Emergency Brake Adjustment
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
From: Vestal NY
Emergency Brake Adjustment
Can anyone tell how to adjust the emergency brake in my C5? Seems to have to much slack in it. When I pull it up all the way, the brakes are not fully set. Any help would be appreciated. :confused:
Racer
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 338
Likes: 1
From: Orlando FL
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (DJPit)
The dealer ripped me and charged me $85. They said it was due to normal wear and tear (only had about 20K on the car!). If you get the instructions, please forward to me too.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,525
Likes: 1
From: Santa Cruz Mountains CA
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (DJPit)
The ebrake are drum brakes that fit inside the rear disks. The 'normal' way to adjust these is to remove the wheel, the brake capliper, the disk. You'll then see the drum ebrakes which are a single piece with two pads mounted on it. There is a star adjuster that is turned to spread the pads apart. Adjust the star and put the disk back on until it feels about right. Do the same to the other side.
When I did mine I left it a little loose cause I didn't want to burn up any more pad than I had too. Now my ebrake comes up most, but not all of the way, and it holds much better.
This is truly a PITA. I saw a picture on this forum of a guy who drilled access holes in his rear discs so that he could adjust the ebrake with out having to remove anything. Except for the fact I thought it looked ugly, it is a clever idea and probably works well.
[Modified by Pipes, 11:33 AM 10/16/2003]
When I did mine I left it a little loose cause I didn't want to burn up any more pad than I had too. Now my ebrake comes up most, but not all of the way, and it holds much better.
This is truly a PITA. I saw a picture on this forum of a guy who drilled access holes in his rear discs so that he could adjust the ebrake with out having to remove anything. Except for the fact I thought it looked ugly, it is a clever idea and probably works well.
[Modified by Pipes, 11:33 AM 10/16/2003]
Racer
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 424
Likes: 0
From: Va, Beach VA
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (Pipes)
I tried a method that was on this forum and it worked..Grab the e.brake handle and pull it up fast 2 or 3 times(quickly). Worked for me.......the only issue to keep it from getting a safety inspection.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
Likes: 906
From: Lake Elsinore, CA
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (DJPit)
If the quick adjust method listed above doesn't work, your ebrake is probably too far out of adjustment to avoid the pita method - namely, taking off the rear wheels / brake rotors and manually adjusting it. Once you get access, the method of old applies. Turn the little star gears to adjust the shoes in or out.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 24,333
Likes: 1
From: VA
St. Jude Donor '03-'11
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (DJPit)
More than likely you will have trouble breaking the big caliper bolts loose. I ended up only adjusting the driver side... I manage to break that side loose by using my hydraulic jack on the wrench. No such luck on the passenger side :(. But even with that, the car actually holds on a hill, which is a big improvement.
BTW, the recommendation (I believe from the manual, but i don't have one) is that once you get the caliper bolts off, you have to replace them with new ones. I just used lock-tite and put my old ones back.
Good luck.
BTW, the recommendation (I believe from the manual, but i don't have one) is that once you get the caliper bolts off, you have to replace them with new ones. I just used lock-tite and put my old ones back.
Good luck.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
From: Vestal NY
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (DJPit)
Thanks Guys! :D
The e-brake handle pump procedure worked fine after about 10-15 guick pulls with the button held in. Two or three quick pulls did not work. More is better in this case!
The e-brake handle pump procedure worked fine after about 10-15 guick pulls with the button held in. Two or three quick pulls did not work. More is better in this case!
Pro
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 537
Likes: 1
From: Elkton MD
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (DJPit)
Try this. It worked great for me when I had no engagement whatsoever. Just pump the brake pedal 2 to 3 times (and hold it down) just before you pull the emergency brake.
[Modified by Old Timer, 2:56 AM 10/15/2003]
[Modified by Old Timer, 2:56 AM 10/15/2003]
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Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 21,325
Likes: 3,841
From: small town in S.E Pa. PA
St. Jude Donor '03-'04
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (DJPit)
The pull the handle up three or four times only takes slack out of the cable.. it doesn not effect the adjustment of the shoes... in any way... doing this more is not better... it only stretches out the cable again.. The Ebrake is designed to "HOLD" the car when stopped, therefore the shoes should never wear... the problem is... few ebrakes are adjusted correctly from the factory. I did mine once 40,000 miles ago, and 4 years ago and my ebrake can stop my car doing 30 miles an hour.. IT should be a one time adjustment..if you do it right, and you dont ride with your ebrake partially engaged,.,,anyone who needs a clearer picture of this.. IM me ...
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 3,326
Likes: 0
From: Taylor TX
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (Patches)
I had to adjust mine recently too.
I found a significant problem - the driver side brake cable was disconnected at the equalizer bracket, so that side could never work. Fixing that is a PITA cause you gotta remove the passenger side muffler to get to the bracket.
Then I just had to adjust them. After all this, they work better than it EVER has since new. I think I got the driver side too tight though, because I have a little brake squeak with the e-brake released when I'm moving.
I found a significant problem - the driver side brake cable was disconnected at the equalizer bracket, so that side could never work. Fixing that is a PITA cause you gotta remove the passenger side muffler to get to the bracket.
Then I just had to adjust them. After all this, they work better than it EVER has since new. I think I got the driver side too tight though, because I have a little brake squeak with the e-brake released when I'm moving.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 781
Likes: 4
From: Reno Nevada
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (DJPit)
Guys, I had the same trouble – 99 Vert.
My Chevy dealer told me the back-up-pull the parking brake handle method will work, it doesn’t.
(Like the “old” drum brake cars, back up-slam the brake pedal. This would put some backward torque against the drum assembly and move the star adjusted one click.)
This does NOT work on C5 Corvettes.
You must pull the wheel, caliper and rotor, then you can easily adjust the parking brake “shoe”. Yea, those caliper bolts are TIGHT, and not much room to move the wrench handle under the car.
Took about 1hr for the first side, about 20 min for the other.
I’m in a local club – 125 cars, 75 C5s, after taking a quick poll, maybe 5% of the cars had parking brakes that worked at all. (Of the guys with Automatic Transmissions, most had never even pulled their brake handle; still most didn’t work).
ART
[Modified by Arthur6, 8:00 AM 10/15/2003]
My Chevy dealer told me the back-up-pull the parking brake handle method will work, it doesn’t.
(Like the “old” drum brake cars, back up-slam the brake pedal. This would put some backward torque against the drum assembly and move the star adjusted one click.)
This does NOT work on C5 Corvettes.
You must pull the wheel, caliper and rotor, then you can easily adjust the parking brake “shoe”. Yea, those caliper bolts are TIGHT, and not much room to move the wrench handle under the car.
Took about 1hr for the first side, about 20 min for the other.
I’m in a local club – 125 cars, 75 C5s, after taking a quick poll, maybe 5% of the cars had parking brakes that worked at all. (Of the guys with Automatic Transmissions, most had never even pulled their brake handle; still most didn’t work).
ART
[Modified by Arthur6, 8:00 AM 10/15/2003]
Former Vendor
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,703
Likes: 1
From: Defending the US Constitution in Northern CA
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (DJPit)
After doing the PITA adjustment, you can keep it in adjustment by letting the car roll backward, and lifting the parking brake handle 3-4 times. Optimum adjustment is with the handle about half way up when fully engaged.
$85 bucks seems about right as the PITA proceedure takes about 3/4 hour to do both sides and most dealers round up. At that point you might as well spring for some new brake pads as the labor is about the same as there are only two more steps involved.
$85 bucks seems about right as the PITA proceedure takes about 3/4 hour to do both sides and most dealers round up. At that point you might as well spring for some new brake pads as the labor is about the same as there are only two more steps involved.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 21,325
Likes: 3,841
From: small town in S.E Pa. PA
St. Jude Donor '03-'04
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (C5stein)
After doing the PITA adjustment, you can keep it in adjustment by letting the car roll backward, and lifting the parking brake handle 3-4 times. Optimum adjustment is with the handle about half way up when fully engaged.
$85 bucks seems about right as the PITA proceedure takes about 3/4 hour to do both sides and most dealers round up. At that point you might as well spring for some new brake pads as the labor is about the same as there are only two more steps involved.
$85 bucks seems about right as the PITA proceedure takes about 3/4 hour to do both sides and most dealers round up. At that point you might as well spring for some new brake pads as the labor is about the same as there are only two more steps involved.
Former Vendor
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,703
Likes: 1
From: Defending the US Constitution in Northern CA
Re: Emergency Brake Adjustment (Evil-Twin)
Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was referring to the actual brake pads, not the parking brake shoe (as I've only seen one parking brake shoe wear out). My fuzzy logic was that if you were going to pay a mechanic $85 to adjust your parking brake and a new set of rear brake pads go for about $75 and you wouldn't incur any additional labor cost to change them at the same time, it may save you $85 down the road when you need to replace the rear pads assuming the pads on the car were showing 50% or more in wear.
