FINALLY FIX your E-Brake!!!! - Pic's
 

These are easy to fix and probably one of the most misunderstood pieces of equipment in your car. There are TWO ratchet assemblys in the HANDLE. One for holding the handle in position and a seperate one for applying tension to the cable. The only "automatic adjuster" is in the handle and NOT the drum. The star adjuster in the drum is only for initial shoe adjustment when installing your rotor. If the pawl in the handle is lubricated properly, it will automatically adjust as the handle is normally operated, by the internal pawl grabbing the next tooth on the ratchet as the lining on the shoes wears over time.

I had my wife operate the Brake handle while I watched the cables where they hook up to the lever at the outside of the backing plate...there was NO movement at either wheel. So, the problem had to be in the handle. Thanks go to 'Fast one' who pointed out that the handle has a ratchet system FOR THE CABLE tension. It gets dirty and needs to be cleaned and lubed. First remove the console to be able to remove the E-brake boot. Go here to see how to do this: http://www.vetteessentials.com/instr...zel_howto.html
You only have to go thru stepf 3F to do what is required. It takes about a half hour. After you have the E-brake boot loosened (2 10mm nuts) and pulled up, remove the passenger seat by unscrewing the four 15mm nuts that hold the seat and unplug the power to the seat. Then pull back the carpet from the handle assembly to reveal the 3 mounting screws. (#40 Torx screw) Disconnect the E-brake warning light connector and remove the three mounting screws...they are very tight:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../ebrake005.jpg
Next, rotate the assembly to see the side where the internal ratchet assy is. You will see the pawl that is most likely frozen open, like mine was.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../ebrake006.jpg
I used acetone to break the old grease free and clean the pawl and spring assembly. Then I lubed it with some very slick machine oil that I had and worked the pawl back and forth untill it was totally free. The pawl should rest on the ratchet teeth as shown in this picture:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../ebrake007.jpg
Reassemble and enjoy the difference! Thanks to all who helped me diagnose this problem.
Note: I should add here, that although my original problem was the handle not putting any tension on the cables at all, the car now holds, but still does not hold like it should. It is because of the condition of the shoes, which is a seperate issue. On my car, the shoes have plenty of lining and are adjusted properly, but since the handle did not work, the parking brake had not been used for years and as a result, the linings (although thick) look very nasty. I ran the car up the driveway with the E-brake partially applied to try and seat the shoes properly, and it seemed to help a little. Hopefully over the weekend I will see some improvement with further use.

:cool: :cheers:

:thumbs:

awsome!

red

i did the same exact thing.....so many people think that you need to adjust it at the wheels when it is most likely that white glue they call grease :(

The other tip is to grind the lip caused by rust and wear off the rear rotors.Proper parking brake shoe to rotor surface clearance can not possibly be achieved unless you grind the lip off the rotor surface :thumbs:

:thumbs: :cheers:

I am pleased to report that after a couple days of use, the E brake is starting to hold much better. After years of non use because of the frozen pawl in the handle, the linings are now starting to seat and the brake is holding the car much better. woo hoo...!!!

Thanks for the info but, I thought the issues with the E-brake were not that it wasn't racheting but that it just won't hold the car properly.

Great pics, thanks. The Ebrake still sux on this car even when properly adjusted :mad:

I did this fix to mine and it works great :thumbs:

You can try to adjust the shoes all you want, but if that internal ratchet pawl is frozen open, your brake WILL NOT WORK. Mine (as well as many others) still had the factory grease that turned in to glue over time. This ratchet assy is not the same one that clicks when you pull the handle up. It provides self adjusting tension to the cables and if that pawl (as shown in the second pic) is open, there will be no tension applied to the cables when you pull the handle.

:thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

Thanks for sharing....probably my current problem.
:cheers:

damn nice !

Thanks for going through the effort to take pics and post a how-to on the forum. It's already a time waster to do repairs, and I know that taking detailed pics at the same time slows it down even more.

:cheers:

Now I understand, thanks! Now why couldn't GM have come out with a TSB to let people know this?

I'm not surprised at all. In my '98 service manual, the most I could find on this subject was how to remove the handle for replacement. Any references to E-brake adjustment, was addressed to the shoes/drum assy, and not trouble in the handle. Basically, it cost me nothing to fix except time, and I stone gaurantee you, that GM would have charged for a new handle assy. Credit for this fix goes to CF member 'Fast one' for pointing this out to me. :cheers:

You're one class act for sharing the credit, but as Mercury mentioned, you deserve a lot for the time put into the instructions and pictures here.

Props to ya :thumbs:

Thanks for sharing.

I'm going to tackle mine this weekend.

:cheers:

Great find! I am going to look at mine now. I have tried to adjust at the rotors. Only made a tiny improvement.

Thaks for the effort :thumbs:

I had my car inspected last month after I bought it and got an advise on the e-brake. It doesn't work for forward motion and doesn't work as well as it should for forward motion. Do the symptoms sound like they will be fixed with this write up?

Thanks,

UT-Driven