Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting E-Brake cable TSB... need help...

Okay, so my e-brake cable takes 1-2 clicks usually to engage and I notice that especially when cold, the e-brake is NOT disengaging all of the way, if much at all. So I went out and bought my e-brake cable kit from Ford... the one with the water seals on the calliper side. ALSO, I have a NASTY clunk from the rear suspension especially when people are in the back that mainly happens when the rear suspension travels a lot over a large bump. I figured since I am doing the e-brake cable swap, I might as well flip those brackets around according to the other TSB from Ford about clunky suspension.

I have a few questions about the procedure... please bear with me...

The pictures supplied in the FAQ about swapping the brackets around make no sense to me what so ever... I have no idea what the pictures are trying to tell me. Other than those pictures, there are no instructions on how to swap them around... so I am REALLY lost here.

Another really dumb question, and I swear I absolutely hate to ask this because of how much work I do on cars... but where the hell can I put the jack in the rear of this car without bending the hell out of something? I am used to cars with live axels and frames that you can actually jack from... this car is nothing but a giant floor pan from what I can see under there, and the LAST place I want to put a jack is under the flimsy control arms and bend those... can someone help me out here? <boy do I hate to ask that

Thanx guys... I just paid a ton of money for a new steering rack because my other one decided to blow up one day, so I am not about to run back to the shop for something stupid like this to get hit with more labor on. Thanx!



P.S. Is there some sort of tutorial on how to change out the e-brake cables and/or swap the brackets around? The ones in the FAQ are the ones that I am lost with... any help would be greatly apprecaited.

I know you've got to remove the heat shield and lower the exhaust.

There was a great HOWTO back in the day about this kit, but this webpage is now down. Maybe you can find someone on here that had it.

It was located at

http://ceg.dyndns.org/archives/9812/msg00003.html

Good luck.

Yeah, link still doesn't work... do you or someone else possibly know the link that does work to this or a different tutorial on this? Any help here would be greatly appreciated. Thanx guys.

P.S. Anyone know where to jack the rear of the car up from? Where is the PROPER jacking point to lift the whole rear?

You definately do not need to lift the rear end. I was able to crawl underneath without lifting the rear end. You do need to support the exhaust as you lower it.

The website is down (I think permanently), but if you can find the old host, or maybe someone with those instructions, it will be a tremendous help.

Good Luck.

Yeah, but instead of worming my hands and fingers around the rear wheels with them on and working with the car 1" from my face (don't forget it's winter here... car will be dripping wet and salty as hell), I'd rather lift it off of the ground... would me MUCH easier. It is good to know that it's easy, doesn't really suprise me... I changed the e-brake cables and whole mechanism on my Mustang with no problems... it's just a matter of getting the car off of the ground so that I can access it.

Do you or someone else have any other suggestions for me? Let me know!

I jack the car about 1/2 foot in front of the rear jack point covers on a flat surface that has a little oval in it. I'm not sure what it is, but I have no ill effects from jacking there - I place the center of the jack right over the oval hole. PM with an email address and I'll send you a pic of the car jacked in that spot if you like.

The more I talk about this, the more I remember what I had to do. First thing you need to do (after you jack up your car), is start lowering the exhaust. To do this, all you need to do is remove the exhaust from the rubber hangers.

Be sure to support the exhaust as you lower it. You don't want to twist it too out of shape.

Then I think you need to remove some of the heat shield in order to access the Y split of the cable.

Man, I wish I had that HOW TO.

If you get a chance, write up a HOW TO (with pics if possible) so others will have it. We can host it on this site afterwards.

My e bake won't engage untill the last click(4 or 5),can it be adjust?

Ha, see, I have an SE... not the Sport or SVT with side skirts, so I don't have the jacking point covers to see where I am actually supposed to jack the car up from. Like I said, I know it sounds trivial and I HATE to ask such a simple question, but I just don't know. So then what you are telling me is that only 1 side gets jacked up at a time... there is no way to do both at the same time (lift the whole rear end)?

CueballSVT, If you could send me those pictures, that would be great... my E-Mail address is on the contact page of my site (link is in my sig). Thanx a ton!

The OTHER thing is that having an SE with SVT exhaust, I have hangers bolted to the main bumper mounts on the rear passengers side holding up the rear section of exhaust that I really don't want to have to take off, but I guess it's one of those things that has to be done... lovely. Okay, so then I only need to take the exhaust off from the rear and leave it bolted to the cat, or should I just remove the whole thing... I mean, it's only 2 bolts.

If you'r e-brake takes 4-5 clicks, that should be just fine... you don't need to worry about it. That is a good thing. It ISN'T a good thing when it only takes 2, trust me. Besides, if it takes too many clicks, it means that your rear pads are worn if anything.

Does anyone have any more advise and/or that tutorial? Thanx for the help guys!

Sorry to just paste a link, but I think the pictures are very helpful in this case

Click Here