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E-brake issues...

CSVT#49

CSVT#49

Addicted CEG'er
Joined
May 28, 2004
Messages
6,771
Location
Andover, MN
Ok so I have been having the low brake fluid problem with my car that just started a few weeks ago. I didn't know what to think when the park brake light wouldn't go out with the e-brake lever down until Tony told me that it was my brake fluid level. Well I've topped it off twice now and it hasn't come back.

Now when I left for work this morning my e-brake lever felt weird, but I was running late so I didn't think in to it to much. When I got to work and parked my car the e-brake lever would come all the way up. It only came up about 1 maybe 2inches. That bothered me. Leaving work I played with it a little bit but couldn't get it to come up any further. I decided I would just inspect it when I got home. Pulling out of my spot I noticed the car was lugging back. My flipping rear brakes were on still as if the e-brake didn't release. I pulled into another parking spot and got out to look at the cars rear wheels. There wasn't a whole lot of brake dust so it hadn't been sticking on the way into work this morning. The pads still looked to have decent life left on them and the rotors didn't looked scored. I got back in the car and pulled really hard up on the e-brake and it finally gave. Now the e-brake lever moved like it normally did. However it still didn't help my rear brake issue. Being that it was 16degF outside I said screw it I'm going to drive home with the brakes locked on the rear. I figured I'd probably end up having to replace my rear rotors and pads possibly the calipers. I drove home and about half way home the brakes were not holding me back anymore. At this point I thought the pads were toast, but I didn't hear metal to metal screaching from the rear. When I finally got home I backed into the garage and parked it pulling up the e-brake. I got out and tried moving the car and I couldn't? The brakes were working. I released the e-brake and I could move the car by pushing it. This really isn't making any sense to me. I took the center console off and looked at the lever assembly. Everything looked normal. I found that one of the bolts holding the lever assembly down was pretty loose. I tighted both bolts just for the hell of it and greased the assembly. I did notice that the cable was pretty tight against the assmebly and had worn down a bit exposing the metal cable.

Alright so thats were I'm at. Sorry for the long post, but I'm one for detail. Plus I wanted to make sure you guys got the whole story. Any thoughts people??

Thanks in advance.
 
Anybody?????

I'm trying to resolve this thing tonight before I leave for work in the morning...

I took the center console off and looked at it further. It appears as if the cable is getting caught in the mechanism of the lever and then does not come completely loose when it is lowered back down. The sheilding has actually been worn off the cable enough that the bare wires are showing. I'll take a picture in a minute to post.
 
Yea sorry I just checked there and saw your post. I also linked this post as well. You get better results by posting twice sometimes as some people don't always look in other forums. Since this is a hot issue for me I needed to get results fast.
 
Mad F'ing props to TRicker!! What goes around comes around. I helped the guy install his clutch and he helped me solve my e-brake issue.


The low down...

Our E-brake lever mechanisms suck royally. They are a piss poor design, which do not allow a smooth path for the cable to follow through when the lever is being raised and lowered. The lever mechanism is held together by 3 machined rivets. The cam lobe shaped piece which houses the small gear and holds the cable is located towards the passenger side. What happen to my car, which is what I was hinting at in the above post was that the cam lobe shaped piece came loose. The large rivet towards the bottom of the mechanism wore into the cam lobe piece and allowed it to cock sideways. This made a 1/4" gap between the cam lobe piece and the gear. This space was allowed the cable to wedge itself into it when the e-brake was engaged. Once the e-brake was disengaged the cable was still wedged into the gap applying tension to the cable, thus still engaging the park brake at the rear calipers.

So the reason why my brake fluid kept going low was because my rear brakes were ever so slightly locked slowly wearing my pads down enough to consume more brake fluid over a weeks time. The only reason why I noticed it today was because the cable wedged itself far enough into the mechanism that it limited the travel of the e-brake lever. So that when I did lower it the parking brake stayed engaged enough that I did noticed the increased resistance while driving.

Again mad props to TRicker!! I'm glad you fricken have my cell number THANKS.
 
no problem dude, good luck with the fix. yeah i get props for figuring out the problem with the ebrake but i cant put a clutch in by myself (i throw things) mike is really the true CEG-Thug here :D
 
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