Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting parking break question

I noticed that my parking break only locks up the right rear brake, is this right? if not what might be wrong that its not locking up the left brake?

Loose or stretched cable most likely.

How do the pads/rotors look comparatively?

BTW - you shouldn't be locking up either tire with the parking brake :p

Hes probably talking about the emergency brake if so either uneven wear of brake pads o faulty emergency brake cable.

park=locks transmission not wheels

Water/rust in the park brake cable is a common problem.Causes the brakes to drag etc,in winter can freeze solid.get the latest cable and when fitted put plenty of heavy marine or Si grease on the open ends of the outer/inner cable to stop ingress of water etc....

Parking brake cable may need adjustment, how many clicks of lever to hold car on small slopes?

Perhaps you are not engaging brake fully, 5-7 clicks are normal.

The cable should be pre set at the yoke,the p/brake on each caliper is self adjusting...which is why you have to wind them back when you change pads...

when I pull the handle I get about 5 clicks, it feels tight and holds the car fine. the car has 41k the pad's look like their at about mid-life. It was when I had the car jacked up I noticed that only the right wheel was locking. Are their any STEPS I can take to find out what the problem is?

Ok 5 clicks, do I hear 7?

There is an equalizer on the handbrake cable which is supposed to equalize movement/force being applied to each disk brake parking brake actuator lever via their respective cables. As handbrake is applied brake pads will touch one rotor and subsequently equalizer starts to allow other pads to move and make contact.
The cable assembly is adjusted simply by applying the handbrake lever (not by adjusting length of cable via an adjustment nut as can be the case in some cars). So to ensure your's is fully adjusted simply work the handbrake lever up to 7 clicks a couple of times.

From what you have observed it seems pads are OK and wearing evenly.

Having said the above however, even if properly adjusted, if hand brake is only lightly applied then the side with the least clearances will always start to apply resistance to turning first and you have to apply brake lever past that point to ensure a balanced application.

Using parking brake regularly is the best maintenence for it BTW.