Volvo S60 2012 handbrake not releasing
 

The electric handbrake is stuck on, and I can hear the nearside motor running for about 20 seconds after I engage the handbrake. I'm getting a couple of different messages on the dash, one of which is "Parking brake not fully released".

So far I've just tried basic things such as disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes and turning the car on and off again a few times.

I'll get back to it tomorrow when it's light, so if anyone has any suggestions on how to fix it I'd be most appreciative.

In my 2013 V60 it was the rear calibres ‘sticking’.
As I understand it there’s the normal piston to push the pad against the disc when you press the pedal.
And there’s a ‘sleeve’ around that piston which the parking brake pushes.
When the sleeve can’t slide properly it gets stuck on.
Needs disassembly clean and lube.

I had this on my 14' S60, turned out it was a seized calliper and as the handbrake kept trying to release it, it also damaged the motor in the handbrake, VERY expensive fix! hopefully yours isn't seized.... is it just one side that wont release?

Just the near side. Seems strange to me as I’ve had no symptoms leading up to this, and drove the day before using the handbrake multiple times.

I had this a couple of weeks ago. Exact same symptoms.

My offside parking brake motor had a crack in the casing which had obviously been letting in water for some time. The spline which engages the motor with the piston had corroded and finally on this application had stripped all the splines off so once the handbrake was on it wasn't coming off.

If you have the same problem then it's wheel off, two screws to remove the parking brake motor then manually unwind the piston (T40 bit clockwise).

The other motor casing was also cracked. I had noticed this at the last pad change but stupidly didn't do anything about it.

I replace both rear callipers with TRW units. These are exactly the same as the Volvo callipers, cost about £190 each and they include the parking brake motor.

Hopefully your car is in a decent location. Mine happened in a car park so with no tools and Volvo assist showing little interest in doing anything it had to get recovered.

Same side with mine too. Caliper, handbrake motor and Volvo assist recovery £800 in total and typically, my Volvo assist expired a month before it broke down!

Thanks for the detailed reply. I’ve been doing a bit of research and have already procured some torx bits for when I get back from work.

It’s at home thankfully, although it is on a slope. A few days later and it would have been stuck in a Gatwick airport car park.

The parking brake motor bolts are a T30 fitting. You'd need a long thin one to fit in-between the motor and calliper. A 50mm long bit that you could fit into a ratchet would do.

Thanks for the heads up. As long as there is enough space for the 10mm wide bit holder then I’m good.

Yes you should be fine with that.