Chevrolet Express 1500 Parking brake won't engage Inspection at your home or office.

Our certified mobile mechanics come to you 7 days a week between 7 AM and 9 PM.

Estimate price near me

Service Location

Customer Ratings

(117)

How A Diagnostic Works

Instantly book a certified mobile mechanic to come to you

Mechanic diagnoses the problem and quotes necessary repairs

Your vehicle is ready to go

Fair, upfront & transparent pricing for all services

Our certified mobile mechanics can come to you now.

Customer Ratings

(117)

Parking brake won't engage Inspection Service

How much does a Parking brake won't engage Inspection cost?

On average, the cost for a Chevrolet Express 1500 Parking brake won't engage Inspection is $95 with $0 for parts and $95 for labor. Prices may vary depending on your location.

CarServiceEstimateShop/Dealer Price
2008 Chevrolet Express 1500V8-5.3LService typeParking brake won't engage InspectionEstimate$114.99Shop/Dealer Price$124.99 - $132.49
1999 Chevrolet Express 1500V8-5.7LService typeParking brake won't engage InspectionEstimate$94.99Shop/Dealer Price$105.01 - $112.52
1996 Chevrolet Express 1500V8-5.7LService typeParking brake won't engage InspectionEstimate$94.99Shop/Dealer Price$105.01 - $112.52
2001 Chevrolet Express 1500V8-5.0LService typeParking brake won't engage InspectionEstimate$94.99Shop/Dealer Price$104.99 - $112.48
2013 Chevrolet Express 1500V6-4.3LService typeParking brake won't engage InspectionEstimate$94.99Shop/Dealer Price$105.02 - $112.55
2009 Chevrolet Express 1500V8-5.3LService typeParking brake won't engage InspectionEstimate$94.99Shop/Dealer Price$105.01 - $112.52
1996 Chevrolet Express 1500V6-4.3LService typeParking brake won't engage InspectionEstimate$99.99Shop/Dealer Price$109.87 - $117.28
2011 Chevrolet Express 1500V6-4.3LService typeParking brake won't engage InspectionEstimate$99.99Shop/Dealer Price$110.24 - $117.94
Show example Chevrolet Express 1500 Parking brake won't engage Inspection prices

Engaging your parking brake ensures that your car doesn’t roll when you park on a hill. This is important in a wide variety of situations, whether you’re parking at home and your driveway is angled, or you’re backing down a boat ramp to unload in the lake. If your parking brake won’t engage, then you’re relying solely on the transmission’s park setting to hold the vehicle in place, which is never a good thing. It could slip, and it could also cause damage to the transmission.

How this system works:

Most parking brakes are relatively simple affairs – really nothing more than a cable that attaches to the handle that sits between your front seats (or the parking brake pedal under the dash in some cars). Pulling the handle pulls the cable, which engages the parking brake assembly and pushes a pair of brake shoes into contact with the inside of the drum.

However, despite that simplicity, there are several things that could go wrong with your parking brake. The most common issue is simply that you need to adjust your brake shoes. However, there could be a problem with the cable (corrosion or wear, for instance), or there could be a problem with the handle itself, although this is rare.

Common reasons for this to happen:

  • Need to Adjust Brake Shoes: The single most common reason your parking brake won’t engage is a need to adjust the brake shoes. This requires removing the rear wheels, removing the drum, and then adjusting the wheel to spread the shoes apart. Both sides should be adjusted.

  • Cable Is Detached: Another potential reason here is that the cable may have come loose from one or both sides. The cable must attach to both rear brakes for your parking brake to work (if it attaches to just one side, the brake will engage but feel loose, and the car will roll on a hill).

  • Cable Is Loose at the Handle: A much less common problem is that the nut where the cable attaches under the handle is loose. If this happens, there will be slack in the cable, and pulling the handle will not engage the parking brake. This is most common after inexpert parking brake repairs.

  • Rusted Bell Crank: The bell crank is really nothing more than a lever that sits near the front of the parking brake assembly. These are prone to rusting, particularly if you don’t use your parking brake very often. If this is the case, your parking brake will not engage.

What to expect:

One of our experienced mobile mechanics will come to your home or office and inspect the entire parking brake system, from the handle to the bell crank, the cabling and the attachment points at the rear. The mechanic will also provide you with a full report that details the scope and cost of any necessary parts and repairs.

How it's done:

The mechanic will inspect all aspects of your parking brake, beginning with the handle or pedal in the cabin. The mechanic will also inspect the cables, the shoe condition and adjustment and other aspects of your parking brake system. It may be necessary to remove one or both rear wheels, as well as the brake drums (if your car has drum brakes). If your car has disc brakes, the caliper and rotor may need to be removed to inspect the parking brake shoes, which are located inside the built-in drum on the rotor itself.

How important is this service?

If your parking brake will not engage, it will not prevent you from driving, but it does make parking on an incline risky. It’s possible that the transmission will slip out of park, and the vehicle will roll down the slope. One of our mechanics can fully assess your parking brake and advise you on what is needed to repair it.

Fast and easy service at your home or office

Backed by 12-month, 12.000-mile guarantee


Meet some of our expert Chevrolet mechanics

Real customer reviews from Chevrolet owners like you.

Excellent Rating

(117)

Rating Summary
110
4
0
1
2
110
4
0
1
2

Xavier

16 years of experience
101 reviews
Xavier
16 years of experience
Chevrolet Express 1500 V8-5.0L - Starter - Jacksonville, Florida
Xavier's service was professional and timely, and my van is starting with no problems now.

Mark

11 years of experience
349 reviews
Mark
11 years of experience
Chevrolet Express 1500 V6-4.3L - Inspection -- car is stalling out, cannot hold idle - Mountain View, California
Mark inspected our company van and detected no issues that we suspected.

Leo

41 years of experience
74 reviews
Leo
41 years of experience
Chevrolet Express 1500 V6-4.3L - Oil Change - Corte Madera, California
Leo handled the job expertly and with great customer relationship skills.

Aaron

29 years of experience
106 reviews
Aaron
29 years of experience
Chevrolet Express 1500 V6-4.3L - Distributor Rotor and Cap - Tallahassee, Florida
Great job!

Excellent Rating

(117)

Rating Summary
110
4
0
1
2
110
4
0
1
2
Number of Chevrolet Express 1500 services completed
1287+
services done by our mechanics
TOTAL NUMBER OF EXPERT Chevrolet MECHANICS
1600+
experts on our platform

Recent articles & questions

Symptoms of a Bad or Failing Door Latch
If a car door will not stay closed, must be slammed hard to close, or gets stuck and will not open, you may need to replace the door latch.
How to Ship a Car
It used to be that if you wanted to buy a car you’d head to the nearest auto mall, and spend the day shopping. After a while the cars, dealerships, salespeople, and deals blended together. Who hasn’t made an offer...
How to Use a Ryko Automatic Car Wash
If If you’re wondering how to use a Ryko car wash, you’ve come to the right place. While this article is based on the Ryko Ultrasonic 2001 Overhead model, the user/driver experience is similar to many Ryko car wash models....

Why wont the fan start? Smoking near fan, cooling fan new but wont start. engine overheats.

Hey there. As you alluded, this is a sign of a bad cooling fan relay switch (https://www.yourmechanic.com/services/cooling-fan-relay-replacement). The cooling fan relay switch comes on when the temperature reaches a certain level to help cool down the radiator. When this is...

My new front brake pads and rotors are making noise

Hello. Organic brake pads have a reputation for being quiet most of the time. Most of the complaints come from squeaks when the pads are wet. You describe your symptoms as more of a grinding, metal on metal, type of...

How often do you replace a catalytic converter?

This would all depend on the quality of the catalytic converter and whether or not the engine is running rich. If the catalytic converter installed was not of OEM quality, this can be part of the reason that it did...

How can we help?

Our service team is available 7 days a week, Monday - Friday from 6 AM to 5 PM PST, Saturday - Sunday 7 AM - 4 PM PST.

1 (855) 347-2779 · hi@yourmechanic.com