I ended up buying this 456GT: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=242063&highlight=runaway Interesting car that is now stuck in my driveway... The parking brake seems to be stuck on. When using the button, the lever falls to the floor and the brake stays on. The parking brake has worked over the last week I have owned the car, though with some increasing effort. Anyone have this problem? Any ideas? Image Unavailable, Please Login
That is how they work. You got an operator error problem perhaps? Try pressing button pulling up just past where you feel tension of the parking brake cable keep holding the button (you may even hear a click) then push it down to the floor. 3/4 of my Ferraris also needed to jiggle the handle on the floor to get the light to go off. Ferrari uses the worst light trigger on the face of the earth.
I meant that the button would not depress to release the brake as you pull the lever up to the tension. I had to take the whole thing apart - it was all gummed up inside. Some WD40 and a toothbrush fixed things right up; now it releases smoothly. Now on to that light...
Try pushing it to the left as you push the button on top. I have to do this every time I set the hand brake. By the way, I do not use it. 12 cylinders or walk
The problem is the hand brake adjuster mechanism which sticks and leaves the light on. The mechanism to adjust it is positioned dead centre of the car above the rear axle. You will need to get it on a ramp to access it and also remove the rear undertray to get decent spanner access (it can be domne without removing this panel but is a right pain!) Also get yourself some stainless steel nuts (m6 or 1/4), bolts and washers and replace all the screws and bolts which will inevitably be seized solid when you come to access it. If you jack up the rear of the car, with the hand brake off and out of gear the wheels should be able to turn. the hand brake operates a pair of shoes on the inside face of the drum housing on the rear discs (the pads are for normal braking, shoes are only for the hand brake). The cable adjustment for each pair of shoes is at the adjuster position. If the shoes have seized the culprit is normally the retaining ppin which holds the tensioner in place inside the drum, which snaps and the shoes stick on. I've modified mine to get rid of this. Also the switch itself has a very weak metal plate which distorts quite easily. to get to this remove the 2 self tapping screws either side of the hand brake cover and slide the cover forwards over the hand brake. The switch is at the rear of the hand brake mechanism and is adjustable. Andy
What works for me to release the handbrake: press the button and pull the lever all the way up and then push the lever down with your finger still on the button. It used to not release sometimes when I followed that procedure, but my mechanic adjusted it so that maximum tension occurred when the lever was only about halfway up the arc. From that time on, it's always made the light go off on the first try.
