Im in the middle of a rotor swap... and now its time to adjust the ebrake.. Which way to turn to widen the brake shoes.. Ive tried both directions but it dosent seem to make a diff

 

Takes quite a few clicks.

 

Take the adjuster out, clean and lube it, you'll see what makes it work.

 

Chuck

 

The repair manual doesn't say, but looking at the diagram, you would need to ratchet the star adjuster in a clockwise direction,( bottom to top) to lengthen the adjuster. It's been too long since I've done it to remember, but I can tell you that when I got the car, the E brake was usless. I think it took abot 40 clicks untill I felt it drag, and then backed it off. BTW, this is not the GM approved method, but I didn't have special tool J21177-A.

This is the procedure listed for for my 99 corvette.

Park Brake Shoe Adjustment
Tools Required
J 21177-A Drum to Brake Shoe Clearance Gauge


Important
Adjustments are not normally necessary after replacing the park brake lever or cables. The park brake is adjusted automatically by cycling the park brake lever three or four times.
Never operate the park brake lever while the rotor is removed.

Remove the brake rotor. Refer to Brake Rotor Replacement - Rear in Disc Brakes.
Check if the brake drum inner diameter is within specifications.

Important
If the gap between the adjuster nut and screw exceeds 5 mm (0.25 in) during the adjustment procedure, the brake shoe assembly must be replaced.


Adjust the parking brake shoe-to-drum clearance to 0.38 mm (0.015 in) using J 21177-A .
Center the brake shoe.
Measure the brake shoe lining diameter across the horizontal centerline using J 21177-A . The diameter should measure 189.6 mm (7.464 in) to 189.8 mm (7.472 in).
Install the brake rotor.
Install two wheel nuts to retain the rotor. Tighten
Tighten the wheel nuts finger tight. Do not overtighten.

Cycle the park brake lever three times.
Rotate the rotor and check for drag. If drag is present check and adjust the shoe-to-drum clearance.
Install the rotor. Refer to Brake Rotor Replacement - Rear in Disc Brakes.

 

Are those procedures for a C5?

Cycling the handle does adjust the slack in the cable.

Nothing I've seen in the manual says that the parking brake shoe on a C5 adjusts via the parking brake lever and there is no setup on the star adjuster to rotate it via the cable.

 

Thanks for the good info. Saved it for future use.

 

That was the repair procedure for a 1999 Corvette taken from the GM SI manual. The procedure does not say that the star adjuster is rotated by pulling the E brake handle.
Pulling the E brake handle will adjust the cable, so after you get the brake shoe adjusters where you want them, you engage the E brake, to adjust the cable.

 

Ok.. love this board... the correct way jturns out to be .. turn the start wheel in the direction the expands the distance between the wheel and its body.... On the left side.. thats clock wise but when you change sides.. its reversed...

Thanks all

 

The line
reads like the brake lever does adjust the parking brake. Strange...

 

Yes. It certainly isn't very clear, which is probably why the procedure was rewritten for later model years. Apparently GM never went back and updated the procedure for the earlier model years.