wats up with my e brake?

[93lxdroptop]

hey my e brake handle is very hard to pull up and it seems as if it only goes up half way and it doesnt brake. is that the cable messing up? i never had this problem before and dont know wat to do. if i should just replace the cable or somethin. is there some way i can check it to see wats malfunctioning? thanks.

 

[SILENTCARL]

Wow, I am having the same problem. It is so bad, it is causing the rear brakes to drag. I took the handle out, and unwound the spring one turn. It fixed it.... for a few days, then it tightened back up. There is no adjustment that I can find on the E-brake. I am going to put the handle from another car in it and see if that fixes it.

I'm all ears for any opinions on the matter also.

Usually people complain of handles pulling too far.

 

[sleeper_inc]

My E-brake barely holds my car at all and I pull it as far as it can go. New brakes and everything. I'm thinking mine needs adjustment just like the rest of yours

 

[samickguy15]

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I think you are probably wasting your time with the handle portion of everything. I would get some new cables and go from there. When was the last time you changed them, if you've even changed them at all? They don't live forever...

 

[SILENTCARL]

Hang on. If it was a cable related problem, why would it be too tight? You have officially lost me. I am sure it is the factory E-brake cable from 1991 with 110,000 miles on it.

I would think the cable would stretch over time and get looser like everyone else seems to complain of.

 

[bluestang2.3]

Unless you use your e-brake regularly, two things could happen when you use it. 1) it won't work, 2) it jams and won't release. I have used mine regularly for well over 15 years. My car has 287K on it and it will allow me to do the ole "hillbilly u-turn." It will also lock up the rear tires if need be too. The e-brake also adjusts the actual rear brakes themselves, just like the back up real fast and stop hard trick. (drum brakes)

I would look more closely at your rear brake hardware, especially the star adjuster to make sure it's not bound up. Thoroughly clean or replace and apply never seize to all the moving rear brake drum hardware pieces. The e-brake cable will stretch over time but should still work as good as day one. One trick you can do is lift and release the brake several times. Ideally your should note it getting harder each time. Since it uses mechanical leverage(cable) applied to the rear shoes, you can definately expect it not to be as effective as hydralic pressure.

Hope this helps-Jeff
287K and rising

 

[93lxdroptop]

yea well mine still has the inspection sticker from 2002 on it. i bought it off a man who blew the cylinder head and it sat in his yard for the longest time. so i rebuilt the motor and now i got it to run good. so i havent drivin it anywhere in the longest time so the last time the e brake was even used was when i tried to lift it the other day and its wicked hard to lift and doesnt go very high. im in the process replacin the front brakes and will be moving to do the rear drums so ill find out then i guess if i see anything out of the ordinary.

 

[SILENTCARL]

So, if it is the hardware/cable (which I don't believe it is because I have inspected it and thoroughly greased, and anti seized all of the appropriate places.) how do you explain why when I backed the spring mechanism in the handle itself off a turn why it was fine, but tightened back up? It seems like the spring I mention is almost like an auto adjuster for when the cable is stretched. Maybe the cable is just stretched enough that it goes to the next notch on the adjuster which just so happens to be too tight? Doesn't make sense to me. I'm still trying the handle first. It's free also...

 

[bluestang2.3]

Honestly I can't explain it since I've never taken my lever apart. You have me curious now so I'm going to examine mine.

My first guess would be the spring isn't a tensioner, but a holding spring for when you hit the release button and manually release the tension. Was the spring broken? Believe it or not the e brake and rear brakes are both working at the same time. If it's not retracting fully, the e-brake will hold the brake shoe tensioner open. The more you brake, the tighter it gets. Something is holding the e-brake cable in an on postion.

By you adjusting the spring and it's good for a while kinda confirms it. Even if you don't use the e-brake, you still have to back up and hit the brakes; an open tensioner will then adjust tighter the more you back up and stop.

Since your rears are ok and you've lubed all the good places, it has to be in the handle assembly. I'll pull mine into the shop tomorrow and check it out, it's time for the trans filter/flush anyway.

Hope this helps a bit-Jeff

287K and rising

 

[SILENTCARL]

When you pull it out, be careful. that spring is under a whole lot of tension. There is hole to put a small drill bit or similar through to hold it so you can remove the cable with out it unwinding on ya.