the release side. Checking at the connector that comes out of the body by the right rear seat, put the black probe on either pin 13 or 5 and the red lead on pin 4 or 6. If the switch is working properly, when you press it in, you should get 12v across those pins. If not, something upstream is broken or maybe the power to the switch isn't there because of a blown fuse.

If you are getting power to those pins, the EPB has most likely failed.

If you want out of this situation with the least amount of work, jack the car up and cut both cables from the EPB to each brake assembly. Your parking brake won't work but at least you can drive it. You will have to remove both wheels and rotors to remove the cables so they don't somehow come loose and interfere with things.

You can find used EPB's all day at junkyards online for under $100.

Edit... After another look at the schematic, also check pins 1 and 9 to ground on that connector so see if they are getting 12v full time. Those are the actual power supply wires. If no power, check those fuses in the fuse block under the hood. As 'Joegr' noted above... without power, the brake will not release.

 

[zeez]

Hi All, thanks so much for your replies and knowledge. Pulling the fuses was an idea that I had googled and found posted on a forum while I was stuck at the gas station and it looks like it was a good thing I didn't manage to do it. The thought process had been that whatever was controlling the EPB needed a reset, i guess.

Arcman, thank you for the detailed instructions/suggestions. I think I'm going to chicken out and have the dealership take a look first.

 

[G-619785]

All of this is silly! There is an emergency parking brake release in the trunk. Its easy and the instructions are in the manual.

 

[joegr]

All of this is silly! There is an emergency parking brake release in the trunk. Its easy and the instructions are in the manual.

No. Prior years did have this. However, 2015+ do not!