Parking Brake Handle Stuck?

I have a 2003 Tacoma, 2.7L, A/T. I bought it used and didn't think to operate the parking brake before I bought it. A stupid mistake.

I brought it home and tried to set the brake by pulling on the handle and the handle barely moved until it hit a very hard stop. The parking brake lever the handle is attached to is actually quite loose: it can wiggle about a quarter of an inch very easily. But if you pull it that quarter of an inch towards you it makes a metallic 'clunk' sound and will not move any more to matter how hard you pull. Something is interfering with it's travel.

Has anyone experienced something like this? I'm not sure where to begin the investigation. Visually I can't see anything amiss.

The fact that the short range of motion it moves through has very little tension must be a clue. It's also annoying because any bump in the road can cause the handle to move just enough to turn on the parking brake dash light. You have to push the handle back in to turn off the light.

Any initial thoughts?

 

try lubing the components...there also should be a tensioner underneath that pulls it tight to disengage the brake light.

 

Cool, will do! The action feels smooth, it's a very definite hard stop. But it can't hurt to lube things. Is that tensioner in the cab or do I look for it under the truck?

 

You can see the cable underneath the truck also. There is a lever connecting the cable to another cable in the rear and the length can be adjusted there. I'm not sure if it's a problem under the dash or with the cable underneath.

It sounds like the previous owner never used the parking brake because it is an automatic. Of course the mechanism corrodes or seizes from non-use. And people don't realize the parking brake actuates the automatic adjustment of the rear drum brakes, so it's necessary to use it occasionally.

 

I just got back from crawling around under the truck. I found the adjuster. That central interconnection between the cables all looks fine. Yes, the previous owner must have never used the parking brake (which seems crazy to me... but regardless)...

The parking brake actuating levers on the rear brake drums are definitely seized from corrosion. I'll start working on them and if anything interesting comes of it I'll update the thread. Thanks for the help!