New gal on the scene needs some help!

[tsaleen]

I bought a 2000 Saleen a few months back and the original owner had Baer brakes installed. Since installation, the emergency brake has never worked. The emergency brake acts like it wants to work and the cables appear to want to work underneath the car, but there's not enough pressure being put to hold the car from rolling. Any suggestions? Any info would be great!

 

[Beau]

i always thought the e-brake was a cable linkage, unlike the regular brakes, which are hydraulic..so if this is the case, the problem could be loose cables, or a bad linkage somewhere. but i'm not a mechanic so i can't be certain

 

[stallion98gt]

loose cable..get it tighten at any ford dealership..they did mine for free...My 98 used to role from the driveway if I wasn't using 1st gear..

 

[68 & 00 GT]

I've noticed mine is not very strong either. It seems to work OK while the car is stopped, but it's definately not strong enough to stop the car, or drag the rear tires. No e-brake slides . It's been like that since new. Does you e-brake handle get hard to pull up ?

 

[tsaleen]

The e-brake is extremely hard to pull up; what sucks is that in order to put the top down, I have to pull the e-brake up so it's a real pain in my ass. Plus, I can never leave it running without having my foot on the brake pedal. I'll have the cables checked out. I appreciate your help guys.

 

[JonJon]

Check with Ford... there was a safety recall like 3-4 years ago regarding the parking brake not holding...

 

[tsaleen]

The previous owner gave me all of his paperwork on the car and when I looked through it, I found the recall and an invoice from being repaired. He told me that it stopped working after the Baer brake system was installed which was after that so I'm not sure that it has to do with the recall anymore.

 

[JonJon]

aah. I doubt they had Ford install the Baer brakes but if they did tell Ford the parking brake doesn't work.

I'd probably just go to Ford and ask them anyways.

 

[tsaleen]

Probably my best bet.....It's been in the garage most of the winter, but I'd like to get it working before it warms up. We've had nothing but snow, sleet, rain, and sandy/salty roads here in VA lately. Can't wait for summertime!!

 

[JonJon]

I visited my aunt in her her place in VA in December. Love the gigantic 4 lane divided main roads.

 

[mo_dingo]

:OT:, if you want to raise/lower the top, all you need to do is get the e-brake up enough to where the brake light turns on (brake light in the dash that is).

I usually pull it up 1 click, and lower the top. It's nice to be able to drop the top while your driving!
Scott

 

[Sam98]

I bought a 2000 Saleen a few months back and the original owner had Baer brakes installed. Since installation, the emergency brake has never worked. The emergency brake acts like it wants to work and the cables appear to want to work underneath the car, but there's not enough pressure being put to hold the car from rolling. Any suggestions? Any info would be great!

Sounds like the brake install was botched, I'd look for the emergency brake cables being mis routed, or pinched somewhere.

 

[tsaleen]

:OT:, if you want to raise/lower the top, all you need to do is get the e-brake up enough to where the brake light turns on (brake light in the dash that is).

I usually pull it up 1 click, and lower the top. It's nice to be able to drop the top while your driving!
Scott

Thanks for the advice Scott. The e-brake is so hard to pull up though that I can only get one click out of it. Maybe after I have the cables checked out, it will work better. I appreciate the info though!

 

[tsaleen]

Sounds like the brake install was botched, I'd look for the emergency brake cables being mis routed, or pinched somewhere.

That could definitely be it.......thanks for the info!