# Parking Brake Lever Too High



## Jaycruze (Jul 11, 2011)

I noticed this when I first got my Cruze as well. But I think what the mechanic said is true, Mine no longer has any issue's it holds the car pretty good.

Maybe try yanking on it a few times to let it tighten on its own.

Also I think the adjustment part is either in the rear brakes or under the car somewhere?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Sophie,

How many miles on your Cruze? If you still have this problem after 1,000 miles or so then have your dealership adjust the rear brakes and then adjust the parking brake cable. It must be done in this order. In the meantime, pull the handle up everytime you park your car to get the cable to seat in as well as possible.

Mike.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Sophie2208 said:


> My parking brake lever comes up too high and I really have to pull it hard in order for it to hold my car. If I pull out the lid on my console to use it as a arm rest and forget to put it back in place before engaging the hand brake it will hit it. The other day I hit it pretty hard so this can't be normal.
> I brought it to my dealership and the mechanic looked into it. They then told me it was self adjusting and that it would set itself with time.
> Am I the only one with this problem? And does anyone know if there is an adjusting nut on the lever? Because if so, it would make sens why they don't want to adjust it because that would mean removing the whole center console. I have a feeling if I wasn't under warranty this would of been fixed on the spot....


There are several posts about this issue already. It is seemingly normal. Read Xtreme Revolution's tips on how to adjust the rear brakes. It will address the issue. The rear brake is not real well adjusted from the factory. Once adjusted, the parking brake will work fine and probably not hit the console any more. It is not a warranty issue it is an adjustment issue(like the headlights). There is no cable adjustment it is done by removing the rear drum and adjusting the rear brake shoes by turning the star wheel.


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## Jaycruze (Jul 11, 2011)

Hmmm so you're saying that after properly adjusting your brakes you don't have to pull your parking lever through the roof anymore?

maybe I need to adjust mine lol... i miss my old civic where i barely had to pull the thing at all. nice n tight.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

had my dealer adjust mine, still higher than I am used to but I no longer have to pull all the way to armrest to catch.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

Maybe I should of phrase this differently.. I've read all of your post on adjusting the rear brakes (very nicely done by the way) but that is not quite the issue I'm having. I know how it can be fixed but I don't understand why my mechanic says he can't or won't. I just bought it 3 weeks ago, it's got 1064 km on it. It hasn't improve a bit since the first week and I use it every day several times a day as I have a manual transmission. I don't want to start messing with my brakes and then have issue with my warranty. I feel they should be the one fixing what the factory clearly messed up. I regret not noticing this before signing, with the excitement of it all....


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

I suspect the mechanic wants you to use the parking brake more before adjusting anything, If he fixes it now then the cable stretches he will just have to do it again. 

I would complain again & tell them that you should not have to pull the parking brake up so high to catch, unfortunately sometimes it takes more than one complaint to actually get something done.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

spacedout said:


> I suspect the mechanic wants you to use the parking brake more before adjusting anything, If he fixes it now then the cable stretches he will just have to do it again.
> 
> I would complain again & tell them that you should not have to pull the parking brake up so high to catch, unfortunately sometimes it takes more than one complaint to actually get something done.


Adjust the brake shoes and I guarantee no more problem. If the mechanic/dealership does not want to adjust the rear brakes correctly: 1 Do it yourself or go to a different dealer/mechanic. There is no reason to stretch the cable if you can really do that. You would be more likely to break than stretch the cable. As I said we have already discussed this and adjustment is the solution!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Sophie, does your car nosedive when you hit the brakes hard? It shouldn't. At 1000 KM this is definitely a warranty issue, regardless of what your dealership says.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

Thank you, that's what I needed to hear! I PM'd the Chevy Customer service, next call is going to be directly to GM. If all fails I'll have to call the Consumer protection agency. I do not feel it's right for them to do nothing and for some people to have to resort to fixing it themselves. If it's easier for you and you feel comfortable doing so, it's your choice. But I'm a woman with limited mechanical skills, I don't want to mess something up and I don't think it's fair for me to pay for another mechanic to fix it when my warranty should cover this. Frustrating when you pay for something (in this case, pay ALOT of money) and you have to resort to this to get something so simple fixed. Anywho thanks guys!


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Jaycruze said:


> Hmmm so you're saying that after properly adjusting your brakes you don't have to pull your parking lever through the roof anymore?
> 
> maybe I need to adjust mine lol... i miss my old civic where i barely had to pull the thing at all. nice n tight.



An adjustment will take care of it. My Civic was the same way and I don't know what year you had but mine was in front by my right leg but it had little travel also.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Sophie2208 said:


> Thank you, that's what I needed to hear! I PM'd the Chevy Customer service, next call is going to be directly to GM. If all fails I'll have to call the Consumer protection agency. I do not feel it's right for them to do nothing and for some people to have to resort to fixing it themselves. If it's easier for you and you feel comfortable doing so, it's your choice. But I'm a woman with limited mechanical skills, I don't want to mess something up and I don't think it's fair for me to pay for another mechanic to fix it when my warranty should cover this. Frustrating when you pay for something (in this case, pay ALOT of money) and you have to resort to this to get something so simple fixed. Anywho thanks guys!


I agree entirely. There is no reason why anyone should have such problems with a car. I had trouble with of all things:floor mats when I bought my car. It took 3 months and going thru Chevy Cust service to get it taken car of. The service dept where I bought the car tried to avoid the issue until I went over their heads to call Customer Service. Finally the salesman that sold me the car got wind and had me come down and did what I asked the Service Dept do take the mats out of another car on the lot. The floor mats in the car I bought were swapped in a dealer trade and did not fit the hold down snaps. For my trouble GM gave me $100 for service that I ended up using to buy a new wheel and tire to replace the one I destroyed with a fire hydrant. All I know it is unnecessary for people to go thru so much when they buy such a large purchase as a car!!!! Esp new!!!! And they wonder why people buy foreign cars where they don't give customers the 3rd degree to fix something!!!!! 
I hope all is corrected quickly for you. 

Good luck 
Patman


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Sounds like something I'll have to bring up with Tom M. at the Lordstown assembly plant soon. 

I'll create a new thread for this.

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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Sophie2208 said:


> Thank you, that's what I needed to hear! I PM'd the Chevy Customer service, next call is going to be directly to GM. If all fails I'll have to call the Consumer protection agency. I do not feel it's right for them to do nothing and for some people to have to resort to fixing it themselves. If it's easier for you and you feel comfortable doing so, it's your choice. But I'm a woman with limited mechanical skills, I don't want to mess something up and I don't think it's fair for me to pay for another mechanic to fix it when my warranty should cover this. Frustrating when you pay for something (in this case, pay ALOT of money) and you have to resort to this to get something so simple fixed. Anywho thanks guys!


This is a 15 minute adjustment for anyone who knows what they're doing. It actually takes less time than an oil change.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

obermd said:


> This is a 15 minute adjustment for anyone who knows what they're doing. It actually takes less time than an oil change.


I understand what you mean, it's an easy fix. But I want them to fix it, which is what they should of done and should do. They give you a waranty, they should uphold it.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Sophie2208 said:


> I understand what you mean, it's an easy fix. But I want them to fix it, which is what they should of done and should do. They give you a waranty, they should uphold it.


I think this is a case where your dealership simply isn't competent enough to fix your problem and you need to find another dealership. I would highly recommend contacting GM customer support as well and have a case on file with them. 

This is potentially a safety issue. If the hand brake doesn't perform its job and the car rolls backward or forward when someone is nearby, it could be bad. 

First thing I would do is contact GM customer support about it. They'll make sure the issue gets resolved.

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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

I had the issue with the parking brake handle hitting the console lid but only when the lid was in the forward position. Manually adjusting the rear brake shoes will fix it and also keep the brake pedal from going so low. The factory service manual gives a procedure for performing the adjustment but it's possible to do it by feel and sensing the drag while spinning the drum by hand. It's too bad the automatic self adjusters leave so much free play and it's also a bad design that requires removal of the drum to access the star wheel.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

An update for anyone who's interested. So I called GM and at first the attendant told me the same a some of you told me, that is to go at another dealership. When I told her I didn't feel it was fair to make me drive an hour (closest dealership is an hour away) to get it fixed, she then changed her mind. She open a case number for me and is going to give them a call hopefully on Monday *fingers crossed*. I can't wait to put all of this behind me and just enjoy my Cruze!!


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

@patman: wow! 3 months??? that's crazy! I agree with you on the foreign car. My friends has had issue with her civic, she called got it fixed right away, no questions asked. Another one at Hyundai, no questions, fixed. Chevy is going to have to keep a closer eye on their dealerships. Those few dealership who are being difficult is going to ruin Chevy's reputation. Sad really, because the Cruze is a good little car :/


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Sophie2208 said:


> An update for anyone who's interested. So I called GM and at first the attendant told me the same a some of you told me, that is to go at another dealership. When I told her I didn't feel it was fair to make me drive an hour (closest dealership is an hour away) to get it fixed, she then changed her mind. She open a case number for me and is going to give them a call hopefully on Monday *fingers crossed*. I can't wait to put all of this behind me and just enjoy my Cruze!!


Good luck.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

I am so frustrated with GM Canada at this point, it's not even funny. I called on Sept 14th and she said she was going to "hopefully" call the next Monday. After trying to call back this Monday and Tuesday, she wasn't available. I call back this morning, and she tells me she is going to give them a call....what?!?! She was supposed to do that over a week ago!!!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Call daily. 800-263-3777. Also, if you can, record the calls. If you don't get resolution after a week of daily calling, I would strongly recommend calling the Canadian consumer protection people and filing a complaint.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

Not impressed with GM Canada. Finally got a hold of my Costumer service attendant today, she said she had called my dealership and left a message and that they never called her back (but she was supposed to call me back and never did! so I'm in no way believing her). So when I talked to the service manager today, they said that they had called GM 3 times and didn't get a call back. So the final story is that GM does not give them any instructions on how to adjust the hand brake lever other than the adjustment in the drums (which apparently was done the last time I was there). They say that that's how the car is built and that it's normal. But they took it in today and are going to check it again tomorrow morning first thing. So stinky rental it is for today...I miss my Cruze


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Sophie2208 said:


> Not impressed with GM Canada. Finally got a hold of my Costumer service attendant today, she said she had called my dealership and left a message and that they never called her back (but she was supposed to call me back and never did! so I'm in no way believing her). So when I talked to the service manager today, they said that they had called GM 3 times and didn't get a call back. So the final story is that GM does not give them any instructions on how to adjust the hand brake lever other than the adjustment in the drums (which apparently was done the last time I was there). They say that that's how the car is built and that it's normal. But they took it in today and are going to check it again tomorrow morning first thing. So stinky rental it is for today...I miss my Cruze


Who do they have working at the dealership? Trained monkeys? Last I remembered, adjusting the rear drums correctly automatically adjusts the handbrake lever unless something else is broken.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Who do they have working at the dealership? Trained monkeys? Last I remembered, adjusting the rear drums correctly automatically adjusts the handbrake lever unless something else is broken.


They're saying that they did the adjustment in the rear drums. So if that didn't affect the position of the lever than there must be a slack in the cable. Maybe the adjuster is loose, maybe the cable is defective, I don't know. I'm eager to see what they find out tomorrow. They are supposed to open up the whole thing to expose the hand brake lever. Hopefully they'll figure it out, because in no way should a hand brake engage any higher than this (even this is high but it's a faulty design I suppose): http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/assets_c/2011/09/Cruze handbrake-thumb-717x477-100261.jpg


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Once the drums are adjusted, any remaining excessive hand brake motion before engaging is almost always cable. Almost every car has a cable adjuster for this purpose. Hand brake cables do stretch over time, which is why there is a cable adjuster.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

Finally, the hand brake is FIXED!! This conclusion of event deserves a giant *facepalm*. They fixed it by doing what they apparently did the first time, which is what everyone here have also been saying......*drum roll*.....they adjusted the rear drums!!! taddah! I can't help but laugh at this point, at least now it's fixed and I can now say I'm 100% satisfied with my Cruze. Thanks to everyone for your help!


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Sophie2208 said:


> Finally, the hand brake is FIXED!! This conclusion of event deserves a giant *facepalm*. They fixed it by doing what they apparently did the first time, which is what everyone here have also been saying......*drum roll*.....they adjusted the rear drums!!! taddah! I can't help but laugh at this point, at least now it's fixed and I can now say I'm 100% satisfied with my Cruze. Thanks to everyone for your help!


I'd ask for several free oil changes on account of the fact that they blatantly lied to you and didn't actually adjust the rear drums when they said they did the first time. That's just pathetic.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Sophie, if there is another dealership that you can use, switch. Unless you have a long successful track record with this dealership which would indicate this is just someone having a stupid moment, this dealership has already proven they can't handle simple jobs. The servicing dealership can make or break your ownership experience.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

obermd said:


> Sophie, if there is another dealership that you can use, switch. Unless you have a long successful track record with this dealership which would indicate this is just someone having a stupid moment, this dealership has already proven they can't handle simple jobs. The servicing dealership can make or break your ownership experience.


The closest dealership is an hour away, not worth it. They apologized for the miss communication. They really did adjust it the first time, just wasn't done right. The service manager was on vacation at that time so this time it was done under his supervision. Goes to show, his mechanic cannot work under no supervision! Hopefully this is the last time I have to go through so much trouble for something so trivial!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I'm just glad you got it fixed. Rear brakes out of adjustment will also cause premature front brake wear. Maybe the mechanic who did it the first time is new and simply needs more time working with an experienced mechanic.


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## Jaycruze (Jul 11, 2011)

Hey Sophie,

After the fix, how far up does your parking brake handle go now? and can you feel a big difference when hitting the brakes now?




Sophie2208 said:


> The closest dealership is an hour away, not worth it. They apologized for the miss communication. They really did adjust it the first time, just wasn't done right. The service manager was on vacation at that time so this time it was done under his supervision. Goes to show, his mechanic cannot work under no supervision! Hopefully this is the last time I have to go through so much trouble for something so trivial!


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

Jaycruze said:


> Hey Sophie,
> 
> After the fix, how far up does your parking brake handle go now? and can you feel a big difference when hitting the brakes now?


I'll take a picture tomorrow to show you a little better. But basicly if you pull out le lid of the center console all the way forward, I would say it's a little over half an inch from the lid. Before it used to hit it and push it back. As far as my brakes go they were fine to begin with and it didn't make any considerable difference.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

On my ECO MT having my rear drums adjusted resulted in my parking brake engaging just over half way up the pull to the center console. Before the adjustment it pulled all the way up.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Sophie2208 said:


> I'll take a picture tomorrow to show you a little better. But basicly if you pull out le lid of the center console all the way forward, I would say it's a little over half an inch from the lid. Before it used to hit it and push it back. As far as my brakes go they were fine to begin with and it didn't make any considerable difference.


Your brake cable has stretched and needs to be shortened using the cable adjuster. As for your brakes, you would notice a big difference during hard braking.


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## Jaycruze (Jul 11, 2011)

I think mine goes just a little over half.. 65% i guess.

I'm gonna check my rear brakes anyway.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

@Jaycruze : So this is after the fix. It's still a little high but I don't mind at all because it's super easy to engage and it doesn't hit the center console after the lid is pulled forward.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Sophie,

Assuming the first pic is before and second is after I'd say you're good. The second pic is about where my handbrake pulls to.


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

obermd said:


> Sophie,
> 
> Assuming the first pic is before and second is after I'd say you're good. The second pic is about where my handbrake pulls to.


Not quite, these are only after pictures. There's a picture with the center console lid pulled out and the other when it's not


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