Preventive maintenance to avoid parking brake failure (2012)

Hi!

My 2012 is getting on in years, but for the moment, everything actually works as expected (knock on wood). However, i'm just dreading that the electric parking brake goes bad one day. Is there any kind of preventive maintenance that can be done to avoid whatever normally goes wrong? i've heard things about swelling cables that make the motors burn out, is there anything specific I can do to avoid that happening before the cables (or motors) need replacement?

If your vehicle really does have e-brake vs mechanical foot parking brake, you have a far higher reliability vs the mechanical foot parking brake. And there really is nothing you can do from a preventative perspective regarding e-brake. The only moving part is on the rear caliper. Whereas mechanical parking brake's are prone to rust, cable stretch, etc......

It does have electric parking brake (discontinued in the 2013 upgrades), but unlike most other cars with electric handbrakes, the motor is not located on the caliper, but rather somewhere around the center tunnel, leading to the fantastic combination of both having an electric motor AND cables that can fail...

Is there any documented incidents it fails? What does the motor down the middle actuate? Is it actuating cables that does the mechanical actuation of the parking brakes?

Sorry for asking what may seem obvious.

Still trying to figure out what's causing this failure.

The motor gets water in it, IIRC.

The motor is situated in the enormous, gigantic, totally wasted cavity under the boot space. Where once would have been a spare wheel. But it is just empty space (perfect for battery extensions) boxed in by the rearmost undertray plastic. That comes off pretty easy with a few M10 nuts and plastic clips.

And yes, the motor itself just replaces my left calf muscle. Pulling similar cables to the same calipers on the rear discs. Fantastic way to replace what wasn't broken with something that inevitably will.

My wife has an MG ZS EV, and that has electric automatic parking brake, which is just fine... But now when I jump from one to the other I get quite confused trying to pull away!

So for preventative maintenance it would be ensuring that rear undertray is in good order and waterproof. And checking the cables and sheaths - possibly internally lubricating them to protect from corrosion and wear. Just the same as with any hand or foot driven parking brake.

And well done for keeping a car for more than a couple of years... It is the only thing that makes our choice of an EV a valid one.

There have been a few failures noted on the forum--as Leftie said most were due to water getting into the motor. I never did anything with the electric parking brake in the 2011 except use it every time I parked, but it might be possible to lubricate the cables with a lubricant injector similar to lubricating motorcycle control cables. My 2019 has a similar electric parking brake system and it has been trouble-free so far. On the other hand, the foot-operated parking brake on the 2015 required frequent cable adjustments and at least one repair (all under warranty).

I was lucky, because I had zero issues with the foot brake on my 2013. It was adjusted once as part of a regular service, for free, and was trouble free. I don't miss it as much as I did with the 2018 I had for three years, but that's because it's now become a habit to use the electric brake.