Parking brake fault - MME bricked in garage

[dobdobdob]

OK, my turn to be facing the dreaded "Parking brake fault", and it just got nasty.

Alert was on/off for a few days, and though annoying, I could drive and actually hear the brake disengage when pressing the P button.
I knew I had to get this checked, and the dealer was scheduled next week. I was thinking it'd be related to TBS 22-2143 or 21-2206, and hopefully it could be properly fixed.

Alas, this morning, when trying to back out of my garage, the car wouldn't bulge because the parking brake was stuck.
Now, I'm in deep doo-doo. I'm afraid I'll face the same problems as @Parasmoney (post).
My 12V isn't dead, so the car starts, but I cannot move it out of there because the freaking emergency brake is completely stuck.
How am I gonna get it to be towed? I'm afraid that if I back up to hard, I'll ruin my brakes or something.

About the cause, sure, it's been crazy cold up here, but the MME was in a warm garage all night, so no.
I've tried to clean around the brakes and yesterday, I had even gone to drive the piss out of it, as @Crilly suggested.

I've read a bunch of threads about this issue but apart from some having a part replaced, there doesn't seem to be a definitive solution to this.
@kdryden99 (poor you who had to deal with a damaged car on top of that), @GrumblesTheDog, @MorsRedigo, @bdesatnik, @tuminatr and many others who had to deal with this crap, what do you guys think?

Good God, I thought dealing with a faulty PAAK was annoying, but now I'm really pissed.
Maybe not as much as @stvhull (post) , but pissed about Ford's reliability.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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[kdryden99]

OK, my turn to be facing the dreaded "Parking brake fault", and it just got nasty.

Alert was on/off for a few days, and though annoying, I could drive and actually hear the brake disengage when pressing the P button.
I knew I had to get this checked, and the dealer was scheduled next week. I was thinking it'd be related to TBS 22-2143 or 21-2206, and hopefully it could be properly fixed.

Alas, this morning, when trying to back out of my garage, the car wouldn't bulge because the parking brake was stuck.
Now, I'm in deep doo-doo. I'm afraid I'll face the same problems as @Parasmoney (post).
My 12V isn't dead, so the car starts, but I cannot move it out of there because the freaking emergency brake is completely stuck.
How am I gonna get it to be towed? I'm afraid that if I back up to hard, I'll ruin my brakes or something.

About the cause, sure, it's been crazy cold up here, but the MME was in a warm garage all night, so no.
I've tried to clean around the brakes and yesterday, I had even gone to drive the piss out of it, as @Crilly suggested.

I've read a bunch of threads about this issue but apart from some having a part replaced, there doesn't seem to be a definitive solution to this.
@kdryden99 (poor you who had to deal with a damaged car on top of that), @GrumblesTheDog, @MorsRedigo, @bdesatnik, @tuminatr and many others who had to deal with this crap, what do you guys think?

Good God, I thought dealing with a faulty PAAK was annoying, but now I'm really pissed.
Maybe not as much as @stvhull (post) , but pissed about Ford's reliability.

Any advice would be appreciated.

its most likely the corroded connector on the ebrake, a lot mme's had this issue and its a known issue. get it towed. your issue sounds like the first ebrake issue i had

 

[astrorob]

probably the tow truck guy will have to use 4 of these to jack the car up and move it out of the garage...

https://www.harborfreight.com/1250-lb-capacity-vehicle-positioning-wheel-dolly-61917.html

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

A little late now but for the future maybe…
If having any faults, back into the garage. Makes it much easier to get it out by tow truck.

 

[kdryden99]

not 4 dollys just 2 for the rear wheels. once on the dollys you should be able to drive it out and the tow truck will have to winch it onto the flatbed

 

[generaltso]

not 4 dollys just 2 for the rear wheels. once on the dollys you should be able to drive it out and the tow truck will have to winch it onto the flatbed

Drive it with the rear wheels on dollies? I sure wouldn't recommend that.

 

[kdryden99]

Drive it with the rear wheels on dollies? I sure wouldn't recommend that.

The rear wheels are locked, they cant spin unless its just one side thats locked than you have no choice

 

[Hammered]

dolly not needed, just a little plastic skate. It's that simple.
https://www.amazon.com/Skates-Wrecker-Rollback-Carrier-Safety/dp/B07CDDNKD5

 

[dobdobdob]

Thanks for your tips, guys. We'll see what the tow truck guy comes up with.
I just hope the dealer will understand that by not seeing us right away like we asked (back when we could still drive), they'll take the responsibility of towing the car.

Also, I'd be crazy to try and force it to back out of the garage now that the wheels are locked, right?
Guess I'd risk ruining the disks, wheels or even the whole axle.

Anything I could do to try and disengage the brake? Thing is, I don't even know if it's "physically" jammed or if this has to do with the connector or even the software of the car.

I'm afraid the road trip I had planned this week will be a no-go...

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

If the brake is locked the parking brake requires electric current to disengage. If the wires/connectors have gone bad, there really isn’t a way to get a signal to them and tell them to disengage. You can’t even put it into brake service mode if the circuit is interrupted. I’m afraid that tire is locked until a new wire harness is attached.

 

[dobdobdob]

But when I push the button to disengage the brake, I actually hear the normal noise of something moving there.
So my guess is that there is some form of current that goes all the way to the parking brake.
Why it won't disengage, beats me.

And again, I'm afraid I'll destroy the brake module if I try and force the wheels to move.

 

[lanebk]

I had this issue. I managed to get it into neutral and out of the garage before the brakes locked up for good. The tow truck backed up to the front of the car and wheeled it slowly up the ramp until reaching the rear wheels. The driver then put these plastic sleds under the back wheels and pulled it the rest of the way up.

Unfortunately for me, replacing the park brake actuator didn't fix the issue. They ended up replacing the rear drive assembly. They replaced the 12. Battery too because they'd drained it too much. Took a month before I got it back.

I contacted Ford and they helped expedite parts and ensured I had a loaner. They also ended up crediting g my first payment since I'd only had my car 2 days when this happened.

 

[dobdobdob]

I had this issue.

Unfortunately for me, replacing the park brake actuator didn't fix the issue. They ended up replacing the rear drive assembly. They replaced the 12. Battery too because they'd drained it too much. Took a month before I got it back.

I contacted Ford and they helped expedite parts and ensured I had a loaner. They also ended up crediting g my first payment since I'd only had my car 2 days when this happened.

Holy guacamole! Can't believe it got that intense! All of that because of a failure in an EPB, what?!

 

[lanebk]

I'm guessing the park brake was a symptom of a bigger problem. Although, entirely possible they broke something else when they fixed the brake. I'll never know.

 

[dobdobdob]

Quick update: MME was towed, not too much of a hassle to get it out of the garage.

Dealership confirmed it was a damaged connector. Apparently, this issue is getting more and more common, and Ford has a hard time keeping up.

Part was ordered but will take 4 days to get here. Other dealers in Eastern Canada had it, but they keep them for their own customers and just won't sell them.

Should be ready next week. In the meantime, stuck with the service loaner. Man, I had forgotten what a drag it is to drive an ICE car...

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