Handbrake going from 40% to Max and also handbrake not being recognized
I had two problems with the handbrake that was really, really frustrating. I think I resolved the issues and I wanted to make sure there was a record of it so anyone that had the same problem could resolve it faster than I did. Your mileage may vary of course and it may not resolve your issues.
First the plug wouldn't work. This was the most frustrating thing. The plug would work intermittently or not at all after pushing it in all the way. What I found was that the plug would only register if I pushed it to the side. So what I did was to turn the silver collar that also moved the internal connector so that the plug would push up against the metal connector to make an electrical connection. That worked but sometimes inconsistently. So I removed the silver collar with a spanner and a needle nose plier to hold the black connector and spun the collar off so I could get into connector. Once I did that I was able to gently remove one of of the metal connectors out of the plastic housing and GENTLY bend it ever so slightly (not so much that it will break). I tested it out before putting it back together again by doing the opposite of taking everything off. Now the connector is 100% reliable.
Now for the handbrake registering 40% to Max every time I pulled it back. What I did was go into the Fanatec control panel and went to manual settings for the handbrake. I pressed both minimum and max. When I pulled it back slightly it shot to 100%. The red line was going crazy, but this is what I did. As I was slowly pulling back I would press maximum every now and then until I reached near the stopping point. If I hit the stopping point and pressed max it would go back to 40% to max again. So when I was about 99% to the stopping point I would just stop and leave it there. The handbrake will now be smooth from 0% to 100%.