Leaf parking brake actuator

Electric4Me · May 3, 2011

I was under the back of the leaf with the cover off today (for something I'm working on) and found the parking brake actuator system interesting. I was surprised that Nissan used a two cable actuator. Here's an annotated picture for your amusement:

Smidge204 · May 3, 2011

That IS kinda weird. So the actuator has two cables going into it, and there isn't another bracket there? If so it might have something to do with balancing the force on the "puller" part that connects the cable to what I assume is a threaded shaft inside the unit.

No wonder the car is so expensive! Blew all the budget on extra cables! :lol:
=Smidge=

JohnnySebring · May 3, 2011

That is quite a bend in the cable! You probably can't do any tighter radius on a control cable. My guess the 2 cables are needed to carry the load around the bend and that only one cable would wear out quickly. At one point in my career I installed and replaced control cables in the commercial marine environment. Tight radius bends were the always the trouble spots.

palmermd · May 3, 2011

It looks the same as many other cars I've looked at. Electric actuator is the only real difference.

EVDRIVER · May 3, 2011

palmermd said:
It looks the same as many other cars I've looked at. Electric actuator is the only real difference.

Agreed nothing abnormal here, leave it to the forum to make a mystery where there is none

Herm · May 3, 2011

Why not use a standard mechanical handle at the console and bypass the motor, switch and manual trunk release?.. whats the advantage of the way they did it?.. quick someone price that actuator at a dealership.

JohnnySebring · May 3, 2011

Does the vehicle immobilizer make use of the electric actuator?

Smidge204 · May 3, 2011

Herm said:
Why not use a standard mechanical handle at the console and bypass the motor, switch and manual trunk release?.. whats the advantage of the way they did it?.. quick someone price that actuator at a dealership.

I had this thought too, and my only answer is the normal mechanical brake assembly would somehow interfere with the battery mounting.
=Smidge=

EVDRIVER · May 3, 2011

It's more marketing, making the car more "electric" which is ironic. This car seems to be made for the Japanese market, electric brake, over-boosted EPS with no connection to the road, light interior, etc. This feature like the sad heating system adds weight, cost and complexity, it however one of the better electronic features provided it lasts. One thing it eliminates is the cable run from the front of the car that would have to go around the pack.

Spies · May 3, 2011

Herm said:
Why not use a standard mechanical handle at the console and bypass the motor, switch and manual trunk release?.. whats the advantage of the way they did it?.. quick someone price that actuator at a dealership.

The first thing that comes to mind is that it allows automatic release of the parking break when the accelerator is pushed. This allows the parking break to be used as a somewhat automatic "hill holder" mechanism. The second is that allows for a smaller parking break mechanism in the cabin area.

My vote is still out as far as feeling if these things outweigh the simplicity of mechanical parking break linkage.

DaveinOlyWA · May 3, 2011

JohnnySebring said:
That is quite a bend in the cable! You probably can't do any tighter radius on a control cable. My guess the 2 cables are needed to carry the load around the bend and that only one cable would wear out quickly. At one point in my career I installed and replaced control cables in the commercial marine environment. Tight radius bends were the always the trouble spots.

isnt the control electronic? would it not be a signal wire to the actuator? where the bend is essentially inconsequential?

P.S. you may categorize this question as being in the "clueless" dept

EVDRIVER · May 3, 2011

DaveinOlyWA said:
JohnnySebring said:

That is quite a bend in the cable! You probably can't do any tighter radius on a control cable. My guess the 2 cables are needed to carry the load around the bend and that only one cable would wear out quickly. At one point in my career I installed and replaced control cables in the commercial marine environment. Tight radius bends were the always the trouble spots.

Click to expand...

isnt the control electronic? would it not be a signal wire to the actuator? where the bend is essentially inconsequential?

P.S. you may categorize this question as being in the "clueless" dept

\

It's an electronic actuator controlled electronically, the bends in the cable are meaningless in the equation and as usual something is being made of nothing here. It's a basic NORMAL design for the application. It is not weird, unusual or anything else. But this like many other threads will make it into 50 things it is not. Just watch below...

DarkStar · May 3, 2011

Electric4Me said:
I was under the back of the leaf with the cover off today (for something I'm working on) and found the parking brake actuator system interesting. I was surprised that Nissan used a two cable actuator. Here's an annotated picture for your amusement:

Thanks for the picture! This weekend I'll be removing the rear cover as well to see how I might be able to mount a trailer hitch. After viewing this photo I'm a lot more optimistic about being able to do so!

Spies · May 3, 2011

DarkStar said:
This weekend I'll be removing the rear cover as well to see how I might be able to mount a trailer hitch. After viewing this photo I'm a lot more optimistic about being able to do so!

Here are my thoughts on that in this thread http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1552&start=19
I never did go back and linked the pictures I took. I should do that soon.

Smidge204 · May 3, 2011

EVDRIVER said:
It's an electronic actuator controlled electronically, the bends in the cable are meaningless in the equation and as usual something is being made of nothing here. It's a basic NORMAL design for the application. It is not weird, unusual or anything else. But this like many other threads will make it into 50 things it is not. Just watch below...

The bends in the cable are not meaningless because they are tension cables, not electrical cables.The bend radius is a valid observation.

If Electric4Me cold get a better picture of the actuator where the cables connect to it, or if someone can post a clipping from the service manual, I'm curious why they used two cables when they end up twinning them together again before re-splitting to the wheels.
=Smidge=

DaveinOlyWA · May 3, 2011

have to agree with Smidge. it would appear that all the electronics end at the actuator. so could it be simply cabling or possibly hydraulics?

to be honest with ya, i really dont care, just curious. EV has a point. we peons are disputing Nissan's engineering dept over a relatively trivial thing here. but then again, its the trivial stuff that gets overlooked.

Electric4Me · May 3, 2011

EVDRIVER said:
It's an electronic actuator controlled electronically, the bends in the cable are meaningless in the equation and as usual something is being made of nothing here. It's a basic NORMAL design for the application. It is not weird, unusual or anything else. But this like many other threads will make it into 50 things it is not. Just watch below...

Come on EVDRIVER, what the hell else do we have to talk about besides making mountains out of mole hills? :lol:

EVDRIVER · May 3, 2011

Electric4Me said:
EVDRIVER said:

It's an electronic actuator controlled electronically, the bends in the cable are meaningless in the equation and as usual something is being made of nothing here. It's a basic NORMAL design for the application. It is not weird, unusual or anything else. But this like many other threads will make it into 50 things it is not. Just watch below...

Click to expand...

Come on EVDRIVER, what the hell else do we have to talk about besides making mountains out of mole hills? :lol:

You got that right.

Herm · May 3, 2011

EVDRIVER said:
It's more marketing, making the car more "electric" which is ironic. This car seems to be made for the Japanese market, electric brake, over-boosted EPS with no connection to the road, light interior, etc. This feature like the sad heating system adds weight, cost and complexity, it however one of the better electronic features provided it lasts. One thing it eliminates is the cable run from the front of the car that would have to go around the pack.

Good points, the car has been designed for the Japanese market.. you should wear white gloves when you drive it

Stunt822 · May 4, 2011

Spies said:
The first thing that comes to mind is that it allows automatic release of the parking break when the accelerator is pushed. This allows the parking break to be used as a somewhat automatic "hill holder" mechanism. The second is that allows for a smaller parking break mechanism in the cabin area.

My vote is still out as far as feeling if these things outweigh the simplicity of mechanical parking break linkage.

Afterthought it is.

My old 2001 Linc Navigator has normal push-pedal E-brake, and it pops itself when I put car in gear. 10 year old car.
But i like electric actuator control, just wish i never saw how it's built

Leaf parking brake actuator

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!