RTS Parking brake troubles

[forsheandi]

We are having trouble with our 2010 RTS parking brake. When the switch is pressed, nothing happens...well we can hear a small electronic squeel, but the brake will not engage. It used to be intermittent, but now won't engage at all.

Anybody else had this problem? Any thoughts?

Thanks

[NancysToy]

Parking brake cable is off the front drum. You will need to remove the right side body panels to put it bak on. BRP is working on a cure. There are several versions of home-grown cures on this forum.

[Bob Denman]

If you're handy with a wrench you can adjust it...
Crawl under the muffler (I'm almost serious!), and you can see the rear brake caliper. That round critter with the cable wrapped around it is the parking brake actuator. follow that back "over the top" and forward... you'll see a cable adjuster sitting there. Maybe you can loosen or tighten that a little bit to see if it'll actuate? Good luck!

There's a front drum too???

[ThreeFeet]

Just got mine fixed by the BEST WRENCH IN SPYDERDOM!!!!!! Lamont!!! Man can do ANYTHING!!!!! The front roller barrel has a groove in it for the brake cable. There's a little screw like barrell that is attached to the END of that cable and it is suposed to be in the groove crosswise to the other groove and it supposed to hold the cable in place; Problem is on the 10s that thing jumps out of it's groove. simple fix..... put it back!!! Problem is getting all the STUFF off the Right side AND getting it back on in the right place!!!! Always an interesting thing with SPYDERS!!! Have fun playing with your toy!!!

[Lamonster]

[NancysToy]

Just got mine fixed by the BEST WRENCH IN SPYDERDOM!!!!!! Lamont!!! Man can do ANYTHING!!!!! The front roller barrel has a groove in it for the brake cable. There's a little screw like barrell that is attached to the END of that cable and it is suposed to be in the groove crosswise to the other groove and it supposed to hold the cable in place; Problem is on the 10s that thing jumps out of it's groove. simple fix..... put it back!!! Problem is getting all the STUFF off the Right side AND getting it back on in the right place!!!! Always an interesting thing with SPYDERS!!! Have fun playing with your toy!!!

Happens on the '11s, too. Happened to mine at Maggie Valley, and I think it happened to Fred Rau on his way to Lamont's.

[GeoffCee]

Happens on the '11s, too. Happened to mine at Maggie Valley, and I think it happened to Fred Rau on his way to Lamont's.

I can FEEL that the cable has slackened off. When the Spyder was new a few months ago the cable didn't have any slack and it used to take the foot brake pedal down away from the sole of my right boot quite a distance. Now it still drops the brake pedal but it seems not as far as before. It's a noticable change which makes me wonder if the braking system will hold the weight of the RT on a hill.

[NancysToy]

I can FEEL that the cable has slackened off. When the Spyder was new a few months ago the cable didn't have any slack and it used to take the foot brake pedal down away from the sole of my right boot quite a distance. Now it still drops the brake pedal but it seems not as far as before. It's a noticable change which makes me wonder if the braking system will hold the weight of the RT on a hill.

The maintenance schedule on the Spyder includes adjusting the parking brake periodically. I doubt this is what you have noticed, though. The brake pedal will move slightly farther when the P-brake is applied, as the pads wear. It is easy to check if it will hold. Set the brake and try to push the Spyder (preferably in the garage). If it doesn't stay put, the brake definitely needs to be adjusted. Same goes if there is visible cable slack. The RT brake has a lot of allowance for wear, and needs less frequent adjustment than the RS, but if there is visible slack you probably need adjusting, cable lubrication, or both.

[GeoffCee]

Set the brake and try to push the Spyder (preferably in the garage). If it doesn't stay put, the brake definitely needs to be adjusted.

Thanks for the suggestion. We found it's impossible to move with two of us shoving. Fair enough, it's not a scientific braking test but it is reassuring. I'll still turn the wheels into the curb on a hill, though, better to be safe than sorry.

[forsheandi]

Turns out it was not the cable...the more I thought about it, I couldn't see how the cable could come off intermittently...seems like it would be either on or off. If it was off, then it follows that it would stay off. If on, then the problem had to be somewhere else, and it was.

The dealer found that a bullet connector had backed out enough to cause a poor connection between the switch and the wiring harness, which finally backed out enough to fail completely. Simple enough to fix once diagnosed.

Thanks for all your thoughts about what the problem could be. Here's another cause and solution to add the collective knowledge of this forum.

[scudrunner]

We decided to take the Spyder out to breakfast this morning. And possibly go on a 2 hour ride. Got all suited up, cranked up the beast and couldn't get the parking brake off. Last time, it was the module that controls the windshield up/down. Haven't taken the skin off yet to see if it's off the pulley or the module is fried again. Next weekend.