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Electronic parking brake problem


Joregan75
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Hi All

I drive a 2009 t27 Toyota Avensis saloon, I am having an issue with an alarm on the dash saying 'check parking breaking system' . Today I parked the car for 10 min and restarted the car this message appeared on the dash , I restarted the car and the alarm went , but after driving for another half hour the alarm came back when I parked and pressed the button to pull the handbrake .  The handbrake does seem to be working as in it is holding the car and releasing when I want it to , but there is a orange alarm light beside the park light on the dash and the park light keeps flashing . Also the normal humming sound of the electronic brake is sounding for alot longer than it did before while the brake is turning on . I did have new brake pads fitted around a month ago but everything was fine up until now .I am taking the car to my mechanic tomorrow but  I saw before people mentioning a brake actuator and how expensive it is to replace , I hoping it's not this as the handbrake seems to be working even while this alarm is showing . Anybody have any ideas.  

 

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I have a few basic ideas. Have the brakes checked to make sure everything has been assembled okay. Secondly, find an auto electrician who has the latest diagnostics or access to Techstream, to diagnose the reason why the EPB warning has been triggered. Also the diagnostics can remove the warning to see if the fault triggers the alarm again. 

You are aware the EPB does not like water, so deep puddles are best avoided, and the cable seals. 

Let's hope it is not the actuator!   

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Hi Konrad 

Thanks for your reply , unfortunately bad news , took it to two different mechanics and both ran independant diagnostics , and they confirmed the actuator is the problem , new one going in on Thursday morning .

On the plus side it explains why the car was so heavy on brake pads and why I have replaced 3 rear calipers over the past 2 years , the mechanic reckons the handbrake hasn't been releasing properly in a long while  .

For my trouble I have a nice bill coming my way.

 

15100839840381219680813.jpg

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Hi 

An update on the actuator, took the car down to Toyota garage to get the job done and yepee turns out it wasn't the actuator after all , a caliper pin had spit on the rear calipers , this stopped the handbrake from engaging fully on that side thus throwing up an actuator alarm . So the replaced the caliper pins on the rear and I get them to do the front caliper pins also as I assume they were all of the same age , total cost €300 , that's a massive saving of €1200 . 

So the lesson is even though the alarm says actuator it may not be that actually causing the error   .

😁🚗

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That is great news. I also have learnt something new. The EPB control unit detected a fault due to the poor movement and feedback. I did state to have the brakes checked to make sure everything has been assembled properly, and it turns out to be a broken part. it was too much of a coincidence that the brake fault happened not long after the brake replacement. I assume the pin had stress damage. At least the fix was a lot cheaper.  :thumbsup: 🚗🔧🔩

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Hi konrad 

Not sure if the pin was a stress fracture . But there was another twist in the tale , I had to get both passenger and drivers door replaced , there was a crack down along the seem of the doors , according to Toyota it's an flaw on the seem of the doors which causes a stress fracture over time , by all accounts it's on avensis between 2009 to 2012 , Toyota are replacing the doors free of charge . 

20171110_203154.jpg

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We are aware of the potential issue with the front doors (I had my driver's door done on my 2012 & Konrad has it on his car) however, I am a wee bit surprised that Toyota Ireland (where you don't even have the 5 year warranty) are replacing them foc on an 8 year old car. 

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My doors are not as bad as those. That is the worst I have seen. I used large washers to spread the load. I need to inspect the doors to see how they are.

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You can buy OBD Scanner and see what's the problem in the car's computer before taking any action may be a small problem and save a lot of money

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Hi Haitham

Thanks I'm awear of this, but the actuator showed up on two different scanners , it seems that any issue with the EPB throws up an actuator alarm on a scanner , but its only after further investigation you can't see the actual problem .

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  • 4 months later...

Hi Joregan,

How did you get on with the Actuator. I had a similar problem in 2014 and Toyota replaced at £1'500 and it has now gone again in 2018 and I am faced with another similar bill??

CPTOYOTA

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  • 5 months later...

Hi, I realise this is an older thread but I have the same issue - I recently changed the rear discs, pads And calipers on my 2009 Avensis Tourer D4D. It has a manual electric brake (ie, it does not automatically come on when the ignition is switched off), so in order to do this work myself, I simply switched the car ignition off when the handbrake was off, which allowed freewheeling of the rear wheels. I have changed endless brakes over the last 30 years but I'm stuck with the following problem - the 'Check Parking Brake' warning is coming on each and every time I use the EPB. If you turn off the ignition and re turn it on, it will clear the code and allow use of the EPB again, but only once each time. I have tried the OBD hack (12th and 4th pins short) but this does not work, neither does any holding in or pulling out of the EPB button. I took the car to an independent garage who could not clear the code, then I took it to Toyota who also could not clear the code. Instead they told me that the actuator had failed (but they could not tell me what was wrong with it) and that the cost to replace is upwards of £1000. 

I am not convinced the actuator has failed one bit, as it still works, on and off, albeit only once per ignition switch on. It seems that Toyota do not have a clue about this, other than to simply replace all parts, however, having read several threads on this, it looks like the ECU throws an EPB failure code at the slightest anomaly in the system, whether that be uneven braking, sticking calipers, broken pins, or just because its a cloudy day and it's feeling a bit down.

I am at a loss over this, I have checked over my work on replacing the calipers discs and pads and everything works as it should. I have watched the cables pull on both sides as someone else turns the EPB button on and off, and each time both wheels lock up and release as they should.  My next move was to completely strip both sides, regrease caliper slides etc, then re-bleed the rear calipers. Can someone PLEASE shed any light on this?? It is too much of a coincidence that the actuator has failed just after I changed the brakes, but no matter what I do, I cannot stop this failure code from showing! I'm determined to fix this without paying £1000+ for an item that I just know is not broken.

Anyone pleeeeeaaaase.................!!! Thanks!!! (-:

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  • 9 months later...

Late to this party I know but I had the same issue as BooBoo2, with my 2011 2.2 D4D with manual EPB. The symptom was, if the EPB was activated with the brake pedal depressed, for example on a hill start, the message "release parking brake" appeared. Release was very slow, followed by "check parking brake" on the next actuation. After checking and re-checking the fit and bleed, I noticed that the hole on the parking brake actuator lever on the (pattern) replacement caliper was slightly oversized and a loose fit on the pin. I swapped out the actuator lever for the one of the old caliper and the system then worked fine.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi I known this is an older thread but I have a very similar problem with my Avensis 2010. The same message comes up  "check parking brake system". Four different mechanics have tried to find what the fault is but no luck. Finally I brought it to a Toyota dealership and they concluded that it can only be the Actuator (not 100% sure, process of elimination) which, including fitting and VAT, would cost 1590.00 Euro to replace. I then bought a second hand Actuator (which was tested and working) for 150Euros and brought it back to Toyota who fitted it for 260+vat but unfortunately they were unable to program this Actuator onto the cars computer. Have now failed my NCT and consequently my Insurance will be cancelled and I have wasted a load of money and time. Absolutely sick about this as the parking brake is working perfectly, no one can tell me what exactly is wrong with it and there may very well be problems programming in a brand new one. This stupid message on the dash has rendered a perfectly good car useless! Are Actuators a common problem in Toyotas? If so why haven't they done something about it. Anyone out there with any ideas?

Cheers

 

 

 

 

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Hi Declan, welcome to TOC 🙂

Is it only the "check parking brake" warning light on or others (e.g. VSC on too)?

There are so many interlinked systems on modern cars that a fault in something can have a knock on effect & manifest as a warning light for something that you would think unrelated.

EPB actuators are not a common problem but nor are they unknown, particularly on early Avensis T27s which were the first European Toyotas to get EPBs. It's the way that the whole industry is going though & other brands (e.g. VAG group)  appear to have had it worse.

If it is just the actuator then Devon Aygo or Konrad may be able to help.

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As Scott has said the EPB is actually quite robust, but if treated badly, the seals are faulty letting water in, or the unit goes faulty, you are very unlucky. My car is 10 years old, and all the issues I have had have been one self inflicted, or human error. 

The first time was when the clutch was changed and the gear position sensor was not connected securely. That was diagnosed by a friend. Since then I have passed on this info to another member who had the same issue. The other time was when I used the wrong diagnostic tool to reset the EPB, but end up erasing zero point settings for clutch and G-sensor. This was after replacing the rear brake pads after the previous set had not been installed correctly, and I decide to follow a procedure that failed. Fixed that by using Techstream. 

If you read the posts above and others, the faults turned out to be a caliper pin, and I think a seized caliper. 
Read this - 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/8/2018 at 1:47 PM, Booboo2 said:

Hi, I realise this is an older thread but I have the same issue - I recently changed the rear discs, pads And calipers on my 2009 Avensis Tourer D4D. It has a manual electric brake (ie, it does not automatically come on when the ignition is switched off), so in order to do this work myself, I simply switched the car ignition off when the handbrake was off, which allowed freewheeling of the rear wheels. I have changed endless brakes over the last 30 years but I'm stuck with the following problem - the 'Check Parking Brake' warning is coming on each and every time I use the EPB. If you turn off the ignition and re turn it on, it will clear the code and allow use of the EPB again, but only once each time. I have tried the OBD hack (12th and 4th pins short) but this does not work, neither does any holding in or pulling out of the EPB button. I took the car to an independent garage who could not clear the code, then I took it to Toyota who also could not clear the code. Instead they told me that the actuator had failed (but they could not tell me what was wrong with it) and that the cost to replace is upwards of £1000. 

I am not convinced the actuator has failed one bit, as it still works, on and off, albeit only once per ignition switch on. It seems that Toyota do not have a clue about this, other than to simply replace all parts, however, having read several threads on this, it looks like the ECU throws an EPB failure code at the slightest anomaly in the system, whether that be uneven braking, sticking calipers, broken pins, or just because its a cloudy day and it's feeling a bit down.

I am at a loss over this, I have checked over my work on replacing the calipers discs and pads and everything works as it should. I have watched the cables pull on both sides as someone else turns the EPB button on and off, and each time both wheels lock up and release as they should.  My next move was to completely strip both sides, regrease caliper slides etc, then re-bleed the rear calipers. Can someone PLEASE shed any light on this?? It is too much of a coincidence that the actuator has failed just after I changed the brakes, but no matter what I do, I cannot stop this failure code from showing! I'm determined to fix this without paying £1000+ for an item that I just know is not broken.

Anyone pleeeeeaaaase.................!!! Thanks!!! (-:

I have exactly the same problem.  I changed the rear calipers on my 2010 Avensis T4. The 'Check Parking Brake' warning is coming on each and every time I use the EPB. If I turn off the ignition and re turn it on, it will clear the code and allow use of the EPB again, but only once each time. I have tried holding in or pulling out of the EPB button but no luck. Any advice how you resolved this would be much appreciated.

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  • 1 month later...

I replaced the handbrake actuator with a second hand unit, the system seems to be working perfectly but there is a fault light saying some like part not compatible or recognised. Took it to Toyota and they aren’t interested, has anyone had any experience with reprogramming the actuator or clearing this fault 

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Actuall error message would be helpfull.

Are you sure it isnt just in need of calibration?

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Hi guys. I know it's an old thread but thought I'd just share anyway. I have a 2009 Avensis Estate with 215,000 miles. Electronic brake has never given me any problems except for at very random times when pulling away in 1st gear it won't disengage which leaves me stuck in traffic nearly dragging the back of the car. It's only happened about 4 times in 5 years I've had the car. The red parking brake light is off on the dash but the epb is still on. Then it releases a few seconds later. I've replaced pads, discs and calipers over the years due to normal wear and tear with no issues after reinstalling all the hardware. The car is getting a bit tired now but as a commuter it's fine. 

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Hi John, welcome to TOC & the Avensis forum in particular 🙂

Btw, I had the same experience on a few occasions on my last 2012 Avensis - so far not once on my 2017 (touch wood).

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As I am looking for a newer Avensis to replace my 08 TR can I ask what year did the fully automatic EPB come in i.e. putting the handgrake on automatically when the ignition is off? The EPB problem is a downside of a newer Avensis!

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Certainly by 2012 MY facelift. Other than the stupid position of the button by your left knee it's not really an issue especially on later cars (i.e. 2012 MY facelift on) - fear of failure seems to really outweigh actual failure rates although if they do go then the actuator is expensive (Toyota cs seems to look quite favourably on "goodwill" with many of these).

All medium & above sized cars seem to be going over to EPBs.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/12/2019 at 3:23 PM, Heidfirst said:

Certainly by 2012 MY facelift. Other than the stupid position of the button by your left knee it's not really an issue especially on later cars (i.e. 2012 MY facelift on) - fear of failure seems to really outweigh actual failure rates although if they do go then the actuator is expensive (Toyota cs seems to look quite favourably on "goodwill" with many of these).

All medium & above sized cars seem to be going over to EPBs.

Also with the auto version you don't need to use the EPB as much, unlike the manual version. I bought my car knowing some of the issues with the EPB, and learnt some new things, all documented above. Apart from the few with actuator faults, most of the issues are other components like the slider pins, seized pistons and bad installation of the pads. Add the gear position sensor not being connected after a clutch replacement, and using the wrong diagnostic device to wipe the zero point calibrations. 
I would check all the things mentioned before dealing with the actuator itself.  

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Question (maybe a stupid one but can't see the answer in the manual).

Which wheels are secured by the EPB?
Is it just the rear like in a manual hand brake or all wheels?

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