Need Help Fixing E Brake

[shlby123]

My Emergency brake is hardly working at all. Im not sure how it's hooked up at all. I know that i have to pull it COMPLETELY up to get it to even stop the car, and still with a little force the car can be moved. Can anybody tell me maybe how i can diagnose what the problem is, or how i can go about fixing this type of prob? Its on an 89 LX 5.0

 

[tunedin302]

I thought the 89 had an adjustment on them (my 93 was self adjusting). You can pull the center console and expose the mechanism for the PB. If it is adjustable then it should have a bolt around the cable area. Just have to turn that to put more tension in the cable. Also, when was the last time you replaced your rear drum shoes as this will have an effect also.

 

[Marlboro_Man]

My parking brake is the same way. I replaced the rear shoes and that didn't seem to help at all. My car is an 87 but it seems that it has a self adjusting pb , because if i pull the pb all the way up and let it down and pull it up again it will get tighter but still not tight enough. I haven't pulled the console apart yet to see if i can make any adjustments to it , but i may have to becuase it sucks not having a good pb.

Anyone else have any suggestions for us?

 

[shlby123]

I've only owned the car for a week, so Im gonna have to check and see if any work has been done on the shoes? What will that cost me you think? Oh! By theway, you have any idea what getting my AC charged up again would run? I have a couple quotes but they seem rather high!

 

[Marlboro_Man]

To bad your not in houston or i could charge up your a/c....

 

[shlby123]

Houston is only a two hour trip for me How much would ya charge? If it's less than the cost of me gas..its worth a trip!

 

[Marlboro_Man]

Houston is only a two hour trip for me How much would ya charge? If it's less than the cost of me gas..its worth a trip!

I'd do it for free, you'de just have to pay for the freon. Are you still using r12 in your a/c system or has it been redone?
I've got my universal license for freon so i can buy any kind that you would need but r12 is no longer made/sold , so you would have to use the new stuff.


Now back to the parking nrake deal. I went to the junk yard today to look for some little things i need and i was looking at an exposed handbrake system and it did have a nut/screw deal under there that you could adjust , however this was on a four eye (86 and below) so i still don't know if we have these on the 87-93 models.

Anyone else have suggestions about how to make our damn parking brakes work right?

 

[troyGT03]

My parking brake is the same way. I replaced the rear shoes and that didn't seem to help at all. My car is an 87 but it seems that it has a self adjusting pb , because if i pull the pb all the way up and let it down and pull it up again it will get tighter but still not tight enough. I haven't pulled the console apart yet to see if i can make any adjustments to it , but i may have to becuase it sucks not having a good pb.

Anyone else have any suggestions for us?

you need to get a brake hardware kit for your rear brakes. the kit consists of all the springs and clips, and the self adjusters. these adjusters are overlooked when doing a brake job. you can take your adjusters apart and clean them. they will be caked with brake dust and grime. for the price of the kit replace them. then reinstall the drum and wheel and ADJUST your rear brakes. the rear brakes need to be adjusted for the self adjusters to do their job properly. there is a cable adjustment under the console but the brake procedure must be done first.

 

[Marlboro_Man]

you need to get a brake hardware kit for your rear brakes. the kit consists of all the springs and clips, and the self adjusters. these adjusters are overlooked when doing a brake job. you can take your adjusters apart and clean them. they will be caked with brake dust and grime. for the price of the kit replace them. then reinstall the drum and wheel and ADJUST your rear brakes. the rear brakes need to be adjusted for the self adjusters to do their job properly. there is a cable adjustment under the console but the brake procedure must be done first.

I used the rebuild kit when i did my drums and i adjusted the them as best i could.

 

[troyGT03]

so you used new adjusters and adjusted the rears? the e-brake cable will stretch over time.

 

[shlby123]

i dont believe anybody has ever messed with the a/c system so im assuming its straight stock with no mods there. what will the freon run me? I could definitely get down there by months end!

 

[Shakerhood]

you need to get a brake hardware kit for your rear brakes. the kit consists of all the springs and clips, and the self adjusters. these adjusters are overlooked when doing a brake job. you can take your adjusters apart and clean them. they will be caked with brake dust and grime. for the price of the kit replace them. then reinstall the drum and wheel and ADJUST your rear brakes. the rear brakes need to be adjusted for the self adjusters to do their job properly. there is a cable adjustment under the console but the brake procedure must be done first.

There is no manual adjustment on the handle, there is a tightly wound spring that pulls on the cables. Unless you perform the Ford Racing Mods to get rid of the self adjuster in the handle then there is no way to adjust it from the handle end.

 

[shlby123]

so i cant adjust the e brake from under the console?

 

[Repostyle]

I've never adjusted mine personally so I'm not exactly sure how my mechanic did it, but I was watching him and there's a small hole on the inside of the rear drum at the bottem. He stuck a flat head screw driver in there and worked some magic. I'm pretty sure he just turned that gear at the bottem of the shoes to spread them out and get them closer to the drum. Didn't even have to remove the rear wheels.

 

[Marlboro_Man]

I've never adjusted mine personally so I'm not exactly sure how my mechanic did it, but I was watching him and there's a small hole on the inside of the rear drum at the bottem. He stuck a flat head screw driver in there and worked some magic. I'm pretty sure he just turned that gear at the bottem of the shoes to spread them out and get them closer to the drum. Didn't even have to remove the rear wheels.

Well thats just how you adjust the brakes, I've already done that.

The way my dad said to do it was to turn it till the tire wouldn't spin and then back the adjuster back two turns. So thats how i did it and it still didn't help the parking brake any.

Yesterday when i was under the car installing my lt's I noticed where the PB cable comes through the floorpan that it attaches to two cables that go to the drums. It looked like there was some sort of adjustment nut right there but i was too busy with my lt's to mess with it.

 

[Shakerhood]

so i cant adjust the e brake from under the console?

Correct, there is no adjustment in the console on the handle!