2001 4-Runner Parking Brake Stuck?

[Gh0s7]

Hello all!
I have done a massive search of Google, this site, and some other sites and have yet to find an answer. Anyway, my '01 SR5 4Runner is acting strange. My mileage is terrible and my emergency brake lever is entirely loose with no resistance until I pull it to a certain point. Also, there is a squeaking sound when I start to go forward. Thus, it makes me think that my parking brake is stuck, which really is not good. How would one go about fixing this personally or would it be best to take it to the dealer (ugh)? I also have a '91 4Runner and it had the same problem a few times over its lifetime. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Stick Figure]

MR2's are notorious for this .... if you live in an area that freezes, water can get into the cable and freeze or rust the cable up. Quickest fix is to unhook them from the rear brakes, and see if it releases the drag on the rear brakes. If it does, you may have to change the cables all together. Of course it could be the brake mechanism themselves. Just have to take it apart a bit and see where the problem really is.

Hello all!
I have done a massive search of Google, this site, and some other sites and have yet to find an answer. Anyway, my '01 SR5 4Runner is acting strange. My mileage is terrible and my emergency brake lever is entirely loose with no resistance until I pull it to a certain point. Also, there is a squeaking sound when I start to go forward. Thus, it makes me think that my parking brake is stuck, which really is not good. How would one go about fixing this personally or would it be best to take it to the dealer (ugh)? I also have a '91 4Runner and it had the same problem a few times over its lifetime. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Gh0s7]

Thanks for the response! I do live in an area that is very cold in the winter. It actually happened when I used the brake when it was really cold out. I figured that either the cable was frayed or had frozen. Is it a possible easy fix?