Dear friends,

I own a 2007 RRS V-8, with very low mileage, I have read all the related posts but got mixed up even though I have extensive experience with cars repairing etc.

While slowly backing up in the garage this loud funny screeching sound was heard, I thought was due to compressed air being released, the red parking brake warning light with the yellow one on its left came on, with the message, "parking brake fault" (or something similar) and I could not release the hand brake. All went back to normal when I switched the engine off and restarted. I enter the garage through a very steep entrance in low range and with hill descent just for the fun of it, and just to engage the low range gears from time to time, I do not do off road driving, and drive the car with extreme care, do not abuse it in any way.

Normally the ehb engages with a slight mechanical sound, like gear and spring sound, not loud, which lasts like 0.5 secs. but this was like this for a very long time, possibly till from new.

What I suspect is that the ehb engaged on its own due to some electrical fault, while I was slowly backing up, generating this extremely high sound, even though the car did not seem to come to an abrupt halt. So I do not suspect anything mechanical being wrong with the pads, the disk, the actuator module etc.

I unfortunately drive in unsafe areas very late in the night, and I do not want to be stranded at all. Also I have read about how to release the hand brake manually through the manual unlock mechanism under the central console.

So maybe I should drive carefully noticing right away if the ehb locks again, and should stop and try to release it, before the rear brakes heat up and gets completely seized up. Also I will check the battery, which was on the car don't remember for how many years.

Does this problem look like something else, like something mechanical with the parking brake shoes being worn out, seizing up, etc?

Can a decent service shop check and find and fix a probable electrical problem?

Is there anything missing or wrong in my understanding? and anything else that I should be careful about not to get stranded in the middle of the night while driving?

Thanks so much in advance, Gilbert.
p.s.I really like this car, even though I have had strange issues like rain seeping into the cabin, and other hardware problems.

I would get the fault codes read, even though it sounds like a mechanical fault, it might give you some pointers. After that strpdown service and adjust.. 2008 G4 RRSport TDV8 current
2009 TDCi 90 current
2018 Discovery 5 HSE lux current
1994 Dakar current

I would bet it's just worn EPB shoes that have caused the noise etc. The vehicle is old enough that they might be worn out. A strip and rebuild of the EPB brakes would seem sensible. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed