Onebadelf

Is the parking brake on a C-4 suppose to hold the vehicle when in gear? I have replaced the whole parking brake hardware, adjusted according to specs. I can now get the car to hold when on a hill and need to know why it won't hold the vehicle when put in gear. Thanks for helping a new C-4 owner.

gbrtng

What year and what transmission?

Onebadelf

1984. The tranny is stock original.

c4cruiser

Could be that when the trans is in gear (I'm assuming you have an A4) there is more torque going thru the driveline that the parking brake can handle. Is this only going forward or does it also happen in reverse? When you say holding on a hill is the car pointed up or down the hill?

Surprisingly it doesn't take a lot of effort to hold a parked car on a hill. For example, a short piece of 2x4 against a tire will hold it on an incline. But it's easy to roll over the same piece of wood with the trans in gear and the engine just over idle speed.

Onebadelf

It happens in both forward and reverse gears, the car is sluggish to move, but it does still move. Hill holding is pointing up the hill, I didn't turn it around to try facing down the drive. Yesterday I put the car on jacks and checked the park brake. The drivers side will hold but the passenger side is still turning. I need to figure out why the one side won't hold. I have replaced the whole system from the handle back and adjusted according to the specs. Now I am stuck as to where to go next!!

Thanks for all the help.

c4cruiser

Does the cable to the passengers side move freely? Could be there is rust inside the housing or the cable is broken. You should be able to check for movement if the brake rotor has been removed.

If the driver side is locking the wheel and the passenger side turns, it's either an adjustment issue or a bad cable.

Did you follow the factory service manual for the parking brake adjustment procedure? If you are using the cheapie Haynes or Chilton manual you can get at any parts stores, the process show there may not be appropriate for the C4.

Onebadelf

The cable to the drivers side is operational, the passengers side is the side that does not respond. I took the entire hub off, disassembled, cleaned and reassembled. The hub seems operational. The only manual that I have is a Haynes manual. However, the parking brake seems pretty simple on the 84. Slack adjusters at the hubs and a cable adjuster at the cable split. Doesn't seem to have any sensors or other guides. Might have been sent the wrong main cable, will have to look into that. I was wondering if there was any adjustments that can be made at the brake handle. I didn't see any, but I might have missed it. I will see if I can locate a service manual and see if it states any different.

redrose

it's not a 'parking brake', it's an 'emergency' brake...intended to slow the car if the hydraulics fail...rusty or sandblasted drums (84-87) may hold better on a hill than used/polished if 'parking' service is desired...engine power will overcome the emergency brake in almost all VETTES ('professional' parking valets have proven that)

Onebadelf

@ redrose - Thanks for the education, maybe I need to try a different inspection station that understands what that brake is used for. It didn't pass last time because the brake would not hold the car when in gear.

onedef92

Did you follow the factory service manual for the parking brake adjustment procedure? If you are using the cheapie Haynes or Chilton manual you can get at any parts stores, the process show there may not be appropriate for the C4.

On the tangent tip, prices on the Factory Service Manuals for C4's are starting to drop damatically. I copped a complete, very gently-used, two-volume set for $50 bones last week on Ebay.

AGENT 86

Maybe using the FSM method will help.

http://members.shaw.ca/agent86/Parki...Adjustment.pdf