Emergency brake not working

[Andy Corwin]

Took my 97 Explorer 4WD in for state inspection. They just called and said the emergency brake isn't working. Pushed the pedal all the way in and it rolls downhill. I live in the flat lands and I can honestly say I don't ever remember using my emergency brake. Any ideas what I'm looking at as far as a repair? I hope it's something fairly easy and simple. My fear is they are going to say everything needs to be replaced.

 

[rizzjc]

It's just brake shoes in the back. I think you can adjust the shoes, but you can adjust the cable too. Otherwise new brake shoes, which are cheap, and a fairly easy DIY with some cursing when the spring flies across the garage.

 

[koda2000]

Could be a broken cable (the one on the driver's side sometimes snaps), could be the shoes are out of adjustment, could be the linings have come off the parking brake shoes, could be rusted up parking brake linkage parts, as you live where they salt the roads and you hardly ever use the parking brake.

Most likely one of the first 3 possibilities with the 4th thrown in for good measure.

The parking brake shoes are a PITA to replace because you have very little space to work behind the axle flanges. You might want to pay someone to fix them.

 

[96eb96]

Good suggestions above, there are many points of failure.
If it was never used the internal mechanism and levers could be rust welded. It is a real pain to get them apart.
Look at your passenger side cable near the axle were it is hooked to a support. If the sheath is damaged the cable will seize up due to rust locking. There are other areas where the sheath could wear too. Aftermarket cables are horrible, and I warranty mine every few years. Not sure if you can get factory ones anymore, but it may be worth it if you keep the truck.

Once the above happens the cable can lock a brake shoe and wear it down to metal. Then the inner drum can get damaged too, and you need a new rotor. And the shoes are something I remember watching the tech change when I got my truck many years ago, took him 3 hours with a lot of swearing, the rotors were rusted and he didn't want to destroy the axles. I changed them again because he didn't grease the levers properly, was a real crappy job.

May be worth to pay a pro to fix this. The biggest killer of parking brakes is not using them. 1890s technology, and a real pain to deal with.

 

[CDW6212R]

Great answers guys, all of them. Take it all apart, with new parking brake pads and hardware in hand, and see what else needs to be replaced. Use the parking brake most of the time if you can, that will help them to work and last a long time.

 

[drdoom]

As posted above the actuating arms are likely rusted together. 1Aauto has a video on YouTube that will likely help you understand what is going on. They show how to free them up using a helper in the truck and a hammer and punch at the wheel.

 

[Andy Corwin]

Thanks everyone for the help. The rear shoes just needed a good cleaning-out and adjusting. The state inspection, 2 bulb replacements and the brake adjustments and I got out for $80. I'm good for another year!

 

[drdoom]

Very fair price.

 

[lobo411]

Just because you live in a flat area doesn't mean you don't need to use the parking brake. You've got two methods of preventing a car from rolling away: #1, the parking brake, which uses $20 friction pads to keep the car from rolling away. #2, the transmission, which uses a pawl to keep the car from rolling away. A trans costs a bit more than $20!

 

[CDW6212R]

Just because you live in a flat area doesn't mean you don't need to use the parking brake. You've got two methods of preventing a car from rolling away: #1, the parking brake, which uses $20 friction pads to keep the car from rolling away. #2, the transmission, which uses a pawl to keep the car from rolling away. A trans costs a bit more than $20!

Ditto, and if you ever saw the trans parking pawl up close, you would try to use the parking brake as much as possible. That pawl is relatively small to hold the entire weight of a vehicle.

 

[drdoom]

Ditto, and if you ever saw the trans parking pawl up close, you would try to use the parking brake as much as possible. That pawl is relatively small to hold the entire weight of a .

+1 And if your transfer case fails there is nothing else to hold the vehicle other than the parking brake. Ask me how I know.

 

[96eb96]

Yes, legally (in NY anyway) you are supposed to set the brake when parking. It is checked with inspection. On an incline I'll set it in N, so it can take up any slack before the parking pawl does.

 

[Tedybear]

Upstate NY has the expected road salt and other cable killing nasty stuff. (much like Albany LOL)

Picture the fun I had when the dealership brought our 95' in for inspection and the brake switch recall (the last owner ignored the recall notices). It's the 5 speed standard. The service yoyo drove it into the shop and said "This hasn't got a lot of power....." My reply? "Disengage the parking brake!" I just replaced all 4 brakes, rotors, pads, shoes, hardware..and a wheel seal in the rear end to boot! And this guy drives it into the shop dragging the rear end around with the parking brake on.

S-