I posted in here a few weeks back about an e-brake problem I was having on my '92 Formula with the PBR rear. I dropped the car off at my mechanic, who in the course of his work replaced my rotors (which were worn) and who then installed a set of rebuilt calipers from our very own ebmiller. Ed was fairly certain that replacing the calipers would solve the problem. My mechanic said the new calipers made a lot of difference in terms of the functionality of the adjusting screw that controls the travel of the pads.

At any rate, after all of this, the e-brake still will not work. He can get the lever almost vertical on the car, and yet when the car is placed in gear it still moves because the brake is not holding. This is why I failed state inspection here.

I've been taking the bus to work for two weeks now because of this issue, and am hoping someone on here has had a similar problem and knows what is wrong. My mechanic tells me that the design of the e-brake lever is such that it cannot be adjusted so that it more fully engages the brakes. Can the handle/cable itself be adjusted on our cars? What is my next step here? It is, of course, stupid that my automatic vehicle is not allowed on the road for a parking brake, and I'm getting pretty frustrated. I would greatly appreciate any guidance you might have that will solve this problem.

Dave

 

With new/rebuilt calipers with the free travel correctly adjusted, one would believe that the problem then lies with e-brake adjustment and/or the cables themselves. Could the cables simply be too long? CarQuest (P/N BRK 8788, 1st design, 1434 mm).

JamesC

 

the adjuster for the cable is in the transmission tunnel, above the driveshaft.

stick your head under there (or have your mechanic look) and you'll see it..

the "bar" that connects the two brake cables to the ebrake single cable can be adjusted.

 

Pic from Ed Miller:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/atta...e-adjuster.jpg

If your mechanic missed that, you might consider taking your business elsewhere.

You know, now that I think about it, there was a change around about 90 or so to a self-adjusting parking brake, but I'm clueless about how it worked or how it looked.

JamesC

 

Hmm...I'll call him and ask him if he saw that. I'll let you know what he says.

 

Hmm...just saw your edit, James. So, there was a change over around '90, for sure? That mean that my car would have no adjuster up there in the trans tunnel? My mechanic has been in the business for decades, I'd be very surprised if he missed something like that.

 

I had to go looking, but I found the reference in Chilton's: "The parking brake cable is adjustable only on 1982-89 vehicles. 1990-92 vehicles feature a self-adjusting parking brake." The accompanying pic, however, shows a design that looks much like the piece in the above pic. Perhaps you should revisit "Free Travel." I made a couple of adjustments to it before I was satisfied. My e-brake with PBR's will hold on a hill. You may have seen these already:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...ee+%252Btravel

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/brak...and+adjustment

JamesC

 

James, are the dates above correct? '89-92 adjustable and '90-'92 self adjusting?

 

Ah, crap. Supposed to be 1982-89. Edited above.

JamesC

 

Not on a '92, there is no provision for adjusting them on '91-92 cars, the bar is in a fixed position.

Sorry for chiming in late on this one. The computers at work have been unbearably slowwww for some reason. After reading the symptoms on his issue, I can't think of anything that could cause it. With the calipers bled properly they should at least HOLD the car, this design isn't supposed to lock the rears as is commonly thought but it should hold the brakes enough to keep the rotors from turning. I know they're good to go since I rebuilt them. The only thing I know to suggest is to keep messing with the free travel adjustment and see how it goes. No offense to your mechanic, but it couldn't hurt to call a GM service guy and tell him your issue and at least see what he has to say about it.

Ed

Ed

 

Wow, what a mess.

So on my car, other than that screw in the caliper itself, there is no way to adjust the length of the cables or the degree to which the handle itself engages them? Therefore, the only adjustments at all are to be made right at each caliper?

I know my mechanic has a manual that shows him the amount of free play or whatever it is that the pads are supposed to have when those screws are adjusted, because he mentioned that distance to me in a conversation. However, this was only after I had told him of those screws, since prior to that he had thought they were not meant to adjust parking brake engagement.

This is ridiculous since its such a minor system on the car...I'll talk to him tomorrow.

 

James C, is that part number above for the cables definitely correct for my application? That's the only part left to replace. Someone on another site mentione to me they can stretch over time?

 

Yes, it's correct--at least it was on my PBR swap (I'd double-check application when I ordered). I had to use a Dremel to very slightly enlarge the brake lever end. Two minutes work. Who knows, might slip right on yours.

JamesC

 

You might consider this a last ditch effort idea but you can swap to the earlier e-brake lever and cable so you would have the ability to adjust the cables, this may help and I'm sure you can get one very cheap.

Ed

 

im very confused by this since my current camaro is a 91, and i adjusted it when i switched to the "LT1" PBRs...

my car was originally a drum brake car, is there a diff because of that??

 

You adjusted it how? Your '91 has that adjuster mechanism up in the trans tunnel?

 

On my 91 theres a ratchet and pawl on the brake lever . In the service manual theres a procedure to remove the handle because the cable guide and the handle are held together by the self adjuster . To remove the e-brake handle you have to lock out the self adjuster so it doesn't get out of sync . If you get the cable too far out of whack the adjuster won't pull the cable all the way as it's not held by the ratchet just the tension of the adjuster to the handle . When I switched over to LS1 brakes it took me about a day fooling around til I figured it out.

 

I finally have the car back in my hands after picking it up from the mechanic last night.

Here's what I noticed: Initially, I engaged the brake and it didn't hold for squat. I then employed a "trick" that a GM service tech told me yesterday when I called around looking for answers. I engaged and disengaged the brake lever about 30 times, then tried the brake again. It held pretty good with the car in D and R. Great, I thought, I'll get it inspected tomorrow.

Went out this morning just to double-check before work, was planning on getting inspected in afternoon. Nope, now the brake doesn't hold for squat again.

WTH? Back on the bus for me.

Why would it work for a bit and then overnight go back to not working? The GM tech told me this is just a poor design. I now believe that is true.

 

It's an ugly job because you"ve got to see the guts of the e-brake handle which means pulling the console . The adjuster is sort of a ratchet but it's not locked to the handle unless it's "clocked" right . It could be almost grabbing on the last tooth so it sort of works then moving away so it slips .Like I said it took me a day to figure it out .I'll try attach the directions from the service manual to adjust the caliper It looks like you need 2 people to adjust the caliper .

 

This is exactly what I did to remove the slack. Need the e-brake lever, the later e-brake cable and the later cable adjustment retainer (for lack of better words).

 

How many cables are there to replace? And, are they hard to remove and install? Seems like it might be tricky, based on ones on other kinds of cars that I've worked on before.

 

if i remember correctly, it was kinda like tightening a nut, and that pulled the "connector bar" closer to the front of the car.

its been almost 3 years since i did it, but i think thats how it was.

 

My son owns a 91 TransAm GTA and is having a problem with the ebrake not holding properly. He opened the center console and played around with the parking brake lever and now the cable is looser than it was. He may have done something with the ratceht and pawl. Any suggestions how to tighten the cable again? I've read posts in this forum that the parking brake adjustment is done at the caliper by means of a small screw to move the pads. My son says he can not find this screw and I can't see for myself because he has the car in Germany. His car fails inspection in Germany so any help would be greatly appreciated.