Parking Brake Headache
04-05-2013, 12:53 PM
#1
Parking Brake Headache I'm getting ready to rename my car conundrum because all these problems that keep cropping up are confusing as all get out. So my e-brake quit working a while back. I didn't mess with it too much, just parked and left the car in gear to keep it from rolling. So, I replaced my front rotors and rotated my tires a few weeks ago. In the process, I was looking at how to adjust the parking brakes on the wheels. Pulled the cable off the driver side caliper, that caliper off the rotor, looked at the instructions to adjust the set screw and what it entailed and said, "screw that noise, I'm lazy." So, I put the cable back on the caliper and noticed it seemed firmer. So, I get in the car, pull the e-brake handle, go back and try to spin the rotor and it doesn't spin any more. I didn't understand it but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Fast forward two weeks to last Saturday, and it stops engaging the rotor again. Give me some ideas, folks. About to go out there and try the same thing as last week on both sides and see if it does anything.
04-05-2013, 02:06 PM
#2
not being able to turn the rear brake rotor by hand is a few thousand times the force less than the car wanting to roll.
take your rear rotors off and inspect the parking brake shoes. if the shoes are shot then you will need new ones. otherwise you turn the adjuster to expand the shoe enough to where it's just dragging on the rotor but you will still be able to get the rotor on & off and turn the wheel hub. when you pull your ebrake handle the 0.5 to 1 foot of travel, that translates into about an inch of cable travel. there's a balancing bracket under the center of the car above the drive shaft and rear end that connects the cables- the one cable from your center console connects to the balancing bracket, then the two cables from there go to the left/right wheel. you want to make sure your cables are good and also the brackets at the wheel hub where they attach are firm. if you're engaging the parking brake but the bracket is bending then your not getting clamping force from the brake shoe. that's all there is to the e-brake.
take your rear rotors off and inspect the parking brake shoes. if the shoes are shot then you will need new ones. otherwise you turn the adjuster to expand the shoe enough to where it's just dragging on the rotor but you will still be able to get the rotor on & off and turn the wheel hub. when you pull your ebrake handle the 0.5 to 1 foot of travel, that translates into about an inch of cable travel. there's a balancing bracket under the center of the car above the drive shaft and rear end that connects the cables- the one cable from your center console connects to the balancing bracket, then the two cables from there go to the left/right wheel. you want to make sure your cables are good and also the brackets at the wheel hub where they attach are firm. if you're engaging the parking brake but the bracket is bending then your not getting clamping force from the brake shoe. that's all there is to the e-brake.
04-05-2013, 02:10 PM
#3
What year is this car? Are you working with a 98-02 brake system? If so, you have to adjust both sides. There is a balancer between the two, so you need to get both sides properly adjusted so the parking brake travel is correct, considering the cable is balanced between the two sides.
