E brake not holding well (Images inside)

ASSISTANCE Suspension, Brakes & Wheels
1

Consulted this thread: http://www.g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?&threadid=82140

With the car in D, the brake has trouble holding car stationary, it must be pulled as far up as possible, I mean STRAINING to hold.

Same applies with N on an incline - pulled up all the way.

Rotating the adjusting screw does NOT help matters. All it has done is increase or decrease the angle at which the brake handle stops when fully pulled. Braking grip is not affected.

And why is it the cable equalizer is not straight but angled to one side?

ENGAGED:

DISENGAGED:

Notice the black marks on the cables. If you were to push down on the higher side of the equalizer, so that it’s perpendicular to the cables, it would make both black marks equal length.

Any thoughts as to why my ebrake is weak?

2

Guessing by the cable difference, I would think you might have stretched/broken the right side cable. Or a bracket or something down at the calipers might be bent. If the one side is loose enough, it might let the equalizer bend far enough that the other side does not get full tension either.

3

Hm that makes a lot of sense. I’ll check out the pins. I was hoping it was something I can adjust without gettin dirty :wink:

4

most likly a broken cable…thats the way it was in my freinds civic…

5

I raised the rear, and removed both locking pins and bolts that attached to the caliper. I then pulled the Ebrake up as far as it would go. I then studied the lengths that each brake cable moved away from the disengaged position. The driver cable moved a lot, and the passenger cable moved about 50% less. However, I was not able to easily move the wheel via lugnut bolts. So the cables do work, it just looks like the passenger one is stretched. It isn’t an immediate concern, so I will just hold out longer until I can afford new cables and then install them.

Thanks for the insight :slight_smile:

6

No problem. One advantage to the auto - you don’t really need the e-brake too much;)

7

Yeah… but I don’t like the car “resting” on the transmission so I lock the brakes before putting the car into Park.

8

My car is in exactly the same situation. I’m pretty sure one of the cables is quite stretched. But they’re about $60 or 70 CAD each, and I really have many other things that money could go towards. :slight_smile:

9

A friend’s driveway is on such a hill that one time I parked facing down the hill (normally I park facing perpendicular to the downhill). I set my e-brake and took my foot off the brakes with left still on the clutch, and the car started to slide down the hill on the loose gravel and stuff.

10

I’m having the same problem also, where would I go about buying new cables other than the dealer? Also, can anybody give a walk through on the cable installation?? Thanks in advance.

Matt

11

You can go to Advance Auto Parts or autozone and they can order some for ya.

12

Ahh! That picture is exactly what i was talking about in the thread that you found. I haven’t gotten around to replacing the cables yet but want to do it very soon. The ebrake is very very important. A couple years ago my master cylinder failed with no warning (no sinking pedal, just 100% brake failure) and i would have been very screwed if i had no ebrake. So it may not seem like much to you now, but everyone should make this a priority, well IMO.

13

I have replaced both e-brake cables. It’s somewhat of a pain in the ass when you have to work around the exhaust to get the cables up into the car. I did it without taking off anything but the heat shield, but I guess if I took the time to unbolt the exhaust it wouldn’t of been so bad.

I had the same problem you described, my ebrake was pretty much useless until it was all the way up. I think it’s supposed to be fully engaged at 8 clicks. After cable replacement, it worked like new, though the equalizer bar is still not dead straight. I think one of the cables might be slightly longer? I can’t remember.

14

Here’s a small write up about the e-brake cables. I’m doing this from memory and a Chiltons so bear with my inadequecies please.

Tools: Nothing special needed. The bolts on the cable are 10 or 12 mm, standard Honda affair. You might want some pliers for the clevis pin on the caliper. That’s about it.

Jack up the rear, remove the wheels. The parking brake cable is attached to the caliper with a clip and lock pin. Some pliers and it should be out easily.

Now you have to get under the car and follow the cable. It runs through the trailing arm and through the exhaust tunnel. There are three bolts that hold each cable to the car. They should come out easily. Torque spec in chiltons is 16 lb-ft.

The annoying part is where the cables go over the exhaust and heatshield and into the car. There are three bolts holding a square plate which both cables run through. It’s hard to explain but once you are under the car you should be able to see the bolts. The problem is getting to them. I had to use some extensions and joints on my sockets. At this point you are in the middle of the car so you might want to jack up the front too, especially if you are big. I’m skinny as crap so I could still fit.

Now that that’s done, the inside of the car should be easier. Take apart the ebrake console and get to this point:

You might have to make a little slit in the fabric to get to one bolt. No worries you can’t see it at all once the console is back over everything.

This is the part where I’m a little foggy. The cable attach to the equilizer bar kind of strangely I remember. I can’t remember if you need to remove the adjusting not or not…anyway if you play with it you should see how the cables slip out of the equilizer bar.

Once everything’s clear the cables should pull out pretty smoothly.

Installing the new cables is the reverse. The only thing you have to be careful of is not to kink them. They only fit one way. Once everything is back together, adjust the cable.

Adjusting the cable:

Pull the cable one click and the tighten the adjusting nut til the rear wheels just being to drag. At this point, 6-11 clicks should be full lock. Check to make sure the wheels don’t drag when the brake is disengaged.

Sorry I can’t provide pictures or anything. It’s one of those things where you’ll see how it comes together when it’s in front of your face. Hope this helps and be safe.

15

Thanks alot for the write up, I’ll be getting around to it in the next month or so.

16

Can’t you also adjust the cable at the other end…at the caliper. I seem to remember seeing that.

17

anybody know if that is true? and how to do it?

also, was i right in bringing back this thread, or should i have started a new one to ask this question?

18

not starting new threads when there’s one related to the subject is always the better choice.

i’ve never seen anything regarding cable adjustment at the caliper. i’ve the helm in front of me and it says nothing that i can see.

then again, it’s really thick and i don’t have time to go through the whole thing. given their penchant for hiding some things in completely unrelated sections, it may be possible but described elsewhere. i’m not seeing it in the related area though.

19

I’d just like to mention, seeing that no one else has, that you really need to as a first check, make sure the caliper arm is fully rotated back to the full release position. Being that part of the problem described could be attributed to the needle bearings in the caliper themselves could be on their way out if not frozen. Or the return spring in dirty, weak or bent. A pair of channel lock pliers works well for this. If you’ve got to force the levers back, I’d check for cable length at that time.:slight_smile:

20

I still haven’t fixed this problem. I was able to get another pair of cables from 2ndJenn (THANKS DUDE!) But I just never have the time to get under the car. I tried it once and it seemed too involved for the time I was getting started, so I put it off again.

Maybe one day soon LOL