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After 21 years of flawless service the hand brake lever on my 94 is no longer dropping down after applying the brake. I didn't realize it and I have a golf ball size welt on my calf muscle now.
I can still apply the brake just fine and it has no problem holding the car as it should. It also disengages just fine. The only problem seems to be that after I apply it the lever remains up, won't drop down. I'll admit I haven't looked at the FSM yet but wanted to ask, is this likely just a case of dried up lubricant or more likely that something has failed?
Thanks for the link. I fear things may have become far worse. I was looking at it the other day and lifted the handle just a bit and the release button shot off. It didn't just fall out, it shot out. The semi-good news is that the brake is not engaged so the car is still operable. Looks like rain this Sunday which means I can put aside some time to finally remove the seat and look at the mechanism. I'll have to study the FSM between now and then.
My thread here didn't get a lot of love, but its fixed now and I thought I'd share the fix for someone down the road that might find this info useful. I'll start off by saying, rather surpisingly, the FSM was of no help. It brought me to the point of removing the hand brake mechanism as a unit but I didn't find any detail on servicing it. It seems they would have you replace the unit rather than repair.
I'll start off by describing my issue - hand brake has always worked just fine, then one day, it refused to go down to allow me to exit the car. Yes, I was doing it correctly. I was able to apply and then disengage the brake, just the lever would stay up. Then shortly after, the plastic release button shot off.
I won't go into detail on the first steps, that is removing the seat and the cover of the hand brake lever because those steps are covered in the FSM and are particularly easy.
So, all in all I had 2 problems. A lever that was stuck up and a detached release button. Turns out the 2 issues were both due to wear on the release rod.
I'll start with the end that pushes on the mechanism to release the brake when you press the button. For lack of a better term, the bent rod simply pushes on a pawl to release. This piece is also able to slip past the pawl which allows the lever to drop down while the brake is engaged. Right off the bat, you can see wear on the bent end from years of use. I think most of the wear is from the previous owner likely pressing the button hard BEFORE pulling up on the lever.
The next wear spot, on that same rod, was at the button end. There is a high spot meant to catch a loop in the plastic button. While the metal seemed ok, the plastic button likely had some wear. The button is spring loaded and once it no longer grabbed onto this high spot it was able to shoot off.
this is the mechanism still in the car, with the button missing and the pic beneath is after I pulled it apart, so you can see how the button would hook onto the rod.
From here, I knew the mechanism had to come out so I can repair the rod. There are 2 bolts holding the mechanism to the car, and don't forget about the wire for the idiot light in the dash. Once unbolted you can wiggle it around and get the parking cable off.
Here it is all broken down.
To repair the rod I filled in the worn spot at the release end with my MIG welder, then filed it down to the right shape.
welded-
and filed-
I added a spot weld at the button end to give the plastic something bigger to bite onto. The picture shows the button ready to slip on, just for reference. That wouldn't happen until the mechanism was reassembled, the button would go on as the last step.
From there I reassembled the mechanism and installed back into the car. Works like new again, cost me about an hour and a few pennies worth of welding consumables. Hopefully someone else can find this info useful.
....I learned a long time ago to remove the cover and lubricate once a year.
Early C4s (1984) are 31 years old, and the latest C4 (1996) is 19 years old. I'll wager very few e-brakes have ever been lubricated. Drove my '93 ruby for 12 years, and never considered lubricating the e-brake (dumb), probably, because I never used it.
Lubrication of the e-brake should be on the preventive maintenance list.
Early C4s (1984) are 31 years old, and the latest C4 (1996) is 19 years old. I'll wager very few e-brakes have ever been lubricated. Drove my '93 ruby for 12 years, and never considered lubricating the e-brake (dumb), probably, because I never used it.
Lubrication of the e-brake should be on the preventive maintenance list.
The FSM does not mention lubrication. Do you guys remove the plastic cover to lube the assembly, or just spray/drip lubricant through the lever slot? Which lubricant: engine oil, lithium, WD40....?
The FSM does not mention lubrication. Do you guys remove the plastic cover to lube the assembly, or just spray/drip lubricant through the lever slot? Which lubricant: engine oil, lithium, WD40....?
The cover is very easy to remove if you remove the seat cushion. A few drops of oil will do on the moving parts. From the factory it has white grease that gets dry and gummy over the years so if you just want to renew with grease it should last for some time. WD40 is a good short term fix but evaporates in a short time.
I didn't want to use anything that would accumulate too much dust/dirt. I used wd40. It seems 1x a year would be more than enough. It's easy to remove the seat bottom and cover.
I didn't want to use anything that would accumulate too much dust/dirt. I used wd40......
This product repels dirt (per the link info): DuPont Teflon Non-Stick Dry-Film Lubricant Aerosol Spray, 10 Oz. by DuPont See Amazon:
*Unique 100% dry-film Teflon coating and lubricant.
*Clean, long-lasting micro-thin, dirt-resistant coating effective from -100F to +500F.
*Uses proprietary resin-bonding technology for tight tolerance, metal-on-metal applications.
*Creates a thin, dirt-repelling, chemical-resistant coating.
*Safe for all surfaces does not contain silicone.
Funny - I already have a can of that exact stuff and can tell you it works incredibly well. I used it to coat the inside of my pellet stove hopper to prevent "funneling" (common problem with pellet stoves). I can vouch that it worked and eliminated that problem. Maybe I'll give it a try on the hand brake next time around.
After 21 years of flawless service the hand brake lever on my 94 is no longer dropping down after applying the brake. I didn't realize it and I have a golf ball size welt on my calf muscle now.
I can still apply the brake just fine and it has no problem holding the car as it should. It also disengages just fine. The only problem seems to be that after I apply it the lever remains up, won't drop down. I'll admit I haven't looked at the FSM yet but wanted to ask, is this likely just a case of dried up lubricant or more likely that something has failed?
Give it a stern talking to and let know it has no right to be stuck up, it's no better then any other part of the car.
Using the ebrake regularly will keep the cables moving. If not they have a habit of freezing up and not working or sticking on. Been there, done that and had to replace the cables.
Previous owner didn't use the hand brake. I lubed it as you suggested and the hand brake seems to work but I think the cables are froze. where can I purchase the correct cables for my 86 vert?
I have to keep a big screwdriver in the car for when the parking brake handle misbehaves. I haven't taken the time to take it all apart yet. Now I have a guide.
05-10-2015, 05:54 PM
Hand brake lever - stuck up
I learned a long time ago to remove the cover and lubricate once a year.
