carkid1300

I have a 96 firebird that hasn’t had a working e-brake since I bought it. I’ve read through all the forum posts, how-to’s, diy’s and instructions that I can find, and yet I still can’t find the reason my brake doesn’t not work. for such a common issue, there really isn’t much in the way of solutions.

I have new calipers in the rear, I’ve readjusted the set screws as per the owners manual and online write ups, and all of that seems to be fine. The issue I believe lies in the handle itself.

when you pull up on a regular e-brake, there’s a tooth that clicks it’s way up a geared wheel right? I’ve got my center console off, and when I pull my brake up, that tooth gets stuck on the first tooth of the gear. It physically cannot pass it unless you bypass the tooth and make the handle go straight up and down(like when you’re removing the console) It only goes up a little bit, and it doesn’t click like it should. Also, the cable doesn’t appear to move at all at the base of the handle, nor at the calipers themselves.

from what I gather, there’s a self adjusting system on the cables that’s supposed to take up the slack in the system as the cables stretch out.

is it possible that before I bought the car, the last owner just completely f’d up the system at the calipers and the cables have over adjusted and now won’t allow me to actually pull the handle up far enough to engage the brake? Or is there another problem?

I have half a mind to just ditch the whole setup for a hydraulic brake system I have laying around, but that may not pass inspection in my state, so I figure I’d try and get the factory system working.

basically, if you have any ideas or a solution as to where my issue may lie, please let me know!!!

thanks!