E-Brake

[tenikiwon]

I have to park on an incline every night, about 15 degrees. My e-bake, like on all my cars has went out.

Can this be easily tightened, fixed, replaced.


I know in teh past I've been told everything under the sun from mechanics. On my Escort I tightened it, but it really didn't help unless you could take a Skylift jack and using it to pull hard enough.

I just thought I'd ask the "real" mechanics here. :exp:

Thanks guys

 

[JDraper]

Depends upon what is wrong with the brake. Could be the e-brake pads are worn out (the rear disc equipped explorers have drum pads for the e-brake installed inside the top hat area of the rear discs). You also may have stretched the cable out past the point of no return. If that's the case, a new cable is needed.

 

[Robert]

If the rear shoes are bad then the only way to fix it is to replace the shoes. If yours are like mine, all but one shoe had nothing but metal with no signs of the shoes. The shoes are very thin to begin with (about 1/8"). I have never driven with my E-Brake on so all I can figure is that they just fell apart over time. Replacing them sucked but can be done with regular tools.

If it is just the cable stretched slightly or the pads worn slightly (not much material for them to wear slightly though) then you can adjust them through an access hole in the backing plate. Pull out the oval rubber plug in the plate and make your adjustment just like any other drum brake setup. When I adjusted mine, I adjusted the star wheel until I noticed the resistance on the tire when I tried to turn it by hand (with the brake off). I then backed the adjuster wheel off a bit so no resistance could be felt. My parking brakes now start to grab at about 1/4 pedal and by 1/2 pedal are fully engaged.