# 1997 Toyota Avalon - Stuck parking brake - Any cheap way out?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-toyota-avalon-stuck-parking-brake-any-cheap-way-out/182131>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** brakes, toyota\
**Created:** [January 26, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-toyota-avalon-stuck-parking-brake-any-cheap-way-out/182131 "2022-01-26T17:42:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![anndee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@anndee](https://community.cartalk.com/u/anndee)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-toyota-avalon-stuck-parking-brake-any-cheap-way-out/182131/1 "2022-01-26T17:42:16Z")

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So brake light keeps coming on and brakes are find. Turns out the parking brake has rusted out and will not ‘disengage’ if used. Any affordable way to fix this issue?

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**Author:** ![weekend-warrior](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/weekend-warrior/32/26122_2.png) [@weekend-warrior](https://community.cartalk.com/u/weekend-warrior)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-toyota-avalon-stuck-parking-brake-any-cheap-way-out/182131/2 "2022-01-26T18:03:37Z")

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If you keep driving like this, you will burn up the rear brakes. you can cut the cable by the rear brakes to release the tension. then have the cable replaced.

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**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-toyota-avalon-stuck-parking-brake-any-cheap-way-out/182131/3 "2022-01-26T20:02:11Z")

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That depends on your definition of “affordable”. Yours probably differs from mine.

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-toyota-avalon-stuck-parking-brake-any-cheap-way-out/182131/4 "2022-01-26T22:22:17Z")

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> [@anndee](#):
>
> brake light keeps coming on and brakes are find

Where did you find them?  
Hopefully, you didn’t find them sitting on the pavement. 😉

Seriously, however, a parking brake is a very important component of your car, both as a way of preventing the vehicle from rolling away when parked, and also as a back-up emergency braking system.

Only you can decide whether the repair costs on a 25 year old vehicle are worthwhile.

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**Author:** ![Beancounter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/59ef9b/32.png) [@Beancounter](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Beancounter)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-toyota-avalon-stuck-parking-brake-any-cheap-way-out/182131/5 "2022-01-26T22:42:06Z")

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Get under the car and liberally spray PB Blaster or similar to the cable, E brake levers and tap the lever back into release position.

Apply E brakes and repeat until the the E brakes smoothly release and then apply silicone grease to the cable.

If this doesn’t work then take it to a competant mechanic.