I went to back my 1999 Buick Century out of the garage this morning and apparently the parking break is stuck on. (Not sure why since it'* not cold and I didn't hit anything last night, although the idiot light'* been on for a while.) I'm not a mechanical guy at all - how do I disengage the thing so I can drive? I tried to turn it on and off with the pedal but it doesn't seem to want to disengage - and I can't find a diagram of the underside of the car so I can crawl underneath and tighten or loosen anything.

Please help. Thanks in advance.

Idiot light? You mean the RED brake light symbol?

Do you ever use your ebrake? Did this light come on after using your ebrake?

Did you apply your ebrake when you shut down the car last night?

Is there play in the ebrake pedal? If you apply the ebrake, and then release it, is there play in the pedal so that if you lift up on it, the RED brake light goes out?

Rear disc or drums?

Ive had a few if the car was just rocked back and forth it would release. Could be a number of things causing the problem.

Yes, I mean the red parking brake light on the dash. No, I didn't apply it the night before and no, there'* no play in the pedal. And I have no idea if they're rear disc or drum brakes. I briefly tried to go back and forth as if I was stuck in the snow - although since I was in my garage, the screeching noise was loud - but the brake stayed on.

I tried to jack it up and look under the car to see if I could tell where the cable was but since I don't have jack stands, I couldn't get far enough underneath. If someone could just tell me where the brake cable is under the car, maybe I can get my 13-year-old son to squeeze underneath and loosen/disable it.

Again, please and thank you.