Recently my trucks emergency brake handle has become extremely loose all the sudden and the "E-brake" sensor light activates on the dash frequently. When you pull the e brake up it feels like it has a ton of slack before it engages the actual brake...I guess the most obnoxious part is that for some reason it has been causing that light to go off and on all the time.

Anyone had similar issues? Is it a simple fix?

 

Because you say "pull up" the handle, I assume your E-brake handle is the one between the two front seats and not the one under the dash? I'm assuming 3rd Gen 4R, is it? More info would definitely help.

So anyways, first thing is to ensure your rear brakes are adjusted properly (if you have a 3rd gen with drum brakes, that is) Do a search if you need help with that part, cause it's been covered here extensively. If that checks out OK, then there should be an adjustment nut right below the E-brake handle (sort of hidden a bit). You can tighten it there so that you get it back to normal. Of course, if this has been a gradual loosening, my money's on poorly adjusted rear brakes (again, assuming you have drum brakes.)

 

GS, thanks for the input. You are right I should have mentioned my make/model...99 4runner sr5, 3.4l, 151,000 miles.

I think the breaks are alright, had them checked out not too long ago, I am going to try to access that bolt and tighten it up and see if that helps...if that was loose in the first place does it make sense that the sensor light would go off? Ehh, hopefully tightening the bolt will take care of it.

 

I have that problem whenever the temps go below freezing. My prob. is the rear cable freezes up overnight when engaged and I have to go uder the truck and pull on it to release the drums. PITA!! My light stays on because my return springs in the drums don't have the strength to free up the frozen cable, and it creates slack in the front cable by the adjuster. Good luck.

 

Dry off the linkages and give them a good coating of a rust preventative oil. I wouldn't use grease or anything thick. Might be time to replace the cables??

 

Well, I could not take it anymore so I spent the last hour fixing the E brake line. It seems that it was simply the need to tighten the bolt on the interior end of the cable, which was pretty easy to get to once you remove the shroud in the center console...the tricky part was tweaking it to the right tension amount so the handle was not too loose or too tight.

Thanks for the help!