Calibrate Electric Parking Brakes

[Mattyhooks]

Good news!

In preparation to take my truck to the dealer, I was removing the Security Gateway Bypass Harness needed to run AlfaOBD.

When my truck was off, I pressed the EPB Switch just for the sake of it. And sure enough, I could hear the actuators engaging. I said whatever, and proceeded to remove the harness.

It's a very tight space, and I had some trouble getting the electrical connectors out of the CAN blocks. I decided to disconnect the CAN blocks so I could get my hands and tool in and remove the clips.

After disconnecting the CAN blocks, removing the harness and putting it all back together, guess what? No more lights on the dash and the EPB operates normally. I have not reinstalled the harness and ran AlfaOBD for codes yet. And honestly, I probably won't unless more lights come on.

I am not sure what actually fixed the problem. Was it me activating the EPB switch when the truck was off, which tricked the system with one of those perfect situations. Or did disconnecting/reconnecting the CAN blocks reset the system. It also makes me wonder did I even need to purchase AlfaOBD and associated harness?

Either way, I do not recommend disconnecting/reconnecting the CAN blocks. I only did this because I had an appointment for service with the dealer the same day, and why not right.

I hope all this helps the next person...

 

[djevox]

The tough part is we won’t know what reset it until another person recreates the issue and does each step at a time to see the result. Good that you don’t have damaged actuators though.

 

[Zolazar]

Just an update, and I apologize for never coming back to my post but my issue sort of resolved itself. A couple of months after the issue, my battery ended up going bad and I replaced it.

Shortly after, I was backing the boat in the water and my instinct to put on parking break kicked in, even though I knew it didn't work i pulled the lever... all of a sudden I hear the damn actuators kick on! Now working for months...

I know for a fact I pulled the battery cables numerous times and still had issues. I can only shurug my shoulders and assume it took much longer than I ever expected... like 24hrs of the battery being disconnected to clear the issue.

Hope this helps someone. Good luck!

Now off to create a new post about another issue... Still love my RAM!

 

[Joellytle]

Just an update, and I apologize for never coming back to my post but my issue sort of resolved itself. A couple of months after the issue, my battery ended up going bad and I replaced it.

Shortly after, I was backing the boat in the water and my instinct to put on parking break kicked in, even though I knew it didn't work i pulled the lever... all of a sudden I hear the damn actuators kick on! Now working for months...

I know for a fact I pulled the battery cables numerous times and still had issues. I can only shurug my shoulders and assume it took much longer than I ever expected... like 24hrs of the battery being disconnected to clear the issue.

Hope this helps someone. Good luck!

Now off to create a new post about another issue... Still love my RAM!

replaced my rear brakes, I did the same thing you did, messed up. All of my service parking brake lights are on the dash. How did you reset it, how did you fix it? Sorry for bothering yall again, but I am currently having the same issue you had.

 

[6of36]

I haven't worked as a mechanic for years, long before electronic parking brake, but just from my mechanical thinking, They may have to slowly reset themselves, without computer setting. Back in the day of drums, the brakes were self adjusting. Each time you hit the brake they adjusted. If they were far out of adjustment, it took a while for them to get adjusted, because it only did small adjustments each time. Try making a lot of stops during the test drive, and keep trying to activate the parking brake. It may take many cycles.