[capt jack]

Evening All

Driving home from work this evening I pulled up in a queue of traffic and applied the electronic brake. (The car is a 2012 V70 D5 auto with 146,000 miles)

When I tried to pull away the brake would not release, and no amount of pushing and pulling on the release button made any difference.

So I switched the engine off and restarted the car. The brake immediately released 100% normally. I drove home (about 35 miles) without using the parking brake at all. I have operated the brake dozens of times with the car sat on the drive - and it's worked perfectly. I can hear both motors whirring quite happily, and the brakes are fully released.

So, my question is, can the car's computer throw an EPB wobbly that's cleared by a restart, or is there more trouble lurking? Could I possibly have inadvertently caused an issue in any way?

I ask because in my ownership the car has done some odd-computer-related things that have then gone away - the BLIS for example, that will suddenly stop working, to work OK when the car is restarted, the random headlamp adjustment warning light that came on once, and was immediately fine after a restart, the low battery warning that fixed itself - yep, after a restart! There's a pattern emerging here of odd glitches that resolve themselves after a restart! On the basis that the car is a computer on wheels, is it just the case that like a PC, a restart is sometimes the only fix?

When I tried to pull away with the brake jammed on I got the feeling that as the car "sat down" evenly, both rear brakes were equally stuck on.

Brand new Pagid rear discs and pads were fitted about 5,000 miles ago, and everything has worked perfectly since then.

Would taking it all apart and giving it all a good clean make any difference?

I guess for now the sensible thing is not to use the brake, but if anyone has any insight and advice it'd be most welcome.

Cheers

Jack