Parking Brake Help

[drm12]

Hello,

I am a new member of this forum, although I have read through it often. I am having a problem with the barking brake on my '05 V8 and cannot seem to find the answer in previous posts.

My Parking Brake will not hold on an incline or even when the car is placed in Drive on a flat surface. The other day, I completely replaced the drum hardware (shoes, springs, adjuster) as everything was rusted badly. The mechanism seems to work okay as everything was moving. I backed the adjuster off until there was no rubbing, replaced the rotors (which I replaced a few months ago) and applied the parking brake. The wheel seemed tight by hand (I know this does not mean much, but the shoes were at least expanding against it). However, after getting everything back together, when I engage my brake, I still have no holding power.

One more piece of information is that I have heard that to remove slack from the parking brake cable, you can pull on the cable from under the car and place a drill bit into the pedal mechanism to keep it in place. However, I cannot pull any slack from the pedal mechanism. In fact, I can pretty much place the drill bit into it now in its usual retracted position. The pedal mechanism seems to fully retract when released, but when I step on the pedal, there is no clicking. I feel resistance (movement), but no clicking.

Does anyone have any ideas? I have heard that the cables can stretch, but I would rather not just blindly replace everything.

Thanks for your help in advance and I am sorry this is such a long post!

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Wills05xlt4x4]

Is the pedal staying down when pressed or does it come right back up like the lock is not holding it?

it sounds like the lock mechanism is not engaging unless I am reading it wrong

 

[drm12]

Is the pedal staying down when pressed or does it come right back up like the lock is not holding it?

it sounds like the lock mechanism is not engaging unless I am reading it wrong

Thanks for the reply. The pedal will stay down, but I do not hear the series of clicks that I used to on the way down.

Upon releasing the brake (by pulling the release lever), the pedal comes all the way back up.

 

[1Bad04]

Sounds like you need to adjust the shoes out. I had to punch out the "knock out" section of the backing plate to gain access to the adjuster. You can then adjust the shoes out until they start to drag (with the pedal released). This should put them into position so they will actually work when the brake is set.

As for the drill bit thing, I think that is to release the pressure on the cable/shoes so you can get the rotor off (according to Haynes). I never figured out how to do it though.

 

[drm12]

Sounds like you need to adjust the shoes out. I had to punch out the "knock out" section of the backing plate to gain access to the adjuster. You can then adjust the shoes out until they start to drag (with the pedal released). This should put them into position so they will actually work when the brake is set.

As for the drill bit thing, I think that is to release the pressure on the cable/shoes so you can get the rotor off (according to Haynes). I never figured out how to do it though.

I actually did the adjustment with the rotors off. I would turn the adjuster and then put the rotors back on. I did this until the pads would interfere with the rotor and then I backed off until the rotor went on without any interference. I guess I could try to perform the same proceedure again, as the initial interference I could have felt may have been the result of the pads not sitting exactly as they should. They should now be seated properly though. I will try the adjustment again and see if it helps.

The fact that I cannot pull any slack down from the parking break pedal mechanism just seems odd to me. It sounds like I should be able to pull slack from the pedal, but can't. I am just wondering if it is a problem, and possible cause.

Thanks.

 

[1Bad04]

Here is a link to a PDF that will hopefully help. (Unfortunately, it comes with a pop-up)

Parking brake service