C5 Emergency Brake Adjustments
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
C5 Emergency Brake Adjustments
My 2001 ZO6 emergency brake only holds the car on the very last "click" when pulling the hand lever. The car has only 30,000 miles on it and the brake pads have little or no wear and have acted this way as long as I can remember. Yes I have pulled the wheels and rotors and readjusted the e-brake pads fairly tight to the drums with little improvement. I can't believe there isn't a devise or cable adjustment to reduce the cable pull required to "hold" the vechicle. The cables are joined above the differential (nearly impossible to reach) and inspite of examining the cable joining "box" and finding all clean and operative I'm pretty much out of ideas.Other than the pads mentioned above I see no other adjustments.
Any thoughts?
Thanks, Ed O.
Any thoughts?
Thanks, Ed O.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,384
Likes: 87
From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
From the book:Cycle the park brake lever three times in order to obtain proper park brake cable tension.
Former Vendor
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 278
Likes: 17
From: Auburn/Dacula/Lawrenceville Georgia
Cycling the brake lever is not going to give you a stiff e-brake that holds the car still. It tightens up the tension on the cable itself a little, but it doesn't actually turn the adjuster on the e-brake shoes
Ed, it takes quite a few turns to make a difference on e-brake function. You also need to check and make sure you're spinning the adjuster in the right direction. Pull the rotors off again, and spin each adjuster in a clock wise rotation until the rotor is tough to get on and off. This make take 5-8 full rotations, sometimes more.
I tighten C5 ebrakes on a daily basis @ the shop since they're notorious for this issue. Unless the cable is broken for some odd reason, moving out the adjusters will fix the issue.
Ed, it takes quite a few turns to make a difference on e-brake function. You also need to check and make sure you're spinning the adjuster in the right direction. Pull the rotors off again, and spin each adjuster in a clock wise rotation until the rotor is tough to get on and off. This make take 5-8 full rotations, sometimes more.
I tighten C5 ebrakes on a daily basis @ the shop since they're notorious for this issue. Unless the cable is broken for some odd reason, moving out the adjusters will fix the issue.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 6,993
Likes: 25
BS, that just takes slack out of the cable. You have to pull the rotors and adjust the star wheel adjusters to get the E-brake right. Remember DRUM brakes???
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 22,182
Likes: 4,178
From: Kannapolis NC
He's already done that. It didn't help. He specifically asked how to take the slack out of the cable. If it's BS, I wonder why they put it in the manual. If it holds on the last click as he said, he may just need the cable tighter. It doesn't hurt to try what GM recommends. Why would you think taking the slack out of the cable was BS if his brake tightens at the top? Couldn't you just say, I doubt that would help? I do remember drum brakes, and no matter how tight you adjust the shoes to the drum, if the cable is loose they won't tighten.
Last edited by 65GGvert; Jan 22, 2012 at 05:24 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,683
Likes: 144
From: Memphis Tennessee
I thought that you could roll backwards, and cycle the handle to adjust the brake. I do this a couple times a year and always seem to have a good strong brake only using the middle area of the pull throw.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 987
Likes: 1
From: Braidwood Il.
He's already done that. It didn't help. He specifically asked how to take the slack out of the cable. If it's BS, I wonder why they put it in the manual. If it holds on the last click as he said, he may just need the cable tighter. It doesn't hurt to try what GM recommends. Why would you think taking the slack out of the cable was BS if his brake tightens at the top? Couldn't you just say, I doubt that would help? I do remember drum brakes, and no matter how tight you adjust the shoes to the drum, if the cable is loose they won't tighten.
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Instructor
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 137
Likes: 8
From: Dallas Tx
At the last car inspection, the guy was saying that the emergency brake didn't work - and would not pass inspection. I got in and pulled it and it did stop the car from moving so it passed after all.
Nice to know about that cycling that brake 3 times.
Thanks.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
There are 2 adjustments.
#1 is supposed to be an automatic racheting mechanism in the handle to adjust the cable slack. The handle doesn't know if the car is moving when you pull and release it...
#2 is the star wheels at the brake shoes. You must pull the rotors to adjust these, there is no automatic mechanism on them.
Peter
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 16,795
Likes: 62
From: Lake Havasu City, AZ
A fellow forum member has a web site with a DIY for both the parking brake cable service and adjusting the parking brakes via the star wheels
check out this link 3 & 4
http://www.ronjpics.com/Corvettestuff.htm
check out this link 3 & 4
http://www.ronjpics.com/Corvettestuff.htm
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,908
Likes: 10
From: Charleston SC
He's already done that. It didn't help. He specifically asked how to take the slack out of the cable. If it's BS, I wonder why they put it in the manual. If it holds on the last click as he said, he may just need the cable tighter. It doesn't hurt to try what GM recommends. Why would you think taking the slack out of the cable was BS if his brake tightens at the top? Couldn't you just say, I doubt that would help? I do remember drum brakes, and no matter how tight you adjust the shoes to the drum, if the cable is loose they won't tighten.
Good to get some valuable input once in a while, unlike the guy who told you to chill for no reason.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 22,182
Likes: 4,178
From: Kannapolis NC
Thanks, glad it worked. SunnyD95 (and a couple of others) just troll around making smart a$$ or criticizing comments and never attempt to address the issue or help in any way.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Thanks for the thoughts. I've set the shoes to drum clearances properly and with only 30,000 miles on the car the problem seems in the cables.This car has had this issue since new and I'm determined to get the cable pull feature set to a mid pull. Helps with the valets too to say the least.
Ed
Ed
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 87,357
Likes: 1,592
From: Western NY
I took my rotors off and adjusted the "star wheels", like the old drum brake adjusters. I got it so the e-brake handle has a little less travel than it originally had, but still toward the "full travel" end of the handle's range of motion. I'm a little afraid of getting them too snug. The shop manual shows a special measurement tool for doing this.
