parking brake adjustment 1997 GT

Swede2 · Oct 9, 2006

Asked a shop to adjust the parking brake since the braking effect was too weak. What they did was to change the brake pads ?! and the parking brake is now even worse? Is there a way to fix this myself?

Mustang5L5 · Oct 9, 2006

There is no adjustement. The only adjustment is internal inside the calipers.

To adjust you need to set and release the e-brake several times withouth putting your foot on the service brake.

If the pads are fresh, give them some time to bed in. WHen it comes to e-brakes, the more you use it the better it is

GDawg · Oct 9, 2006

There was a recall a long time ago because the e-brake handle would come up way too high and they (Ford) couldn't guarantee that the brake would hold. I took mine to Ford to fix it and eventhough the handle doesn't go up as high, there is now side to side play. Not that any of this info will help your situation but I just thought you should know.

Swede2 · Oct 10, 2006

Many thanks for your input. I will try the set/release trick.

Swede2 · Oct 10, 2006

Hi. I have now tried the set/release trick and it makes no difference. I dont think the tightness of the cable is the main problem, I can only move the handle about two thirds of the travel as judged by the length of the slit in which the handle sits. The problem is more that I can not make the brakes engage hard enough.

The problem is further accentuated by the fact that the authorities around here require the brakes to be able to hold the vehicle in a 17% slope. That is in the order of what you will find in the steeper streets of San francisco. Futher, it is among the things they actually check every year so the car will be banned from driving within two weeks if I cant fix this.

Help!

Mustang5L5 · Oct 10, 2006

Swede2 said:
The problem is further accentuated by the fact that the authorities around here require the brakes to be able to hold the vehicle in a 17% slope. That is in the order of what you will find in the steeper streets of San francisco. Futher, it is among the things they actually check every year so the car will be banned from driving within two weeks if I cant fix this.

Help!

That blows. The Mustang e-brake definitely can hold that as my driveway is a 45* angle almost and my parking brake holds fine. I usually set in it gear but there have been times i walked out to my car to discover i left it on that slope in nuetral all weekend long.

I don't want to start suggesting you replace parts without being 100% sure. If you pull the e-brake up while driving (do it in a parking lot or somewhere safe) do you feel the drag on the car or do you notice no effect?

Could be stretched cables causing this, but you say the handle goes up 2/3 of the way? How many clicks up til it starts to grab? My e-brake begins to hold firm at 3 clicks and is fully secure at 4 clicks.

Another possibility is the mechanism inside the caliper is not engaging fully, but that would require replacing the rear calipers and that is a last resort effort and also less likely

I'm also not sure your year is included in the e-brake recall. I thought that only covered 99-01 models, but i could be wrong

46gtsblown · Oct 10, 2006

I have the same issue, very weak parking brake.
I am going to remove the pads and brake cables on the rear caliper and carefully apply some wd40 to the parking brake mechanism. Then exersize the hell out of the thing to free it up. I am sure it is just rust making the thing difficult, so no matter how much pressure you apply it is not getting to the pads thus not holding.

Dwayne

1low03gt · Oct 10, 2006

I know on the 5.0L's there is an adjusting nut at the base of the barking brake assembly(under the center consil).I had the same problem with my ol' 5.0L back in the day when i did the rear brakes,and remembered there was an adjusting nut when i had the center consil out when i shampooed the carpet.
I'm pretty sure Ford would've basically left the same design on the '94 plus.Worth a check.

Swede2 · Oct 11, 2006

Mustang5L5 said:
I don't want to start suggesting you replace parts without being 100% sure. If you pull the e-brake up while driving (do it in a parking lot or somewhere safe) do you feel the drag on the car or do you notice no effect?

Yes I feel the drag from the parking brake. It is hard to make the car stop but it finally comes to a stop.

Mustang5L5 said:
Could be stretched cables causing this, but you say the handle goes up 2/3 of the way? How many clicks up til it starts to grab? My e-brake begins to hold firm at 3 clicks and is fully secure at 4 clicks.

On mine it is more like it starts to grab at 7 clicks and I can not force it to more than 10 clicks. Still limited brake effect

46gtsblown said:
I am sure it is just rust making the thing difficult, so no matter how much pressure you apply it is not getting to the pads thus not holding.

It calipers are quite rusty. The shop said that they freed up a moving part that had rusted.

Do you know what exactly the recall was about?

Mustang5L5 · Oct 11, 2006

1low03gt said:
I'm pretty sure Ford would've basically left the same design on the '94 plus.Worth a check.

You would think that but no. They got rid of the adjusting nut.

That nut was due to the drum brakes, on the disk brake setups the adjustment is internal to the calipers

1low03gt · Oct 11, 2006

Bastages!!!!

Swede2 · Oct 12, 2006

The car passed! Thank you so much for your input.

Regarding the recall 00S37 Park Brake Control Assembly; Is it worthwhile doing it?

1low03gt · Oct 12, 2006

Cool,awesome stuff!!!

Mustang5L5 · Oct 12, 2006

Swede2 said:
Regarding the recall 00S37 Park Brake Control Assembly; Is it worthwhile doing it?

It depends? Do you want a good e-brake?

I would just do it

parking brake adjustment 1997 GT

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