I have really poor pedal feel (very low) from a lack of proper rear brake adjustment. Because the E-brake lever can only me mounted one way there is a limit to the outward location of the piston in the bore. A local brake shop has told me that they regularly die grind out the flats on the caliper levers and create basically infinite adjusment. I don't like this idea because I'm afraid that the caliper lever may slip under the head of the nut that reatins it to the caliper. Anyone have any ideas ?? ALM

 

Don't go back there!! A brake shop that doen't know how to adjust the brakes RIGHT is trouble. The e-brake adjustment bolt is in the tranny tunnel. Here's a pic. Simply turn the nut to get it where it needs to be. If your calipers are in need of repair, this may not do it right.

Stay away from that shop man!!!!! When they break out the grinder to do an "adjustment", run like hell.

Ed

 

Have you done the caliper recall mod yet? Do that first.

 

I have adjusted the E-Brake cable and it helped only a small amount. The bottom line is that when I manually adjust the piston in far enough to have minimal clearance between the pads and the rotors I can't get the lever on the stud with enough stud available to adequately install the nut. When I do get to a point with enough thread showing, the stud is in a spot where the flats will not line up properly with the lever. ( Hence the grinder trick by the brake shop ) I've adjusted rear calipers on a bunch of other cars with great success. I just think this is a poor design. What was the caliper recall ??? ALM

 

Holy hell! Man, it's stories like that which make me glad I do my own work.

I agree 100% with Ed & RB83L69. Have you gotten the recall parts for those rear calipers yet? The original 82-88 calipers had e-brake problems.

The design of a rear caliper is such that the caliper will self-adjust its position to the rotor. Ex, new thick brake pads = caliper adjusts = brake pads skim very closely to the rotor. Old brake pads = caliper adjusts = brake pads skim very closely to the rotor.

What sounds to me (and RB) is that you don't have this recall kit installed. <a href="https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78725" target=new>Click here for recall information.</a> The "bad" pistons didn't auto-adjust, and the brake pads stay far away from the rotor.

And here's why that brake shop is wrong. As I said, a properly working caliper will adjust so it's brake pads are almost touching the rotor- and we're talking so close that it looks like they're touching the rotor. This goes for both front AND rear disc brakes. So since the pads almost touch the rotor while you drive, the e-brake lever doesn't need to move much to force the pads against the rotor!

And, if anything, lets say you've got the recall kit installed, and properly working calipers, and brand new rear brake pads, but the ebrake still isn't working, and the adjustment is too far out. That would mean that your cables are stretched horribly past their limits, and you should install new adjuster-to-caliper parking brake cables. They're between $20-$25 each from places like carparts.com . You can also replace that ebrake-lever-to-adjuster cable, but man, it's a total bitch to do! (Been there, done that. The sucker snapped on me, 2 days before I was driving three states away for my vacation!)

[edit] Oh, and you said you manually adjust the levers to press the pads against the rotors? Sounds like the recall problem! Say your pads are an inch away from the rotor. You should swing the caliper's parking brake lever forward; this will make the pad touch the rotor. Then, when you move the parking brake lever "back" to it's "rest" position, the brake pads will NOT retract! The pads will stay in their spot. Think of the parking brake lever as a one-way ratchet...

That's actually how you're supposed to disassemble a caliper. You remove it from the car, and work the caliper's parking brake lever back-and-forth until the piston pops out of the bore. Don't hold the caliper over your crotch as you do this; the boys'll get soaked in brake fluid. (Oops)

 

Thanks for the help with the info for the recall, especially the part #. I just ordered the kit and hopefully it will do the job. I'm looking forward to the results. ALM