Parking Brake

[Shlamden]

Anyone have an idea why my parking brake pedal would be stiff as a board? Ive tried adjusting it in the rear by the diff like the book I have says but nothing changes at all. I pull that little locking tab down and nothing happens. Is there more to it? Would stretching the cable somehow have this result? Im not sure how/when/why but one of my cables goes over my sway bar n the other goes under? Would not be surprised if it got stretched but would that cause the pedal to not want to travel at all?

 

[Grog6]

If you pull the clip off at the rear,is the pedal free? There's a spring at the rear, you should be ableto move the cable a few inches with the clip off. Your cable may be rusted up, or need lube. I used the same lube and tool I use on my bikes.

 

[Shlamden]

If you pull the clip off at the rear,is the pedal free? There's a spring at the rear, you should be ableto move the cable a few inches with the clip off. Your cable may be rusted up, or need lube. I used the same lube and tool I use on my bikes.

It is not free when the clip is pulled down. It might be rusted its been raining here and Ive been carpooling with my wife so its not being driven or used much. There would be no need to disconnect the cables if they were rusted right?

 

[Zep5.0]

Mine froze a couple decades ago. Basically rusted enough to not allow for movement.

 

[KevinVarnes]

Do you regularly use your parking brake? The parking brake on most cars with automatic transmission cars never gets used. You live in California so you might have a chance that it isn't rusted. Usually when that happens it is easier to just replace the cables. Freeing them up is usually an exercise in futility.

 

[Shlamden]

Whats the orientation of the lines in the back? Like I said I have one going over and the other going under the sway bar. No clue why but I know I should fix that.

 

[Shlamden]

Do you regularly use your parking brake? The parking brake on most cars with automatic transmission cars never gets used. You live in California so you might have a chance that it isn't rusted. Usually when that happens it is easier to just replace the cables. Freeing them up is usually an exercise in futility.

It got used semi-often, I park on slopes at home sometimes and at work. Im not sure when this started since Ive been carpooling and driving this maybe 1-2 times a week for the past 3-4 months.

 

[theterminator93]

I occasionally use it when I have the car in the air and one of the rear wheels is still on the ground. Helps steady the car a little. I also have been known to use it when I have new rotors/pads on the rear brakes. I just drive around for a little while with the e-brake applied, then release it and cruise for a while to cool them off. The speedy and easy version of bedding in the brakes.

Also check to be sure there's nothing jamming the pedal or stuck along the path of the cable. I seem to recall someone had a similar problem and something was blocking the pedal.

There are two brackets welded to the back of the IRS subframe where the two cables for each rear wheel are fixed, then the self adjuster mechanism between them. The cable from the front attaches in the middle (via the adjuster) and goes above the top of the subframe on its way towards the front, along the inside of the pinch weld for the rocker and floor pan. At no point does the e-brake cable go above the sway bar.

 

[XR7-4.6]

About 5 feet behind the transmission* The adjuster is behind the differential at the back of the IRS.

Is it stiff and unmovable disengaged? Or engaged when you're trying to press and release it? I don't see any way a stretched cable would cause this, it would be the opposite actually, it's possible the cable got loose on one of the mount tabs and the end of the cable tab is being pressed against the body tab, causing the cable to be too tight? Look along the driver side inner rocker as well as the back of the IRS, as those are the tab locations.

The cables should be going under the sway bar, you might be putting extra tension on the side going over